The ticks are ticking over the airlines – Newspaper Kommersant No. 62 (7507) dated 04/11/2023

As Kommersant found out, the Central Bank’s consumer rights protection service recommended that airlines turn off the automatic consent of passengers to purchase insurance when purchasing a ticket on their websites. Now automatic consent is provided for by almost all carriers, the cost of policies is 300-600 rubles. Carriers note that the sale of additional services is a significant component of their non-aviation income and usually does not cause complaints. Kommersant sources estimate the volume of the passenger air insurance market at 2–5 billion rubles. annually, of which carriers receive a “substantial portion”.

As it became known to Kommersant, the Central Bank’s consumer protection service recommended that carriers disable the pre-installed consent to insurance when buying tickets on their websites. Such a recommendation is contained in the protocol (Kommersant has it) following the results of the March meeting with representatives of carriers, insurance companies and Rospotrebnadzor. In particular, representatives of the Central Bank noted the “negative information background associated with the pre-established consent” to insurance, as well as the small “size of the insurance premium, which does not motivate consumers to return the policy and masks the problem.” In addition, the automatic tick on the insurance, according to the protocol, creates the risks of concluding a contract without its preliminary study.

Rospotrebnadzor clarified that last year it issued 82 warnings to transport companies for “automatic insurance” and sent 12 statements of claim “on protecting the interests of an indefinite circle of persons” to the court due to the imposition of insurance. “Of the negative points, it is emphasized that insurance organizations, when considering the recommendations of the Central Bank service, are limited to a formal approach and response,” the text says.

The meeting was attended by representatives of Ingosstrakh, SOGAZ, IC Soglasie, AlfaStrakhovanie, who assured that there were “virtually no” complaints from the consumers themselves. The insurers suggested “focusing on court cases and acting in accordance with the decisions of higher instances,” noting that pre-established consent “is a public offer, and payment for a service is an acceptance.”

For all major carriers, the insurance service is automatically added when buying a ticket: from 300 rubles. for S7 up to 630 rubles. at Aeroflot. Ural Airlines automatically includes three services for 938 rubles at once in the ticket: insurance (290), meals (399) and Doctor Online (300). The company did not comment on the recommendation of the Central Bank, but admitted that there were “isolated” negative responses to the service. “If the client decides to return the money, and the flight has not yet departed, we return it in 100% of cases,” the press service says. They noted that the sale of insurance is one of the items of non-aviation income, and “it is becoming more popular from year to year.” Other Kommersant airlines did not respond.

Directly multiplying the number of passengers by the average price of insurance gives fees of almost 40 billion rubles. But the sources of Kommersant in the market that the real volume of insurance is 2-5 billion rubles. The commission that carriers receive is “very significant,” two interlocutors of Kommersant in insurance companies say, without specifying its size. In general, for foreign low-cost airlines, the share of non-aviation income in total revenue is up to 40%, for Pobeda – up to 30%, for traditional carriers – up to 10%, says transport analyst Elena Sakhnova. In the first place for traditional companies – payment for excess baggage and the purchase of goods on board, and for low-cost airlines – the choice of seats and meals. Another interlocutor of Kommersant, citing data from one of the largest booking systems, indicates that of all additional services, passengers in 2022 paid for seat selection in 63% of cases, luggage – in 16%, insurance – in 13%, meals – in less than 3%.

Practice shows that the courts recognize fees for insurance as illegal and take the side of the client, says Ilya Zotov, head of the All-Russian Association of Passengers. However, he confirms that the majority of dissatisfied clients do not go to trial “because of 500 rubles.” In the coming days, the association plans to apply to the Federal Air Transport Agency and recommend to prohibit carriers from automatically including insurance on tickets.

Insurance on the airline’s own websites began to be actively introduced in 2015, and now all major carriers have them, notes Ilya Shatilin, editor-in-chief of the frequentflyers.ru portal. Foreign airlines, according to him, include the option in the ticket much less frequently. The main problem with the automatic activation of insurance, he believes, is that it can usually be removed only in a way that is not obvious in terms of the interface: “Some passengers may think they have to pay.” For carriers, insurance sales are high-margin, Mr. Shatilin adds. “Not everyone reads 100 pages of an insurance contract, buying a ticket with a pre-checked box, and then faces difficulties in proving for compensation,” he notes. For example, it can be difficult for passengers to prove that the flight delay was the fault of the airline.

Dmitry Migachev, head of the AlfaStrakhovanie passenger insurance department, objects that when flights are delayed, the program automatically sends a notification to the passenger with the amount of compensation and a link to receive it. In the total number of compensation payments for flight delays, they lead by a wide margin, he says. When flying within Russia, a passenger can demand from the airline only a fine of 25 rubles. for an hour of arrival delay at the destination airport and a penalty of 3% of the ticket price. Insurers, as a rule, provide protection only in case of a long delay (in AlfaStrakhovanie – from 3-4 hours), he explains: “But the payment is higher – from 500 to 1 thousand rubles. for every hour.” During the year, the insurer notes tens of thousands of insured events of delayed departure.

Aigul Abdullina