Insurers are refusing to cover claims by some holidaymakers who used Heathrow’s Terminal 5 in its opening weeks of chaos. They are being told that they used T5 at their own risk.

Their boycott applies to holidaymakers who bought single-trip insurance policies after T5 opened and travelled at the height of the fiasco.

By the end of last week, services were normal and most insurance companies agreed to cover claims arising from future T5 flight delays and lost baggage.

Direct Line and Churchill, owned by Royal Bank of Scotland, and Tesco, underwritten by RBS, were the first to refuse claims. The Association of British Insurers said companies decided that flying from the new British Airways terminal was an “avoidable risk” as most destinations could be reached via other airport terminals.

Direct Line said: “Just as a customer cannot contact us for flood cover once their house is under water, insurance companies cannot offer cover for T5 issues after the problems have occurred and been documented in the media.”

Critics and rivals branded the move as “scandalous”. Perry Wilson, managing director of Insure andGo, which agreed to pay all claims relating to travel through Terminal 5, said: “This decision, taken by numerous insurers, is going to add to the misery suffered by airline passengers over the past few weeks, and frankly, we think it’s outrageous.

“Some insurers are hiding behind the excuse that problems at T5 were not ‘unforeseen’ because they had been going on for weeks. That is like saying you’re not going to cover someone against being mugged in Johannesburg because crime is so rife there.”

The March 27 opening of the £4.3 billion terminal was said by MPs to be “disastrous” as hundreds of flights were cancelled and tens of thousands of items of luggage misplaced. Since then the situation has improved – BA said only a handful of bags had been mislaid over the past week.

Richard Mason of Moneysupermarket, a comparison web-site, said people should still claim and threaten to complain to the insurance ombudsman.

Explore Money

• Property & Mortgages

• Savings

• Borrowing

• Investment

• Funds

• Insurance

• Consumer Affairs

• Tax

• Pensions

• Broadband

Times Recommends

• How to find a good tradesman
• How to join the internet vigilantes
• Five ways the banks fleece us