Consumer advocates demand deferment of visa costs for those whose travel requests abroad have been rejected

Agadir24

Consumer advocates demand deferral of visa fees for people whose applications to travel abroad have been rejected.

In this context, the National Federation of Consumer Associations called on the Moroccan authorities to stand up to what it called the “unfair and unacceptable” practices adopted by insurance companies in Morocco by refusing to return travel insurance subscriptions to Europe in the event of visa rejection.

The National Federation of Consumer Associations explained that the Schengen visa requires Moroccan citizens to obtain travel insurance covering the entire duration of their planned stay in Europe, as this insurance must guarantee coverage of no less than 30,000 euros for medical costs and repatriation costs.

The university added that the cost of this insurance represents a large sum for many visa applicants, ranging between 200 and 1,500 dirhams depending on the length of stay, and the consumer pays an average of 700 dirhams to subscribe to the insurance.

The same source concluded that “extracting sums of money for services that the citizen will not benefit from if European countries refuse to grant an entry visa is unacceptable and unjustified,” which is something that should be reversed.

In response to this issue, the President of the National Union of Consumer Associations, Wadih Madih, revealed that a meeting was held with the Insurance Supervisory Authority, and the Authority’s response is now awaited to get a general picture of the situation, and then take a position based on what will be proposed to solve the problem.

The same spokesman confirmed that the university is studying the possibility of litigation after obtaining a special power of attorney to litigate on behalf of the affected consumers, to demand the return of the amounts paid on the rejected requests.