Travel Insurance Claim - Help

LethalleftpeG

Hi

I have been browsing the forums for a couple of days ago searching for a scenario similar to mine, but unable to find one. This is my first post.

My 2 year old became unwell 2 days into our 7 day holiday in Crete and ended up in hospital for 4 days. This meant we missed our return flight home and travelled back 3 days late when she was declared fit to fly.

We took out insurance with AA/Drakefield as they were one of the only insurers who would cover my wife as she was 6-7 months pregnant at the time, so were very limited with our choice of insurer. So far, Drakefield have refused the cost of one adult return flight, taxi fares to and from the hospital x 2 and any compensation for the loss of the holiday.

I would like to know where I stand here, my daughter was on a drip and required 24/7 supervision as she was on a bed without a barrier. I had to travel back to the apartments during her admission to hospital to pick up a change of clothes and to arrange to keep the apartment on for the additional period. They will not even reimburse the taxi fares to and from the hospital!! We also lost the entire holiday (apart from the 2 days) I feel like we didnt really get a holiday at all. there were just the three of us on the holiday, myself, wife and daughter.

My daughter is still on medication but is pretty much 100% fully recovered. She had a bacterial croup/lung infection and high fever. Our doctor in England suspects she may have had swine flu.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as this is the first time I have made a claim on a travel policy.

Thanks in advance.

jillie1974

what reason have they given you for refusing your claim

LethalleftpeG

They've said the taxis, loss of holiday and flight were not covered under the t&c's of the policy.

Surely common sense would prevail here though, I couldnt have left my wife out in Crete to look after our daughter, we had to get a cab to the hospital/clinic and I had to return to the apartment to sort out the accomodation.

Im a reasonable person and all this seems very unfair considering the circumstances.

jillie1974

have you checked the t&c yourself since you got back?
see if they mention bout children being ill? did you ring the emergemcy medical line when you were away?

LethalleftpeG

I have read the t&c and that is correct, apart from them allowing £25 per day to cover expenses.

The clinic we stayed at rang the insurance company whilst we were out there to sort out the medical expenses and we were in regular contact with them outselves to keep them updated of our daughters progress.

jillie1974

just to check-
loss of holiday- you never really get this back
taxi fares, other expenses -they have given you £25 per day for this
and the flight home are they not paying for you or your wife?

Quentin

When someone is ill, they invariably only cover the added expenses for "any one person" to stay.

Check the policy, it will be specific about this.

LethalleftpeG

They have refused the cost of 1 adult flight and refused all expenses, so far. EDIT they have agreed all medical expenses.

As far as the loss of the holiday, it may aswell have been cancelled, I wish it had!! I just think the whole scenario stinks. I work in car insurance claims and its all about being reasonable and putting the person back into the same position they were prior to any accident, travel insurance seems to be riddled with rubbish little exclusions. It just seems so unfair.

Quentin

If you work in insurance claims, then you should know the importance of checking the policy at the time of purchase, not just when a claim comes along!

And the truth is, insurance never completely puts you back in the same position you were in before the event. Your pocket always takes a hit as well as the insurer!

eg. in car insurance you have the excess to deal with, plus future premium increases, etc.

LethalleftpeG

Quentin wrote: »

If you work in insurance claims, then you should know the importance of checking the policy at the time of purchase, not just when a claim comes along!

And the truth is, insurance never completely puts you back in the same position you were in before the event. Your pocket always takes a hit as well as the insurer!

eg. in car insurance you have the excess to deal with, plus future premium increases, etc.

I work in car insurance claims, which seems to be completely different to travel.

I explained in my earlier post that we were limited with the choice of insurer as my wife is 6-7 months pregnant and most travel insurance companies wouldnt cover her.

In my role I ensure myself and my staff as as reasonable as we can be to our customers. The truth is, people have the same assumption and over inflate their claims, thats why some insurers dispute or declne some heads of claim.

luci

As Quentin has stated, the T&C's of your policy more than likely state that they will pay for ONE person to stay with the injured party. Therefore if they are refusing to pay for one adult, but are paying for the other adult then they are within the terms of the policy.