Canceling holiday due to illness

janie63

Hi,

I am in the sad position of having to cancel our holiday to Cuba as my husband is currently in hospital and will not be well enough to travel on 25th Sept. WE had saved long and hard and were so looking forward to it- we have had a rough year to say the least!

How do i go about it? we have travel insurance with LLoyds TSB. Do i cancel with Thomas Cook first?

Any help much appreciated.

Incapuppy

Slightly off topic but I just wanted to check if this is (for want of better words) a 'brand new unanticipated' illness or is it in any way related to a pre-existing medical condition that was declared to and accepted by your insurers?

Voyager2002

Sorry to hear your bad news: I do hope that your husband makes a full recovery so that you can enjoy Cuba at a later date.

Anyway, you need to contact both your insurer and your travel agent.

janie63

The illness occurred after we booked the holiday- this is the first time in his 46 years he has been in hospital!! he was even born at home!

thank you for your help

Incapuppy

Well, it is a relief to hear that you will be insured, there are a number of threads that crop up on this board where, sadly, that is not the case.

I too hope your husband makes a good recovery and that you can re-arrange this holiday for the future, I have been to Cuba three times and love it, I'm sure you will have a lovely time.

Moonchild

Janie, it may be a strange thing to say, but well done on getting travel insurance! We read a lot of cases here from people that don't have it and are in the same position as you, but stand to loose a fortune as a result.

I would contact the insurers and first ask them what they need. They will require at least a cancellation invoice from the Tour Operator. They will also only refund you the amount you won't get form your Tour Operator (as you may get a partial refund from them, thus, the cancellation invoice is needed). After checking with the insurers, call your holiday company, cancel, and explain you need the cancellation invoice asap (which outlines charges be it 10% or 100%). This combined with the details from your husbands doctor is normally sufficient.

But in the entire process, take names of people you spoke to, and times, and write things down for future reference. This could be really important. Always take a reference.

Also worth asking if you think you might be in a position to travel if you delay the holiday? If in any doubt, then you should probably cancel.

The above is entirely based on your insurers actually agreeing to a full refund, which is why I would make them the first point of call.

And I wish your husband well, and hope you get to holiday very soon!