Holiday Insurance Claim Problem

rs65

Presumably you sought medical advice when you left the plane - can you get confirmation of that?

Geoffrey_Bobbles_Bonbon

I did not seek medical advice after leaving the plane. I didn't even think about claiming until after returning from an alternative holiday. My partner was so upset by not going away that we decided to drive to Dover and take the ferry and continue our holiday elsewhere.

I started the claim process on our return but it took quite a while to get anywhere and find out what I should be doing. There was a lot of time wasting being referred to different departments and the ultimate getting nowhere. It even took three weeks before I could see my own doctor.

I find this sort of procedure very difficult and stressful and it took a while before I knew where to turn and who to contact. Initially the travel agent looked into it. I only recently decided to try again thanks to the help given above. It all seems like a waste of time. Admittedly I am having to push myself now.

rs65

I’m afraid to say I think you will struggle to get the claim paid.

The policy is fairly specific about what needs done – you needed to see a specialist. I dare say they could have exercised some discretion if you had been seen by another medical professional but to wait several months before seeing your GP (who can only say from your later description that it may have been a panic attack) doesn’t help your case. You can hardly call that a GP diagnosis.

Basically you have no medical evidence to show any reason that you couldn’t travel.

From the insurer’s perspective, it sounds like you changed your mind. To say that you thought you were having a heart attack but not seek medical advice sounds suspect.

Geoffrey_Bobbles_Bonbon

Well, I see your point but I realised it was probably a panic attack afterwards, though it felt more serious at the time.

It's annoying because it took so long before I could set any wheels in motion. I provided medical evidence from a professional, medical evidence which White Horse said was acceptable.

There was one lady I spoke to twice at White Horse who said she could not understand why my claim had not been successful.

I had been through White Horse twice and failed. Then I went through a Travel Ombudsman service in England, the wrong one apparently, then I was referred to the Irish one. Long winded, complicated and I hope you understand my resulting lethargy about the whole matter.

White Horse's get out of jail card is the "specialist consultant". My GP doesn't count for anything it seems. That's a little sneaky on the part of White Horse, but I suppose that's typical of the way insurance companies will wriggle out of paying up.

Thanks.

rs65

Geoffrey_Bobbles_Bonbon wrote: »

My GP doesn't count for anything it seems.

Seeing your GP four months after the event doesn't count for anything.

If you had sought medical advice at the airport then you may have an argument here but you thought you were having a heart attack but just drove to Dover and went on holiday anyway. Can you even prove you were on the plane and had to leave?

mayfair1985

It sounds terrible but there in no proof, that at the time you disembarked the plane, you were unfit to travel because of a medical condition. I completely agree that if the 'episode' was severe enough for you to get of the plane and you seriously believed that you were having a heart attack, then some kind of medical advice should have been sought at that time. Even if it was just with a first aider, or whatever they have, at the airport.

A retrospective diagnosis from the GP is not sufficient enough evidence to confirm that at that time, from a medical standpoint, you were not fit to travel. 4 months is too long.

Unfortunately they do have you by the knackers with the consultant bit. They stipulate you need this to make a claim. You haven't got it. Until you get it, they won't even consider your claim. If they wanted a GP letter they would have stated it. So no, it doesn't matter what your GP says, as to them it's irrelevant, they want a consultants opinion.

If I were you, I'd save myself the additional stress over and above what you have already had, accept the fact you should have done things slightly differently, learn from it, and cut your losses. Save yourself the time and the stamp money as I seriously doubt this will be upheld with any regulatory party.

Geoffrey_Bobbles_Bonbon

Thanks for the replies rs65 and mayfair1985.

I was told I have up to six years to make this claim, so four months is not long enough.

I had no idea at the time there would even be such a thing as a first aider in the airport. That was the last thing on my mind. At 3am it's probably unlikely anyway.

Since it took three weeks to get to see my own doctor from making the appointment, plus all the other hurdles I had to go through at the time, I consider four months is pretty good! I was pushed around all over the place by the travel agent first. Had I known who to contact at the time I would have done.

All I can say is well done the insurance company who cover themselves in every way possible so people with genuine claims don't stand a chance.

I have been in a similar situation before when an airline company went bust. No money was paid then, despite a lot of upset with extra transfers, the need for different hotels, etc.

It seems insurance policies clearly aren't worth the paper they are written on.

Thanks anyway. Not having a go, but here's a genuine claim where nothing can be done, despite providing a correct medical certificate, sadly from the wrong person. Jeez!