Help with Travel Insurance Claim please

tinadrennan

Please can anyone help with advice re our Travel Insurance claim.
My dear active Dad had a mini stroke on 25 January followed by a second stroke whilst in hospital a few days later. During the 10 weeks he has been in hospital we hoped he would recover with Physio and OT. However, his left side remains paralysed. Because no further rehabilitation is possible, the hospital is planning to discharge him shortly.
Another problem is that the main carer (my Mum) is herself disabled. We can foresee enormous difficulties during this transition period as we will be required to help with the preparation of the bungalow and also organisation of carers etc and genuinely feel that we can't be on the other side of the world at this challenging time.
If we cancel our flights to Los Angeles do we tell NZ Airlines first and then raise a travel insurance claim or the other way round?
We booked return flights to Los Angeles in October last year for a 3 week holiday this April at a cost of £1307 through an agent.
We have worldwide Travel Insurance which does cover curtailment of travel prior to departure due to a close relative becoming seriously ill which we renewed with the same company about a month ago whilst Dad was still in hospital and we were anticipating his recovery. So much so, we also went ahead and booked our ESTAs at that time.
Regarding a claim,itself, what's the best way to word this? Is it a) my Dad is seriously ill and therefore we can't travel (in which case they may refuse the claim as we didn't specifically declare Dads condition when we renewed as we thought he would recover) or b) Dads health is such that it will be worsened without us being available to help with his transition from hospital to home and afterwards?
Any advice is very welcome regarding letters from the hospital, OT etc in helping us with a travel insurance claim will be much much appreciated at this very difficult time.

Quentin

If you want to use the condition of Dad as a reason for cancelling then forget it.


You won't be covered as his condition was pre existing when you neglected to disclose it. (They will seek confirmation of his condition from his Doc before agreeing any claim related to it)

tinadrennan

That's sad because we had every intention of going up until the emerging realisation that to do so would be detrimental to my Dads health. How were we to know when we renewed our policy that we definitely 100% would be unable to go on holiday? Also had we flagged up my Dads condition at the time of the renewal, would they have agreed to insure us?
What is Travel insurance for??!

InsideInsurance

tinadrennan wrote: »

That's sad because we had every intention of going up until the emerging realisation that to do so would be detrimental to my Dads health. How were we to know when we renewed our policy that we definitely 100% would be unable to go on holiday? Also had we flagged up my Dads condition at the time of the renewal, would they have agreed to insure us?
What is Travel insurance for??!

If you had then you could have cancelled it then and claimed under the prior years policy for which this wasnt a pre-existing condition.

On the basis it wasnt a certain then it would have been sage to call them and discuss it prior to the renewal. Most insurers dont allow you to declare pre-existing conditions of those not directly covered by the policy but there is a small minority that do. If these were one that did then they may have offered terms to have it covered.

At the end of the day you have nothing to lose to call them and discuss it now. Obviously its important to point out that this is as a result of the illness that happened in the last policy period for which there was no prior issues, that it all happened after booking the holiday and really its just as the severity of his condition has come clear that the need to cancel has come about. You may be lucky with them.

tinadrennan

Thank you for a glimmer of hope InsideInsurance. This has been an unfortunate evolving situation but the facts are 1) We booked the holiday many months before my Dad became ill; 2) we did not disclose it at the time of renewal because at that time we believed we would still be going on holiday; 3) and most importantly, the health of my Dad and my Mum will not be helped if we do go off on this holiday which was booked many months ago before my Dad became ill.
We will proceed with a claim and bear in mind all that you've advised.

Voyager2002

tinadrennan wrote: »

1) We booked the holiday many months before my Dad became ill; 2) we did not disclose it at the time of renewal because at that time we believed we would still be going on holiday.

For anyone else reading this thread: this is a good example of why single-trip insurance can be far more helpful than annual policies. Had the OP simply taken out single-trip insurance for their holiday at the time of booking their flights then there would not be an issue: at that time there was nothing to disclose and so they would have been covered for the unfortunate situation that has developed since.

SJFLIB

Hi. First time poster here.
Booked trip to Rome for husband and myself on March 13th, bought travel insurance next day. Became ill with flu and sinusitis problems on March21st, saw GP on 23rd for treatment. Too ill to fly out tomorrow 26th so have cancelled. Have got Med Cert from insurers to be completed by GP.
What are my chances of getting a payout or any advice on how to proceed would be appreciated.

InsideInsurance

Shouldnt be a problem unless you have a long term issue with sinusitis etc

Quentin

SJFLIB wrote: »

What are my chances of getting a payout or any advice on how to proceed would be appreciated.

Assuming the GP agrees to certify you unfit to travel and the causes weren't pre-existing you will get a payout.


If he refuses to certify you unfit to travel then no payout can be expected. You need to get this signed today (unless he advised not to travel on Monday when you saw him, which should mean you can leave the form to be signed (and his fee for signing!) without seeing him)!

SJFLIB

Thanks for your comments. Surgery closed today so have to do it in the morning, though GP I saw on Mon said if I wasn't better by trip date not to travel. Just hope he will fill out Med Cert to my insurer's satisfaction.