Holiday cancellation due to serious illness.

chjh

Could anyone have an e mail address for Thomson Skytours please. My mum has had a recent diagnosis of cancer and has a holiday booked with them for May 4th 2017 , they have offered her a chance to delay the holiday for a further £50. This is unsuitable as she will be undergoing both chemo and radiotherapy in the near future. Who knows how well or otherwise she will be :sad::sad: I have suggested she cancel and would expect her deposit of £200 to be returned but thus far only an offer to postpone and pay the extra £50. I want to e mail them to sort this out as she is stressing about all this when I believe she has enough stress as things currently stand! Many thanks in advance for any replies of help/advice or an e mail address I can use.

[Deleted User]

Here's a link to Thomson's contact page, but I can't see a specific link for Skytours.

http://www.thomson.co.uk/editorial/legal/contact-us.html

How did your mum contact them re her illness originally? I'm guessing she must have for them to have offered her the chance to change the dates. Does she have travel insurance?

elsien

You need to check the terms and conditions with regards to cancellation as the amount she gets back will depend on how soon before departure it is, on a sliding scale.
Her travel insurance should cover the rest, as long as she wasn't already having tests but didn't disclose this.

ETA - their contract is with your mum not with you, so they won't be able to discuss it with you without her permission.

stephb34

You need to get a move on deciding what to do as within the next week it will be more than loss of deposit probably 30% loss. If she wants to cancel she needs to claim off her insurance for the loss of deposit. Only £50 to move the holiday is a good offer which she should be able to move right up until the end of april 2018.
Why do you think the deposit should be returned?

chjh

Thanks for replies. She was not having any tests at the time of booking. No insurance as she ws going to obtain just prior to holiday Without going into too much detail, the prognosis is poor for the type of cancer and the site where it is. Of course I am hoping she will manage a holiday in 2018 but maybe she wouldn't. The chemo/radiotherapy will be done jointly or at least one after the other, this makes any unpleasant symptoms worse, so I cannot see her being capable of having a holiday anytime soon. I always thought if there was a valid reason to cancel ie serious illness the deposit would be refunded as it was unforseen circumstances? Again thanks for taking the time to reply.

Tigsteroonie

chjh wrote: »

I always thought if there was a valid reason to cancel ie serious illness the deposit would be refunded as it was unforseen circumstances? Again thanks for taking the time to reply.

Nope, that's why you should always take out travel insurance immediately on booking a holiday - so as to cover cancellation due to unexpected health issues in the period before travelling.

The actual cancellation terms (% refunded/weeks before travelling) will have been in the T&C of the holiday booking.

elsien

Deposits are generally non-refundable, regardless of the circumstances.
I'm sorry to hear your mum's prognosis isn't as good as it could be.

chjh

Once again thanks for replies. I understand thay may not discuss with me as it is my mum who has paid deposit etc... will go along to travel agents with her to see what will happen, and will try link above to e mail in her name. I pray she will take a holiday in the future, but if she loses her deposit it is not the end of the world and there are greater things that really do matter.

leylandsunaddict

They don't have to refund the deposit, that's down to the insurance, which unfortunately your mum didn't have.

If she booked in store, emailing Thomson won't help. The store own that booking, and only they can discuss it with the lead passenger on the booking. If she booked online, a store won't be able to help.

Ganga

She may have to pay even more money as a lot of travel companies only charge a reduced deposit with the rest payable later on.Hope she gets well.

EconomicsGirl

So sorry to hear about your Mum, I hope her treatment works.

I would have thought they would discuss with you. When my husband's grandmother died and he needed a different Eurostar ticket but had a refundable one then spoke to me. I managed to persuade them to change for free so he could get to her funeral that week. I had the poor girl in tears by saying how sad he was and how much he loved her.

I'm not sure your chances of cancellation but try. Explain she's got cancer and success rates for her stage and type aren't good. Any medical evidence would help, like a copy of the results and a link to Cancer Research prognosis though act quickly due to dates. Hopefully someone nice will help you but legally not obliged to.

If you can't get cancellation I would go for postponing for the latest possible date but maybe go for a time and venue someone else could use in case she's not well enough. Ask if she's not well enough could you change into another name.