Holiday travel insurance nightmare!

colette32

I booked a holiday of a lifetime for myself and my husband to Australia and then a cruise around New Zealand in March 2016 for October 2017. A family member became ill in October 2016 spending 4 months in hospital. I had 12 months insurance up until March 2017. I renewed the insurance as a single trip in March for the holiday with a different insurance company. I have paid £2500 off the holiday. This family member is ill again and has come to stay with us which means it is unlikely we will be able to now take the holiday. Will I be able to get any money back on the insurance bearing in mind the family member did not have this condition when we booked. If so which insurance company would I make the claim off? Also as they were not travelling with us will we be able to make a claim.
Alternatively if we cancel and are unable to make a claim on the insurance can we ask the travel company to sell our flight? Can we ask Royal Carribbean to postpone our cruise or put the money for the cruise in an account for us for us to use on another cruise At a later date? I know other cruise lines have done this for friends I have spoken to. But going through a cruise company would this be possible. I am now due to pay the balance of the holiday and don't know what to do I am desperate for advice.

Justice13075

can you post this on the relevant thread this thread is for flight delay compensation

Caz3121

this is the flight delay board, You would be better posting on the insurance board
you would need to check your policy to confirm whether cancellation for someone not travelling would be covered and whether that would have required declaring their hospital stay was required when you took the policy

heatherw_01

Hi, we move threads if we think they’ll get more help elsewhere (please read the forum rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board. If you have any questions about this policy please email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com.

peachyprice

Did you inform the insurer of the pre-existing condition when you took out the new single-trip policy?

PeacefulWaters

You'll probably discover a fairly clear pre-existing condition problem when you claim.

sheramber

Is the current illness in any way connected to the previous illness? If so, it is unlikely you will be covered unless you declared it when you took the policy out and it was agreed to cover it.

Even if it isn't connected it will depend on whether the relative was considered 'healthy' when you took out the insurance.

The original policy will not cover anything after it ran out.

What do the terms and conditions on your booking say about cancellation?

You can always ask about deferral but whether they agree will be up to them.

leespot

This claim isn't for one of the travellers is it? It's for a family member who needs looking after, meaning that the people travelling can no longer go?

peachyprice

leespot wrote: »

This claim isn't for one of the travellers is it? It's for a family member who needs looking after, meaning that the people travelling can no longer go?

Yes, but you still have to declare pre-existing medical conditions of family members who, if their health deteriorates, would prevent you from travelling.

photome

Op you need to ask all those questions to your insurers, TA, Cruise company etc etc.

The big question though is did you mention your family member to your insurer and declare exisiting conditions