Travel insurance not covered when non travelling family member became ill

TcazzyB1

We have travel insurance with NatWest bank. Had it for years never claimed.
we booked a holiday to Greece in October 2022. 

Fast forward to May 2023 and my mother was categorised as end of life on 18 May 23 so we cancelled our holiday which was due to fly out on 25th May 23.

My mother had been under a consultant for years for liver disease, she was 83 years old and otherwise fit and healthy on the date of booking. Her liver disease was being monitored by consultant and she was on medication. 

I put a claim in for the holiday and was told I should have disclosed my mothers pre existing condition if she had been treated in last 12 months for condition she died from.

Is it reasonable to expect that at the time of booking our holiday that we could foresee that my fit and healthy mother would die 7/8 months later of her condition? 

We have lost over 3k and had funeral expenses so really upset about this.

thanks for any advice in advance 

eskbanker

What's the specific wording of the clause that they're seeking to rely on?

katejo

TcazzyB1 said:

We have travel insurance with NatWest bank. Had it for years never claimed.
we booked a holiday to Greece in October 2022. 

Fast forward to May 2023 and my mother was categorised as end of life on 18 May 23 so we cancelled our holiday which was due to fly out on 25th May 23.

My mother had been under a consultant for years for liver disease, she was 83 years old and otherwise fit and healthy on the date of booking. Her liver disease was being monitored by consultant and she was on medication. 

I put a claim in for the holiday and was told I should have disclosed my mothers pre existing condition if she had been treated in last 12 months for condition she died from.

Is it reasonable to expect that at the time of booking our holiday that we could foresee that my fit and healthy mother would die 7/8 months later of her condition? 

We have lost over 3k and had funeral expenses so really upset about this.

thanks for any advice in advance 

You have my sympathy but I have come across this before with other insurers. In some cases, how are we supposed to know what all our close family members have as medical conditions? We are not a fly on the wall when they go for appointments.

Ayr_Rage

Sorry for your loss but at the time of booking your mother had already been diagnosed as unwell and on medication for some time.

Most policies require you to declare health conditions of close relatives, the definition of which is contained in most Ts and Cs.

From my personal experience if you had declared the condition it would have likely been excluded anyway so if that was the cause of your cancellation it would still have meant no payout.

silvercar

The problem is that (a) if you do disclose insurers often exclude the condition, so you are no better off and (b) the elderly can be very private about their conditions or decide not to worry their children and so don’t tell you that something is wrong.

Sea_Shell

silvercar said:

The problem is that (a) if you do disclose insurers often exclude the condition, so you are no better off and (b) the elderly can be very private about their conditions or decide not to worry their children and so don’t tell you that something is wrong.

But surely you can only declare what you actually know about.

Utmost good faith.

Has always been the principal of insurance.

So in those circumstances, I don't think insurers could avoid the claim.

Doesn't help OP though.

sheramber

Some companies will accept a letter from the GP stating there was no indication of death when you booked. Some do state that for cover for non travelling people depends on you declaring any medical  conditions when booking. 

What does your policy say regarding cover for non travellers?

TcazzyB1

Thank you all for responses. And it is true, parents do not tell you all their conditions for fear of worrying, which was in my case. My policy wording is highlighted below. Even if I did know the extent, I could not have foreseen that a condition she had had for years would lead to death within 8 months of booking the holiday. 

sheramber

Does your mother's condition fsll into any of the highlighted categories?

if not then you should complain on these grounds.

There is nothing in the highlighted section that you must report any condiotn that she has been treated for.

If you are still not happy with thier reply then you cn refer the case to the FOS.

NoodleDoodleMan

"There is nothing in the highlighted section that you must report any condiotn that she has been treated for."

Maybe I'm misreading those insurance company Ts&Cs highlighted above - but it looks clear (to me at least) that pre-existing conditions require to be declared. Sadly this has not been so in this case.

TELLIT01

Although I agree with previous comments that those booking holidays don't always know about the medical history of other family members, that does not seem to be the case here.  The OP has my sympathy, but it once again emphasises the importance of reading the policy documents thoroughly.  I know I've been guilty of not doing so in the past.