Exclusions to cancellation insurance - Best vs Cheapest

julianporter5

I was due to go on holiday with a friend. There is an illness in her family and she cannot travel. My travel insurance has specific cancellation conditions which don’t include illness in your travelling companions family. I want a better policy for next year. Would any company provide cover in this case? How do I find the best rather than the cheapest insurance?

DullGreyGuy

Most mid level policies replicate the cancellation causes to your travel companion not being able to travel (eg if they cannot travel because of jury service then you can choose to cancel too for them not being able to go). 

The issue you'll have with "relatives" is that almost all insurers exclude pre-existing conditions and so sure if a close family member of theirs gets hit by a car then mid level policies will allow your cancellation if they cancel but if their pre-existing cancer gets worse than anticipated then its likely neither of you would have cancellation cover.

As a rough guide you can look at things like Defaqto or Which? that give ratings on the products but just be aware that any rating system is at risk of people gaming it and doing the bare minimum to hit the 5* option whereas another provider could be 10 times better but dont have a single feature which means they get a 4* rating 

Price in insurance is a very poor proxy for quality.