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Claiming for deceased person on holiday insurance

Lucyfr
Lucyfr Posts: 19 Forumite
Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Combo Breaker
edited 5 September 2023 at 11:14PM in Insurance & life assurance
Hi everyone,

Hope you're doing well ❤️ 

My Mother died recently on our family holiday and we were wondering if anyone knew whether we can claim for anything else above her repatriation - missed return flights (paid for by my Brother), hospital stay and expenses, etc.

This isn't in relation to the fine print in her insurance terms but more the claiming on behalf of a deceased person. 

I'm presuming that her estate isn't able to claim as the insurance was taken out for her not us but thought it was worth asking! 

Thank you! 

Lucy 

Comments

  • Flugelhorn
    Flugelhorn Posts: 6,937 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Really sorry to hear that this  has happened, awful to lose relative and being away from home makes it so much more difficult at the time 

    What did the insurance company pay? Hospital / repatriation?

    Did you have to pay out for extra flights / hotel stay? - maybe worth checking your own insurance as there may be some that you can claim for illness / death of close family member 
  • DullGreyGuy
    DullGreyGuy Posts: 16,409 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    The policyholder claims on behalf of the insured persons. Assuming pre-existing conditions were declared and covered or her passing was unrelated to any pre-existing condition then claims can be made for any additional spend incurred potentially like hospital stay, repatriation, others having to extend their stay to stay with her etc or curtailment (depending on what happened).

    Who paid for the trip is irrelevant.
  • You will likely need multiple copies of the death certificate - not photocopies, and you may find it helpful to draft a covering letter that can be adapted to each organisation you need to contact.
  • Lucyfr
    Lucyfr Posts: 19 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    Really sorry to hear that this  has happened, awful to lose relative and being away from home makes it so much more difficult at the time 

    What did the insurance company pay? Hospital / repatriation?

    Did you have to pay out for extra flights / hotel stay? - maybe worth checking your own insurance as there may be some that you can claim for illness / death of close family member 
    Thank you so much ❤️ 

    The insurance company paid for repatriation. She was in the hospital almost a week before she passed and we haven't yet claimed for her hospital stay as we weren't sure we could on her behalf. 

    Thanks, we have claimed for our missed flights home. 

    Appreciate your help
  • Lucyfr
    Lucyfr Posts: 19 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    You will likely need multiple copies of the death certificate - not photocopies, and you may find it helpful to draft a covering letter that can be adapted to each organisation you need to contact.
    Thank you, great advice. I have already been dealing with the endless death beurocracy. We born and die in red tape, it's so silly! 
  • Lucyfr
    Lucyfr Posts: 19 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    The policyholder claims on behalf of the insured persons. Assuming pre-existing conditions were declared and covered or her passing was unrelated to any pre-existing condition then claims can be made for any additional spend incurred potentially like hospital stay, repatriation, others having to extend their stay to stay with her etc or curtailment (depending on what happened).

    Who paid for the trip is irrelevant.
    Thank you, appreciate your help. As the policyholder was/is my Mother who has died I'm not sure what we can claim for 'on her behalf' which would in effect be for her estate. We have claimed on our own insurance for missed flights etc but as she was in hospital for a while before she died (an accident and not related to any medical conditions), for example, could we claim for those days? 
  • DullGreyGuy
    DullGreyGuy Posts: 16,409 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    The executor would claim on behalf of the estate, her passing doesn't invalidate the claim else policies would have to state that repatriation of remains cover excludes the policyholder.
  • Lucyfr
    Lucyfr Posts: 19 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    The executor would claim on behalf of the estate, her passing doesn't invalidate the claim else policies would have to state that repatriation of remains cover excludes the policyholder.
    Thank you for your really helpful advice!! 
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