Travel insurance

redginger44

I booked a holiday to Singapore, Vietnam and Cambodia with a friend - it was a joint booking. My friends mother was taken very ill two weeks prior to travel and we had to cancel the holiday.  My holiday insurance will not pay out due to the fact it was not my mother and I advised my travel companion could not travel.  Is this the norm ? Also to make things worse Hays classed holiday as no show so various companies contacted us during this period - hotels could have been cancelled we could not do so as hotels advised 3rd party had to cancel - anybody had similar experience or any advice also how to avoid should I find myself in same situation in the future with a travel companion 

lisyloo

Did you have travel insurance together or seperately?
The short answer is to make sure you get the cover you want.
It may not be so easy to identify all the scenarios in advance but if you are refusing to travel alone and couldn't find a replacement then that is something you should look to cover.

You didn't have to cancel you could have gone.
Did you look to find a replacement? even at a knock down price?

DullGreyGuy

Who's your travel insurance with? What "level" did you have with them?

You wouldn't be able to claim because friends mother is ill but you may be able to claim because your travelling companion isnt travelling because her mother is ill, depending on the quality of the product you bought; hopefully you didnt buy on price alone!

redginger44

It is with Admiral and I bought the platinum annual multi trip they have refused to pay out 😡

FlorayG

You usually need to book insurance as a group in order to be covered for any member of the group causing cancellation. If the insurance was for you only then usually only circumstances causing YOU to be unable to travel are covered, and the death of a companions relative isn't considered a suitable circumstance

lisyloo

did you have a joint policy or is this just yours?

lisyloo

We will provide this cover if you have to cancel your trip or cut it short because of any of the following.
a. Death, illness, injury or complications of pregnancy or childbirth
The death, serious injury, serious illness or complications of pregnancy or childbirth of:
y you;
y a travel companion;
y a close relative;
y a close business associate;
or y anyone you planned to stay with outside your home country

It looks to me like you don't have cover for a close relative of your travelling companion (assuming this is your sole policy).
You are probably in future getting insured together if you MUST go together (which isn't obligatory for 2 adults).

DullGreyGuy

redginger44 said:

It is with Admiral and I bought the platinum annual multi trip they have refused to pay out 😡

So their wording covers the close relatives of anyone named on the policy but only covers for the direct illness/death of a travelling companion not covered by this policy. Admiral are typically in the "cheap and cheerful" category of insurers and even more so for their Gibraltar based products like Travel. 

redginger44

It was a single policy yes a very expensive lesson but I feel insurance company find any excuse not to pay surely they did not expect me to travel alone ? 

TELLIT01

redginger44 said:

It was a single policy yes a very expensive lesson but I feel insurance company find any excuse not to pay surely they did not expect me to travel alone ? 

Your policy was in your name only so there is no reason for the insurer not to expect you to be prepared to travel alone.

lisyloo

redginger44 said:

It was a single policy yes a very expensive lesson but I feel insurance company find any excuse not to pay surely they did not expect me to travel alone ? 

That's unfair when all the cover details were provided to you upfront (I found them really easily on the internet in a few minutes).
They are correct based on what we know.
You didn't buy the right cover for your preference to travel together.