Holiday Costs and Travel Insurance Limits

b1ggsy

Hello, I've got a slightly difficult travel insurance claim and looking for some guidance. Sorry for the long post.

August '24 last year, a relative booked a holiday for a group of us for later this year which includes my family. In April we got news that a third party close family member has terminal cancer and there is a high likelihood of their death around the date of the holiday. As a result we have paid to postpone the holiday. I am comfortable this scenario is covered under our travel insurance policy.

I have been asked for three documents. The first two are the cancellation invoice (which I have, no problem), proof of the diagnosis of the third party (which I also have). The last one is the original invoice which has been requested to confirm that the holiday is eligible to be covered - and this is where my concern lies with regards to how the insurance company will assess the cost of the trip against the policy limits.

We are covered by for a trip up to £5,000 per insured person. Because members of the group have included other elements and/or are staying longer, the overall holiday cost exceeds £5,000 per person calculated as a straight total divided by the number of people. The elements associated with my family (which are clearly itemised on the invoice as relevant to my family or not) sum to around £4,830 each - so are just below the limit. However, as the booking is made in Euros this is based on the straight Euro:£ exchange rate on the date of the invoice (a higher rate, such as one might be charged when making a payment or transfer, would be much closer to, possibly above, £5k). One of our family members is generously subsidising the holiday, so the actual cost to our family is definitely less than this (although, because the full payment has not been paid and is now not due until next year, we cannot demonstrate this outside of some WhatsApp messages). Somewhat naïvely, we never realised we were quite so close to exceeding the policy limits because the full cost of the holiday wasn't disclosed until the claim arose.

Ultimately I believe I am covered as the cost to go on the holiday that my family would be paying is less than £5k each - with or without subsidy. However I am concerned the insurance company will argue that, regardless of the payment circumstances, the holiday cost more than this limit and decide we are not covered.

Should I just send them the original invoice and wait for a challenge? Should I attempt to head off any challenge by setting out my position as above (highlighting the elements of the invoice which apply just to my family, sum the total, indicate the exchange rate on the date and show it is under £5k per person)? 

Otherwise, do I need to ask the travel agent to provide a separate invoice just for us (with a risk they won't back-date it and add)? 

Will mentioning the subsidy help? - I don't want to confuse matters and its not relevant to the claim because we are only claiming for the cancellation/re-booking fees we have additionally incurred because of the circumstances - the original cost of the holiday stands.

Thank you in advance for any experience or guidance!

Hoenir

b1ggsy said:

Because members of the group have included other elements and/or are staying longer, the overall holiday cost exceeds £5,000 per person calculated as a straight total divided by the number of people. 

Insurance cover should always be sufficient to meet the maximum possible claim under the policy. Therefore possible that an "adjustment" could be applied. As the premium paid provides £x level of cover for the entire party. Arbitary allocation  when later making a claim isn't something that one can argue. 

b1ggsy

Thanks. The maximum possible claim is surely related to our loss though? Extreme example, if we paid £10 for a £5,000 holiday because a third party paid the rest, then surely I can only claim £10 and the other party would have to seek to recover their £4,990 through a policy that covered them?

Hoenir said:

Arbitary allocation  when later making a claim isn't something that one can argue. 

On this point, it wouldn't be arbitrary - the original booking has the names of each person that each cost is applicable to as well as the per person cost. So, for example, because people are flying from separate origins, there are multiple transfers - with the date and names being specific to the relevant individuals and the date they arrive, but for a joint excursion everyone's name is listed.

Hoenir

I've no sight of the policy cover document so cannot read the precise wording. I'm merely making the point that you have a group policy not 10 (for example) individual policies grouped under the same umbrella with a single premium payable. 

Sometimes it's more cost effective to have individual policies if group members require differing levels of cover, i.e. you are not all undertaking the same identical trip.  

sheramber

Do you have a group travel insurance policy covering everybody?
 Or, does each party / group have their own insurance policy? 

Are everybody cancelling/ postponing the holiday or just you and your wife?