refused claim

lah

hi can any help my partners father died last october 2007 three weeks before our holiday so we had to cancel because the funeral was on the day we should have flown out,not only did we have to cancel but we also lost the cost of my sons accomdation,the insurance norwich union have just got back to use and refused our claim saying we should have told them my partners father was ill and had an existing illness.the insurance was through our bank account and was free cover we never filled any forms out and was not asked any questions regards ourselves or our family.can anyone advise me on what i can do.:money: :money:

koolmummy

My advice would be to get the policy wording and read it.
Usually you would have to notify the insurance company of a "know reason to cancel or curtail" a trip.

Did your father in law have a serious medical condition when you booked the holiday? Could this condition reasonably have given rise to a claim?

If he did then i'm afraid that the insurers are justifieed in not paying out.

If he had a medical condition that was not serious i.e he had high blood pressure took medication and had the recommended check ups and he died suddenly of a heart attack which you could not have possibly predicted, you may stand a chance of getting them to re consider.

Hope this helps

lah

Thanks For Your Advise Will Check Policy Details. My Father In Law Had C.o.b. The Day Before He Died He Went To See The Doctors And The Doctor Said Herself She Could Not Believe He Had Passed Away Because He Was So Well The Day Before.

koolmummy

I'd get on to them in the circs.

I work for a travel Insurance company and was very suprised to discover that in the event of a similar claim, the claims dept would not even check the medical records of the ill/deceased person, they would just pay out!

Under all of the FSA regulations all insurance companies have to treat customers fairly. Read the policy wording. Write to the company via their complaints process as described in the wording and argue your point.

I have head that some travel insurance companies will always decline a claim initially and then pay if policy holders challenge the decision (not my Co.).

Good Luck with it

Sarahb_2

lah wrote: »

hi can any help my partners father died last october 2007 three weeks before our holiday so we had to cancel because the funeral was on the day we should have flown out,not only did we have to cancel but we also lost the cost of my sons accomdation,the insurance norwich union have just got back to use and refused our claim saying we should have told them my partners father was ill and had an existing illness.the insurance was through our bank account and was free cover we never filled any forms out and was not asked any questions regards ourselves or our family.can anyone advise me on what i can do.:money: :money:

Hi lah, i've only just read your post so hope I can still be of some help to you. Basically don't take no for an answer.

Something very similar happened to us in 2003. A few weeks after we had booked a xmas holiday to Florida my mum was diagnosed with leukaemia in May '03. We made no change to our booking and my mum progressed well with her treatment and quickly went into remission. However just 2 weeks before our travel she passed away from septicaemia, following her last round of chemo.
We made a claim, which was rejected, citing that we should have advised them of the change of circumstances, a decision that I contested.
The policy did state that 'anything concerning the health of a close relative who is not travelling with you but may make it necessary to cancel or cut short your trip should be advised' etc.

Now my argument was that this statement is very much open to interpretation. As far as the family and the medics were concerned there was NO MEDICAL INDICATION or CONCERN in the 7 mths prior to travel that we would have to alter or cancel our plans.
Cutting a long story short, they refused again, a travel lawyer also told me I hadn't a leg to stand on but I still maintained my argument, so I went to Financial Obudsman and guess what was entirely successful.
Sorry I've gone on a bit but don't be bullied by these people, if you think you have good grounds to contest the decision, go for it.
Good luck and sorry for your loss, Sarah