Egg travel insurance - A warning

Robboseven

Last December I took out annual travel insurance through Egg. On the day my wife and I were due to go on holiday this year - 2nd June - my wife's mother died unexpectedly. Obviously we cancelled our plans and claimed on our insurance as no refunds were available given the short timescale.

Having filled in and sent off the claim form together with a copy of the death certificate and all relevant paperwork I today received a letter from the claims settlement department at AXA (the underwriters) telling me they need my mother in laws doctor to A: Confirm the cause of death (even though it was on the death certificate) and B: To confirm that when we took out the insurance last December my mother in law was fit and well! She was 83.

As you can imagine I am b****y livid to say the least. Am I to suppose that when I take out travel insurance I have to ensure that, on the day I take out the policy, all of my immediate family are fit and well? If this is the case then nobody with an ailing parent should go on holiday apparently.

I'm only claiming £300 and I have never claimed on a policy before. No doubt if I had "lost a very expensive camera" ha ha, they would have paid out by now!!

MarkyMarkD

I think this is well worthy of a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Bureau - not least because it's not the first time I've heard of similar goings on.

It is quite reasonable for insurers to ask you to inform them in advance if you are travelling and you have an illness before you go. It's just about reasonable for them to ask the health of your spouse, if you are travelling without them.

It's certainly NOT reasonable to expect them to check out, and inform them of, the state of health of every possible relative who might die whilst you are on holiday.

A general ruling from the FOB would be very useful to prevent this sort of issue arising in future.

telly-addict

The following thread may be of interest and in particular the article from the Financial Ombudsman Service:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=71958&highlight=travel+insurance+cancellation

As your mother-in-law died unexpectedly, I can't see why your claim should present a problem. However, the travel insurers are within their rights to ask the questions.

I've actually got a similar situation myself where I need to disclose my mother's serious medical condition when my annual travel insurance renews next month.

Sorry to hear of your loss and good luck with your claim.

Robboseven

Thanks for your replies. I have written to complain to the settlement agency, AXA and Egg. I will wait and see if this bears fruit. I'm going away for a few days to Europe later in the year and I'll be covered by the same insurance. Lets just hope I don't lose anything (?)