Travel insurance Cop Out

holdfast

first time posting here

just a wonder if any one found them self in the same position. I paid for travel insurance for the year. the company i took it out with was bank of ireland through another comapny called OSG.

I travelled to New Zealand and Oz this summer as apart of my hooneymoon. During this time my father passed away suddenly and I had to cancel over half the trip and make emergency plans to get home.

Now I find that they will not hold up the claim, saying due to a medical condition of a relative that I was depending on for the trip i had to cancel. How could this be? yes my father had a heart problem, but he was never better and I would not have booked such a trip if he was ill. It bugs me as the max claim would not even cover the flights back and it looks like they have every angle covered.

so is a sudden death a medical condition ?
what does depending on mean ?

BuffyBot

Alas, people seem to assume Travel Insurance is a catch all. For the most part, it's VERY dependent on small print (which most people don't read), and each insurer covers different events, well - differently.

Seek clarification as to exactly why this circumstance isn't covered from them (in writing) and see if that matches what was stated in your policy document. If it does, then unfortunately, you probably don't have much of a leg to stand on.

holdfast

Cheers for that. But i purchased this over the phone and it seems any one with a relative/work mate who has a medical condition is not covered. Can that be the case.

lynchtp

You should have been able to transfer the flights home with the airline for little or no fee due to a relative dying.
Have you asked them about it?

Angus MacGyver

Id query the "depended" with the insurance company.

I would see "a person on whom your trip depended on" as somebody your were travelling with or travelling to, and so would the majority of ins companies

Nearly all travel insurance companies have terms and conditions around pre existing illness but usually there is an amount of time, say 5 years or so, that if the condition is before this then it does not affect claims.

I would go through your terms and conditions under the the cancellation and trip curtailment section with a fine tooth comb,

Had you submitted the claim and then it was rejected or did you ring up and ask about it. Theres always the chance that the person you got through to asessed the claim incorrectly or didnt know what they were talking about.

Everytime you take out an insurance policy you should read the terms and conditions. They're never exiting reading but the problem is that more often than not with travel ins that you find out the hard way. Plus in this case it just adds insult to injury having to deal with your Da passin on.

holdfast

thanks for the help. I am going to get my solictor to have a look at it. i have e-mailed them but to no avail.

about the flights home it was 2300hrs over there when i got the news. i tried to change the flights but told i need to do it from the booking agent side. So when i rang them they told me there is nothing they could do . they ask if i had travel issurance. dont get me started with them (trailfinders). I just wanted to get home and booked the flights directly myself.

parsi

To me a person on whom you're trip depended would include someone whose death would cause you to cancel the trip and not just a travelling partner.

Travel Insurance is dirt cheap nowadays and as a result the exclusions are numerous.