VHI Multitrip Travel Insurance - Cancelling a holiday and claiming

54and56

Hi all,

As the title says I have VHI Multitrip Travel Insurance for the family (2 Adults and 2 kids) and I've got a query I'd appreciate some input on from experienced travellers here as the VHI claims Dept is closed today,

I'm due to bring the family on our annual campsite holiday to France next Thursday. It's an independently booked holiday i.e. I booked the ferry direct and I booked the campsite direct all of which was done back in Nov/Dec.

Unfortunately my elderly mother became seriously ill last week and long story short is she's in ICU with no sign of her being moved to a regular ward. It's touch and go as to whether she'll make a decent recovery or she'll pass away. The Doctors really can't predict how things will go and can't do anything other than deal with things on a day by day basis.

If she doesn't make significant progress in the next 2-3 days i.e. she actually moves or is scheduled to move to a regular ward because her recovery is heading in the right direction I'm going to have to cancel the holiday.

Can anyone advise what the process is for claiming the cost of the cancelled holiday on my VHI Multitrip Travel policy? Is there typically an excess? Is there a cap? The holiday cost circa €5,000 for the ferry and campsite.

If I could get the cost back and her medical issue is resolved (one way or another) in the next 2-3 weeks I could rearrange an alternative holiday as I don't want the kids to miss out on their holiday if possible but I know that's not the biggest issue in the world and they'll be fine if we have to skip the holiday all together and their Nana makes a good recovery. If she passes away I think I'd like to head on holiday myself just to get some head space and recharge my batteries!!!

Appreciate any input/feedback/advice.

Cheers.

Wyldwood

Firstly, so sorry to hear about your mum, hopefully she'll make a full recovery.

There will be an excess on the policy, check your documents for details. As far as I am aware as long as the illness your mother is suffering from was not pre-existing the date you took out the VHI policy then you should be covered. You'll need medical certification of the illness and it's gravity (or death) and then just advise VHI straight away of the problem.

Claims can take a while to sort, so don't expect to have your money back next week.

Ring VHI tomorrow and explain the situation to get definite information.

54and56

Wyldwood wrote: »

Firstly, so sorry to hear about your mum, hopefully she'll make a full recovery.

There will be an excess on the policy, check your documents for details. As far as I am aware as long as the illness your mother is suffering from was not pre-existing the date you took out the VHI policy then you should be covered. You'll need medical certification of the illness and it's gravity (or death) and then just advise VHI straight away of the problem.

Claims can take a while to sort, so don't expect to have your money back next week.

Ring VHI tomorrow and explain the situation to get definite information.

Thanks Wyldwood, appreciate your response.

The policy is a multi year policy which auto renews around March time each year IIRC so no issue re timing of policy Vs timing of my mothers illness.

I'll make a point of ringing the VHI claim line in the morning.

Thanks again.

Mormophile

Very sorry to hear about your mother, and I hope she gets good care and gets better soon.

I was in a similar position recently - was due to go to the States with my parents and brother, but my father had a heart attack a few days before we were due to travel. Thankfully he is okay, and we have rescheduled, but we had to claim on the Multitrip insurance.

I ran into a few issues that might be relevant to you:

There was an excess of €85 per person, and we all had to claim off our respective policies (I initially thought that I could claim for everyone under my own, but that was not the case). Not sure whether you have a family policy or individual policies, but the same might apply.

In fairness to VHI I found them courteous to deal with, and they paid out promptly.

HOWEVER, I have since received a letter from VHI asking for details of the credit card we used to book the flights (even though I had clearly stated this info on my submission), as it turns out that credit card travel insurance may apply and supersede the Multitrip cover. I'm not sure where this leaves me as I have used the refund provided by VHI to pay off the cancelled flights. Need to get in touch with them about this, but would appreciate if anyone who has had a similar experience can give any advice about this.

Good luck J_S_J, hope everything is resolved swiftly for you!

54and56

Thanks for your kind words and advice Mormophile, I appreciate it.

Mormophile wrote: »

I ran into a few issues that might be relevant to you:

There was an excess of €85 per person, and we all had to claim off our respective policies (I initially thought that I could claim for everyone under my own, but that was not the case). Not sure whether you have a family policy or individual policies, but the same might apply.

In fairness to VHI I found them courteous to deal with, and they paid out promptly.

I think my policy is a family policy. I called them this morning and they confirmed the €85 excess but didn't say one way or another whether it's per person or per claim on the policy. I booked a single ferry trip and single campsite for 2 adults and 2 kids so hopefully as there was only one transaction for all four people there will only be one excess. I wonder will I have to claim the ferry and campsite separately and if so will there be an €85 excess on each? I guess the worst case scenario is there is an €85 excess per person for both the ferry re-claim and the campsite re-claim. That would equate to €680 and would really pi$$ me off

Mormophile wrote: »

HOWEVER, I have since received a letter from VHI asking for details of the credit card we used to book the flights (even though I had clearly stated this info on my submission), as it turns out that credit card travel insurance may apply and supersede the Multitrip cover. I'm not sure where this leaves me as I have used the refund provided by VHI to pay off the cancelled flights. Need to get in touch with them about this, but would appreciate if anyone who has had a similar experience can give any advice about this.

Mmmm, can't remember what card I used. Both the campsite and ferry were booked on a multi payment basis i.e. you pay €x to secure the booking when you originally book and €y or €y and €z at pre-determined dates to make up the balance. I think the ferry was a booking payment and a single balancing payment and the campsite was a booking payment and two further payments and I think I used a combination of both debit and credit cards for each depending on the dates and personal finances etc. I guess I'll cross that bridge when I need to.

54and56

^^^ Just confirmed, it's €85 excess per person for the entirety of the claim so €340 which is a bit of a pain :mad:

coylemj

Mormophile wrote: »

HOWEVER, I have since received a letter from VHI asking for details of the credit card we used to book the flights (even though I had clearly stated this info on my submission), as it turns out that credit card travel insurance may apply and supersede the Multitrip cover. I'm not sure where this leaves me as I have used the refund provided by VHI to pay off the cancelled flights. Need to get in touch with them about this, but would appreciate if anyone who has had a similar experience can give any advice about this.

If you have some kind of premium credit card like a Bank of Ireland Platinum Mastercard, it comes with travel insurance which applies if you use the CC to pay for at least 50% of the holiday. That type of card costs money so you would (should) be aware of an annual charge over and above the annual Govt. levy. If you have a bog-standard credit card that has no annual charge then you do not have travel cover.

Even if you do have such cover, it's really none of VHI's business. What they're expecting of you is that you go through the hassle of claiming off the credit card travel insurance and then handing the money over to them. No gain for you so tell them you have a regular credit card with no travel insurance.

But if you do have such a credit card, you probably don't need travel insurance via the VHI or anyone else.

Mormophile

Thanks for the input coylemj. I think I'll let them stew for now

Je_suis_Jean, that's a pity about the excess applying to everyone. Same with me, although we did eventually have to go through separate policies, so I wasn't totally surprised. If you're applying under the one policy it's a bit daft (but typical!).

Hope they get it sorted for you soon anyway.

smurfjed

No gain for you so tell them you have a regular credit card with no travel insurance.

Might not be so easy as they might ask for a copy of the payment.

I wonder will I have to claim the ferry and campsite separately

I dont believe that you can do that as you will be asked for ALL costs associated with the trip.

Also worth looking at the small print, what is the maximum payout per trip. In my case it was 3000E.