Cancel trip to NYC due to terminally ill mother in law

only_a_newbie

Hi guys,
We booked a trip to NYC last June to give my wife a few days holiday. She is her mams full time carer since she was diagnosed with cancer and needing dialysis on a daily basis. However last week she deteriorated rapidly and has been transferred to palative care / hospice as she really only has a few days, maybe weeks left.
At this critical time of her life my wife, understandably Is not emotionally fit to take holiday. Is there any possibility that I could get the cost of the flights refunded if I cancel them ?
We do have annual travel insurance with ‘insure and go’, or would we go directly through aer lingus?
Thanks

Boxcar_Willie

You will need to make a claim with your insurer.

endofrainbow

you could contact Aer Lingus and see if they'll change your dates to some time in the future - not guaranteed but it's worth a shot.

Otherwise it's travel insurance

Mrs OBumble

Boxcar_Willie wrote: »

You will need to make a claim with your insurer.

Who will likely ask if the illness was known when the trip was booked., and ifvitvwas say "no".

only_a_newbie

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Who will likely ask if the illness was known when the trip was booked., and ifvitvwas say "no".

Illness was known, but mother in law was an out-patient being treated. Health deteriorated after an incident two weeks ago and has since been transferred to palative care in a hospice.
Hopefully insurance covers this

Boxcar_Willie

only_a_newbie wrote: »

Illness was known, but mother in law was an out-patient being treated. Health deteriorated after an incident two weeks ago and has since been transferred to palative care in a hospice.
Hopefully insurance covers this

It would be standard that pre-existing conditions would be excluded from cover.
You need to check the t&c's of you policy.

looksee

Talk to Aer Lingus. They will probably look for some sort of evidence - letter from a doctor maybe - but they are really excellent in situations like this.

We had a similar situation about 15 years ago. Aer Lingus allowed us cancel but use credit within 6 months from original travel date, which we did.

paulpd

My OH's mother had a heart attack in early September 3 weeks before my OH was due to go to India. She went directly to hospital (obviously) but the insurer is insisting still that the GP provide evidence of the heart attack. There's no explaining to them even after HSE letters, consultant letters, the CCU manager even wrote a letter stating that the GP was bypassed such was the urgency - she lives rurally so her sons took her directly to hospital. She remained gravely ill for a month and is now just about ok at home again.



Now 3 months later they still won't pay based on the fact there's no GP report of the heart-attack. Even more frustrating is that her cousin who was supposed to travel with her and also cancelled the trip got her full refund from her (different) insurer in October. And here's the ladys daughter getting nowhere.

gnf_ireland

Boxcar_Willie wrote: »

You will need to make a claim with your insurer.

Having gone through a claim due to the death of a close relative the day before we were due to fly, I can assure you the airlines (Ryanair in our case) were much easier to deal with than the insurance company.
The insurance company is unlikely to pay out if you booked the trip after the patient was diagnosed, or even referred to a specialist. We had to supply full medical records to show that there was no diagnosis prior to booking the trip, and took 5 months to resolve the issue (not with insure&go, but cannot imagine they will be different)

On the other hand, I contracted Ryanair and provided a link to the RIP site as I did not have the death cert at the time, and they refunded within 2 days. DAA done the same for parking.

I had a friend in a similar situation where they had booked a holiday and their father had a turn and was admitted to hospital. Aer Lingus refunded fully on that occasion as well.

So I would definitely try Aer Lingus prior to the headache of the insurance company based on my experiences !

endofrainbow

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Who will likely ask if the illness was known when the trip was booked., and ifvitvwas say "no".

So you're suggesting the OP makes a fraudulent claim?

gnf_ireland

paulpd wrote: »

Even more frustrating is that her cousin who was supposed to travel with her and also cancelled the trip got her full refund from her (different) insurer in October.

Not to derail the thread, but can I ask who the insurance company was that paid out? I am on the lookout for a new one after my experiences over the summer !

gnf_ireland

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Who will likely ask if the illness was known when the trip was booked., and ifvitvwas say "no".

Its not a case of saying no. A GP report is required to be filled in, and in our case they actually then went and requested full computerised medical records to be provided. Getting blood from a stone is easier than getting money out of a travel insurance company

paulpd

gnf_ireland wrote: »

Not to derail the thread, but can I ask who the insurance company was that paid out? I am on the lookout for a new one after my experiences over the summer !

Cousin is with VHI. No issues at all - made the claim and money arrived in her bank account shortly after.

antix80

paulpd wrote: »

My OH's mother had a heart attack in early September 3 weeks before my OH was due to go to India. She went directly to hospital (obviously) but the insurer is insisting still that the GP provide evidence of the heart attack.

Can the gp just not write a letter based on info from the hospital reports?

paulpd

antix80 wrote: »

Can the gp just not write a letter based on info from the hospital reports?

The GP is very by the book and said "but your mother wasn't in my care and hasn't been in my care for a while". She reluctantly completed a form but the insurance company won't accept it based on the fact that any GP can just copy hospital reports. She also charged €25 which is fair enough but it just adds to the frustration.


Ombudsman is next if there's no joy by the end of this week.

antix80

paulpd wrote: »

The GP is very by the book and said "but your mother wasn't in my care and hasn't been in my care for a while". She reluctantly completed a form but the insurance company won't accept it based on the fact that any GP can just copy hospital reports.

True any gp can copy reports.. But that's not what the gp is doing. She's confirming that your mother had a heart attack based on info presented to her.

Id disagree with the gp saying "hasn't been in my care for a while" as presumably your mother was a patient of that gp and no other, and listed her as her gp on admission to hospital - i believe that's a fairly standard thing to ask on any paperwork. "name and address of gp"

I hope all correspondence with her insurance company is in writing.. Don't waste your time with callcentre agents whose priority is to stop you making a complaint.. I know, i was one of those agents. It wasn't cloak and dagger stuff, people used to make silly claims like trying to claim 250k for cancer when they only had skin cancer frozen off. But, I'm sure low cost travel insurers are more cutthroat.

paulpd

antix80 wrote: »

True any gp can copy reports.. But that's not what the gp is doing. She's confirming that your mother had a heart attack based on info presented to her.

Id disagree with the gp saying "hasn't been in my care for a while" as presumably your mother was a patient of that gp and no other, and listed her as her gp on admission to hospital - i believe that's a fairly standard thing to ask on any paperwork. "name and address of gp"

I hope all correspondence with her insurance company is in writing.. Don't waste your time with callcentre agents whose priority is to stop you making a complaint.. I know, i was one of those agents. It wasn't cloak and dagger stuff, people used to make silly claims like trying to claim 250k for cancer when they only had skin cancer frozen off. But, I'm sure low cost travel insurers are more cutthroat.

It's a big player in the market.


My OH is now dealing with a manager who is to get back to her later today. An emaiil this week mentioning legal / ombudsman seems to have put a fire under them. It's just that GP anomaly that appears to be the issue. Also, thie GP is relatively new in that her old GP retired last year so she hasn't had too many dealings with her.



The fact remains, trip (booked in early 2018) had to be cancelled as her mother was hospitalised for a month 2 weeks before they were to travel.

antix80

paulpd wrote: »

It's a big player in the market.


My OH is now dealing with a manager who is to get back to her later today. An emaiil this week mentioning legal / ombudsman seems to have put a fire under them. It's just that GP anomaly that appears to be the issue. Also, thie GP is relatively new in that her old GP retired last year so she hasn't had too many dealings with her.

She took over the practice and its clients and all the files.. Prob afraid of being sued.

paulpd

antix80 wrote: »

She took over the practice and its clients and all the files.. Prob afraid of being sued.

Possibly. I can see why she's reluctant to sign off when she's not too familiar with the lady..

The insurance company can't understand how the GP wasn't involved in the whole thing. 85 yr old lady found semi-concious on her kitchen floor does not go to or contact GP before hospital. Thay can't get this at all!

kerry4sam

Thread moved to where it would be better suited.

Thanks,
kerry4sam