Cancelled holiday due to Covid, need some advice !

[Platosrevenge]

I had a temp and felt lousy. As I was going with DS 17 I really didn’t want to risk being ill abroad and leaving him to fend for himself or infecting half the hotel so had to cancel the day before.
Have got all the ‘no show’ paperwork from Ryanair but the insurance company are now asking for a doctors letter to confirm my illness had nothing to do with existing conditions (I’ve got high BP and had long Covid a few years ago). GP is saying that because I didn’t consult them they’re not sure what to write. Surely a Covid infection is like any virus, most won’t need to see a doctor, how can a doctor confirm it ?
Just wondered if anyone had been in this situation Tia.

Did you do a Covid test? Surely that’s how you confirm it?

How long after being ill did you contact your GP? If they didn’t see/talk to you at the time of illness, it’s going to be difficult to get them to write a letter as they don’t have any evidence of your illness.

I donut understand how the GP can write a letter unless they saw you for the illness in question? If I were unwell enough to cancel a holiday, I’d definitely be seeing my GP to ensure that I could claim on my insurance.

What are you expecting the GP to be able to do at this stage?

How do you know you had covid? Did you do a test? If so, you should have consulted the GP to get the paperwork done there and then for the insurance (I’m sure they would have done this online with evidence of a positive test as they wouldn’t want you in the surgery). I don’t see how they can retrospectively write the letter as you didn’t consult them at the time of illness.

Surely you didn't think the insurance would cough up without evidence from a medical professional?

I’m not sure that insurance will cover this since you are seeing the doctor retrospectively? Is Covid a reason to cancel for insurance purposes anyway? Is a cold?

This!! Bloody hell
insurance payouts are super tricky to get and rely on proof of illness, dates etc
your GP is being asked to verify your illness without having seen you :-/

Check if anypayout would be worth the cost. Gps charge for letters and completing insurance paperwork. You should get taxes back from the no show flights.

I very much doubt your insurance will cover you for this.

I work for a travel insurance company. You won’t be covered unless you have medical evidence from the GP or doctor to confirm you had COVID and they advised no travel. Unfortunately COVID is no longer automatically classed as a reason not to travel.

I don’t understand how you were too ill to get on a plane but didn’t think to contact your GP? Covid is just like having a cold, and not a reason to cancel a holiday and risk losing all your money.

If you want to claim on insurance you need to see a doctor at the time of the illness they aren’t going to pay out on your say so and I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect a GP to say anything about an illness that they never saw . A virus isn’t really a reason to cancel a holiday unless you are really debilitated so it likely wont be covered on insurance anyway .

No doctors certificate = no claim

Oh my goodness OP....did you just cancel without speaking to the GP first? How much was the holiday? I think you need to kiss this money goodbye.

Have to agree with others. If i had to cancel a holiday due to illness, I'd def be going to the doc and also explaining that I'd cancelled a holiday there and then. I don't think you'll get anywhere now, cause the doc can't verify you were that ill, if you didn't see him.

They’ll need proof or they won’t pay. Did you do a test?

Yes that’s the issue. When I first contacted the insurance company they didn't mention getting a GPs letter so essentially I’ve only just spoken to my GP !

There is a new virulent strain, there have been deaths in Sweden I think, if you've got covid on a plane you risk passengers and staff health, some of who may be very vulnerable, I wouldn't fly with a stinking cold, upset stomach or covid either.

Yes, got a photo of it

Agree. It’s a nasty strain at the moment plus how could I enjoy a holiday with a temp of 38.7 and aching everywhere ?

Your policy smallprint will detail under what circumstances they will refund you the costs of the holiday. If "I had a temperature and decided not to go" was accepted, anyone would be able to cancel any holiday at no notice, at huge cost to the insurance industry, as anyone who had any other reason to wish to cancel would be able to just claim to have had a temperature. You normally have to have written evidence that you had medical advice not to travel in order to claim for a cancellation on medical grounds.

You can probably get a refund of the tax element of your flight costs from the airline. The rest of what you paid is gone.

A photo needs your name, dob, NHS number, without that it could be from anyone, is there that info on it, I'd have done a test at the surgery.

How can you prove it was a) your covid test and b) on the day before you were due to fly?

That won’t be sufficient. My company did accept this as proof during the pandemic but not anymore

It’s very unlikely that you’ll get any money back. Having Covid is not a reason not to go, unless you’re actually ill enough to see the doctor. A picture of a test stick is not going to be sufficient - no insurance company will want to spend its time interrogating the metadata on a picture to work out if it’s fake or not.

Oh OP, you're massively missing the point.