Travel insurance -death of a relative

[JoB1977]

MIL died yesterday.
We have a holiday booked for Easter hols. Really don’t want to go now as FIL needs us. However, after contacting travel insurance it seems that, as she has had inpatient treatment over the last 12 months, we can’t claim.
She went in for a procedure. It wasn’t meant to kill her but things went wrong.
This just seems really unfair.

YABU - it’s in the terms and conditions (in stupidly small writing on page whatever of whatever)
YANBU - how are you meant to properly weigh up the health risks of all family members (who aren’t even travelling with you!) before you ever book a holiday??

Are you sure it's her having treatment it refers to? I used to work for travel insurance and usually they just asked if anything was expected to happen while you were away / had terminal diagnosis?

First of all, sorry for your loss.

It seems unusual that the insurers are taking a pre-existing condition into account under these circumstances OP, the last time I bought travel insurance you were eligible to claim if you cancelled due to the death of a close relative. Assuming MIL wasn't due to travel with you, then I'd have expected you to be covered.

You are usually covered for death of a close relative but not if what they died from was a known pre-existing condition. So, for example someone who had had treatment for cancer and died - you wouldn't be covered even if they hadn't been expected to die. Someone healthy who had an unexpected event (heart attack, stroke etc) - you would be covered.
This is how it was explained to me by my insurance company.

Complain to insurance company, they may review the case. Can any of the cost be reclaimed from the accommodation , travel etc even if just tax on flights. Insurers would expect you to try and provide evidence of costs.

Thank you.
She had a triple heart bypass 19 years ago and a kidney transplant 10 years ago. She lived the best she could with these issues. Over the last year she was getting more breathless and had a couple of A and E admissions which led to one stent being put in in December and a further planned for this month. It was meant to be a straightforward procedure (as much as anything can be when you have more than one thing up with you and are in your 80s) but there was a complication and here we are.
The policy says you can claim for cancellation if a close relative dies, but in the exemptions bit says about if they have had inpatient treatment or are awaiting tests when you booked the holiday. It’s just, when you think about it, how could you ever be sure you are covered, especially as you age and therefore the people you know age too? She wasn’t coming on the holiday so I was never asked about the medical conditions of everyone I loved.
I suppose I’m fixating on this because I’m upset (I am lucky, I have amazing in-laws) and it seems unfair.

So was she actually having inpatient treatment or awaiting tests when you booked the holiday OP? If not, then I'd go back to the insurance company, but if so, then I'm afraid it was down to you to check before accepting that the policy was suitable. I know this won't be what you want to hear, and seems terribly unreasonable, but I guess we all risk this when we take out insurance and can't be arsed to read all the small print, which I'm actually the worst at, glazing over before I get half way through, so I always get my DH to read it too, just to be on the safe side. However, as a previous poster suggested, it might be worth checking whether you can get any money back on other parts of the holiday, such as hotels, etc.

I'm sorry for your loss.

As a pp said, could you put an official complaint in writing. I do hate insurance companies, they seem to look at every single case as an exercise in how not to pay out.

So sorry for your loss.

It may depend on whether you knew that she was having the procedure before you took out the insurance if this is in their terms and conditions. I would definitely follow this up.

Alternatively, is there any chance that you can ask the tour operator or airline/hotel if they can help you. If they are not able to refund you, would they let you change the holiday dates to next year or provide you with vouchers to be used at a later date?

Was it in the key facts doc when you took out the policy?

It was insurance I have with the bank account so I hadn’t taken it out specifically for this trip but yes, I can’t deny it is written down.
If this is a cautionary tale for anyone else then at least I will feel I achieved something! I suppose she was just someone who always had health things going on so it was never something that felt individually significant, until it was (obviously).
Have contacted the travel agent to see if there is anything that can be done but yeah, that’s the situation. Hope no one else ends up in the same boat.

I learned insurance companies often decline (almost all) claims at first.
Many people don't object....
Object to their reasoning, as you explained on here, that she didn't die from the condition she was in care for.
Please try again.

I have started the process of a claim, but haven’t actually claimed yet.
This is because in order to claim, and be declined, I have to cancel the holiday and send proof of cancellation. However this means if they then decline my claim I’ve lost the lot.
I’m currently trying to sell the holiday instead.
It’s a bugger. Yes, they are within their terms and conditions (which I’ve now read all 48 pages of).My issue is; I’m late 40s, my husband is 10 years older, my parents are in their 70s and my dad has Parkinson’s. Realistically; most people I love may well have an inpatient episode or be ‘awaiting tests’ within any 12 month period. By the terms and conditions; should I need to cut short or cancel a holiday due to death or serious illness I’m not covered for anyone I know. Is that a risk I’m willing to take??

These insurers are a bunch of dirty thieves IMO. Their policies are worded so that they can always wriggle out of paying. It's horrible. Like legalised fraud. Your MIL died yesterday, you ought to be well within your rights to claim for a holiday that's in a couple of weeks.

On her death certificate we were told it would be a combination of heart and kidney.

She had A and E admissions for her heart ( hence the procedure, which was supposed to make it better) over the last 12 months). She also had a 10 year old kidney transplant which had regular monitoring.

I know it sounds daft but on paper yes she was a medical nightmare but face to face you wouldn’t have thought ‘she’s ill’ and she didn’t present that way. I don’t know. I know insurance is a business but I never thought about this. I just thought that the cancellation clause would support us.

ultimately we will be there for family but I’d rather do that without being out of pocket for over £2000 - perils of being a teacher and tied to school holidays I suppose….

I loved her. I don’t want to be worrying about this

This is NOT true in the slightest. I have worked at many insurers and there is no incentive for claims teams to deny any claims. Products are also monitored by regulators and if claim denials are high there would definitely be investigations and fines. An insurer will monitor and investigate any products where the claim denials are below over 20% of claims made to ensure it isn't being misunderstood or missold.

This rule does sound like a harsh one, but similarly insurance has to be based on providing cover for events that are unlikely or unexpected to happen. The risk is too likely to happen in the case of a relative considered to be seriously ill at the time of booking for them to be able to cover it. Ultimately they have to price a product at a price that allows a break even between money in and money out in their statistical modelling. (Before anyone starts on the money grabbing bastards angle the profit for most bulk insurance like this is generally only from interest earned in the delay between premiums in and claims out so insurance is run pretty much for cost price).

I'm sorry OP I understand this is hard. Travel insurance attached to bank accounts is cheap insurance priced on low risks. For coverage on high risks like older relatives receiving treatment or health problems in those travelling you usually have to buy specialist high risk policies which are quite a bit more expensive to reflect the higher chances of claims.

In many cases, family members don’t share the details of their ailments - especially when they get to a certain age and have quite regular trips to the doctors/hospital/optometrist/hearing aid centre/chiropodist etc. or have dementia and can’t even remember who we are. My MIL wouldn’t tell my DH details of her health conditions (she’d be more likely to tell my SIL) and I don’t accompany him on visits as she lives close to his work and he pops in on his way home.
So are we all expected to ask all family members to complete some kind of health questionnaire?! It’s ridiculous!

Not sure. They might only cover your DH.

Interestingly when I've bought travel insurance over the past few years, one of the initial questions asked is if family members have health issues & you are warned that the insurance cover won't be valid if you do.
I think it was to do with hospital admissions & chronic illnesses but as it didn't apply to my family, I'm afraid I didn't pay attention to the precise questions asked.

It seems that we must have been lucky with our claim.

DP's Father died a few years ago while we were on holiday. He had had a stroke several months previously, had dementia (albeit undiagnosed) and had recently moved into a care home.

We came home as early as possible but were in Asia and getting back involved travel to a city with international flights, an overnight hotel and expensive long haul flights.

We claimed for dp, myself and dp and our claim was agreed.

I bought travel insurance a few weeks ago and a clause of this nature was highlighted at the top. Never seen such a thing before so it seems they are either making people more aware or (more likely?) looking for more reasons to take our money but not pay out.

I have seen this often on travel insurance policies but then I am someone who likes to crawl the T&Cs so I know what I am covered for.

My DM was diagnosed as having terminal cancer but she lived for years after that diagnosis and I did know I wasn't covered for cancellation if I tried to claim because of her death because it was a 'known' risk.

I think a policy you paid for would have been more generous. I’ve never relied on the free ones when going abroad for this reason.
I am sorry though - last thing you need.

Thanks for the replies. I accept that they are legally correct I just think it’s morally shitty but they are a business and need to make money. Hope this thread might help someone else before they get into a similar situation.