Daughter broke her arm - due to go on holiday, can I cancel?

[BrokenArmworries]

My DD8 broke her arm this week. Silly accident just in the playground, nobody’s fault. It’s quite a bad break and she has a cast on from her wrist to shoulder, so she can’t bend her arm and it’s in a sling.

we are supposed to be going on holiday next week.. all inclusive, pool and kids water slide park etc. all the things she won’t be able to do.

im gutted for her! She LOVES a pool and all she wants to do on holiday is play in the pool. She won’t be able to go on slides due to the full arm cast. We have a waterproof covering for it, but the whole arm cast makes everything quite tricky for her. She can’t put weight in it (yet).

AIBU to cancel and claim through our travel insurance? I booked the flights and hotel separately, so not a package holiday. Would travel insurance cover this?

she has to go to hospital again next week before we go on holiday to have it x-ray’d again to make sure it’s healing correctly. She will have to have it x-rayd again once we are back. They did want to see whilst we are away but said they could work around our travel dates.

other details - we are a family of 4, I have another DD11.
we have already been on a lovely holiday this summer, so if we didn’t go this time, nobody would feel they are missing out, and we could put the money towards fun things later in the year.

YABU - go on holiday and try to make the most of it.
YANBU - cancel and use the money another time.

Have you ever seen anyone with their arm set completely straight ??
I’d imagine it’s set in a bent position so she can use the sling and mum meant she couldn’t straighten it
( but I could be wrong )

I wouldn’t leave it a few days, I’d be looking now to see how you can cancel under insurance. Poor kid is bound to be miserable. My DD had an arm cast on last year but luckily it was removed before the holiday abroad we had. We literally spent most of it in the pool, I’m not sure it would’ve been the same holiday if we hadn’t! I feel your pain, it’s so difficult too when you’ve been looking forward to it,

No, I haven't, hence my question.

I broke my wrist snowboarding and flew home 4 days later from Canada. So long as it is more than 48hrs you should be ok on the flight. It was pretty uncomfortable though. I would cancel- your poor DD. It would be really hard to not go in the pool. Paddling too risky- so easy to just slip then the cast is soaked and she's fallen on it again.

I would cancel. You’ve had a holiday already so not missing out, and save the money towards the next one. But it will depend if the insurance will cover it.

Agree with everyone here. It all depends on what your insurance / travel providers say and if you can afford to take the hit if not.

I will say that all the problems your DD will encounter on holiday - boredom, discomfort, envy of other kids, missing out on stuff - will be the same at home so you are not going to avoid that - though obviously at least there will be no stress associated with travel and being in a strange place. I would also wonder if there would be resentment from her sibling about the holiday being cancelled.

Just cancel and reorganise: that poor kid is going to be so unhappy watching her sibling do everything she can’t. Stay home and do some things she can do.

Also as they’ve already had a holiday the sibling will be fine. Sometimes life gets in the way and plans change (for everyone). The priority, to me in this instance, would be the child with the break.

Could you speak with your doctor and ask them to do a fit note which will have to pay for? I think it’s around £50 when I had to do it?

It’s not gonna be an enjoyable holiday for her if sweltering hot and she can’t enjoy things that kids do on holidays therefore you and your husband are unlikely to enjoy either.

Hopefully insurance will pay out and you can rebook it for October.

Insurance can be complete arses tho

when my husband died we were meant to go on holiday. I think two weeks after so I contacted them and said that he had died and obviously I wasn’t really in the frame of mind to go.

They said could I not go by myself I said no they said could I not take someone? I said no because everyone else has their own holidays with their families

Eventually they did pay out but as someone above said if cancellation fee per person and by the time that I paid out the cancellation fee for myself and for my husband because it didn’t matter that he died, they still needed it to be cancelled for him. I think there was around £500 that I did end up getting back in the end so yes I did go on another holiday with a friend later but they were very very unsympathetic and that was after a dead husband so sad to say your insurance may not be sympathetic to an eight-year-old child but if you have a nice doctor, hopefully they can write a letter and that will go a long way.

On the other hand, my sister cancelled her holiday because my dad was in hospital. He wasn’t part of the trip, but they accepted that as a reason she wanted to cancel.

@Blondeshavemorefun I’m really sorry about your husband. You’d like to think in the most serious circumstances, like death, insurance companies would be able to show an element of compassion.that sounds beyond stressful for you

Experiencing these things at home is far easier for everyone in their own surroundings.

@BrokenArmworriesI have a thing called a cast cooler, it attaches to your vacuum and sucks air through the cast. It really helps with itching (and smells!) I got it on Amazon. It seems they aren’t available in the UK any more but I’d be happy to lend it to you for postage.

It might be esisr to ring the consultant’s secretary, say she is in pain and unhappy and could they send you an email stating unfit to travel .

I had a cast like this when I was 5yo. Started at my knuckles and ended under the arm pit type.
Fell two days before we were due to go away camping 😳😳
I have the vivid memory of telling my mum it would be ok. I wasn’t going to miss a holiday! 😁😁
So we went.
Then went to see grandparents that lived by the sea (another country so yes very warm, the sea, not much else to do, if only because of the heat in the pm).
Again clear memory of me having fun in the sea, sand etc… with a plastic bad around my arm (things have evolved since then).
Has it been the same? Clearly not. But I still enjoyed it.

Just to reassure you that as a child, it’s not the end of the world and you can still have fun iyswim

It doesn't matter what MN says. All you can do is phone your insurers and ask them. Ask them what medical documents need to be in your dd's medical records for you to be allowed to cancel and claim compensation.
Ask the airline what their policy for flying in a plaster cast is and get it in writing.
That is all you can do if you wish to claim on your insurance.
Of course anyone can cancel and lose the money, but I expect you don't want to do that.
I am so sorry for your dd, it is bad luck. I hope she isn't in too much pain.

I am so, so sorry. That is disgusting behaviour by the insurers.
I am very sorry for your loss.

I can absolutely see why you don't want to go. You will need to check your travel insurance, but I suspect you will only be able to recoup costs if a medical professional decides your daughter is unfit to fly.

We went in this situation. Bloccs waterproof cast cover was amazing. DD went down water slides and everything. I got her arm bands to help counteract the weight of the cast. Needed a fit to fly letter from the doctors

@BrokenArmworries ask the doctor when you have your fracture clinic appt - be upfront about it and say you don’t think it’ll work taking her. Most of us are fairly reasonable and even if yes technically you can go on a plane etc, are happy to do a not fit to fly letter. Some do charge but most just add it onto your clinic letter which you’ll get a copy of anyway. The most it normally requires of me is to mark it as urgent so it doesn’t take two weeks to get to you.

I would cancel if I could get the money back in the travel insurance.
It won't be fun for her having to sit around and watch everyone else getting to play in the water and she's limited to paddling or doing a few things but having to be careful of her arm all the time.
Get as much money bac as you can and then you can spend it on a holiday next year when she isn't wearing a cast.

Can it be rescheduled? I doubt very much she would be allowed to fly. If not claim the insurance, it would be awful to have her sitting there not being able to fully enjoy it.

Thank you.

one would have thought ……

Get an unfit to fly so get it all back

DD fell over on holiday and we assumed he has just sprained it until he flew home and the pain and swelling made us realise it wasn’t and that was just a small green stick fracture

Oh cancel! She’ll be so hot and itchy - you won’t have creature comforts for home. The flight will be hard work. Then there’s the transfer from airport to hotel. And missing out on all the fun parts of the holiday.

Id hate to take a kid on a holiday like that. Cancel, claim insurance, and book a week somewhere else in October half term (look at Tropical Islands near Berlin).

100% cancel and rebook.