Travel Ins. Claim (Due to death of Uncle)

W

WGT

Registered User
Messages
201
Hi,
Just back from Lanzarote, had to come home early due to death of Uncle. However, the insurance company says I can't make a claim because the relative is not immediate family.
I've read the policy document and it's not explicit. It states
If You curtail Your trip due to an illness/death of a travelling companion,
a relative, or a close business associate, then You must also contact the Assistance Company,
otherwise Your claim may be declined. You must always mitigate Your costs.

Can I challenge them on this? This looks a bit suspect as my Uncle is certainly a relative by any standards.
 
You need to fight this case as with all insurance claims.
My husband and I travelled to Australia & New Zealand. When 3 days in Aus. my husbands sister died back here. We had booked a 2 week tour of NZ. When we claimed on our return for the extra expenses incurred, we were told they would pay for my husband but not for me. Their angle was I could have continued on the journey alone.
They are never easy to deal with. I am not sure if your uncle is considered a close relative- depends on their small print. Good luck Browtal
 
Sorry for your loss. It would seem your insurer is correct based upon what is printed here.
 
You probably will discover that a relative is immediate family member like brother, sister, mother, father. Uncles are not covered - neither are granparents.

However, some insurance policies cover uncles who reside permanently in the same house as you.
 

First of all, sorry for your loss.

However, did you follow the instructions in the policy document? To my mind it is explicit - you MUST contact the Assistance Company, it would seem you didn't, even if you had they probably would have told you that an Uncle doesn't count as a close relative but at least you would have known before flying home.
 
- Can you look again where there is a definition of relative in the policy document.

Having sold thousands of travel insurance policies over many years -and having studied every year all the policies on the market- I have never come across any policy that does not define such terms as "relative".
If there is no definition then you have a case.
But if uncles are excluded ,bad luck.

However, even if your uncle was included and he died from a pre-existing condition then no policy is any use.
A "pre-existing condition" tends to mean a condition that he was aware of, usually because of a medical diagnosis. Hence the insurance company needs confirmation from the doctor that he wasn't aware that the deceased was suffering from what actually killed him. (I'm talking about illness obviously -not accidents).

Having said all that , i must concur with previous posters - you really should have contacted the company.
Of course, you may have tried several times and couldn't get through and you had to make an immediate decision as there was only one flight leaving. And perhaps you chose the cheapest possible option in order to minimise costs.
Maybe that is what happened, in which case the insurance obudsman would view that failureto observe the terms of the policy in a fair light.

So, you have three hurdles to jump -the definition, the pre-exisitng condition , and the failure to contact the company.

It would be useful for all of us if you can say how you got on.
Insurance companies can be xxxxxx
 
Again I agree, all insurance documents have a substantial section on definitions and just looking at my policy for my upcoming ski holiday, the term Relative is as follows

Relative
Your partner and your or your partners parent, brother, sister, son, daughter,
(including adopted or fostered children), grandparent, grandchild, stepparent,
stepchild, stepbrother, stepsister or next of kin.

No mention of an uncle, sorry!!
 
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