Hi

I wonder if anyone can help with this. Ill try and keep it to the point.

My mum and her partner were due to go on holiday. Whilst waiting for a taxi to take them to the airport he collapsed and died.

They both had different insurance companies.

My mum had paid the holiday in full using her credit card.

The holiday wasnt that expensive (approx £450 in total)

She is under the impression that she needs to submit a claim to each of the insurers to cover her half and his half.

His insurance company have stated that they need a grant of probate before they will consider paying out. This will cost £250. (not worth it to get £225 minus the excess)

Can my mum claim for the full amount through her travel insurance company as she paid for the holiday herself?

Many Thanks

Claim under both policies for the relevant portion. As a partner, unless she had some legal way of acting for his estate, she would not be able to make a claim, but she can report what has happened, so they know about it. Do you know who is able to act on his behalf legally ? Did he not leave a will naming the executor ? They executor can act on his behalf.

Had she bought a policy covering both of them, the Insurers would have dealt with all of the claim and paid out to her the full cost minus the excess.

Not sure why they choose to have two separate policies.

The grant of probate is free, unless his estate would leave a substantial 'net' figure.

If he had any bank accounts/shares/investments, the executor will need a grant of probate or grant of letters of representation to access those funds.

I am assuming they were not married (you said 'partner', not 'husband'). If they were married, she can act on his behalf straight away, as his estate becomes her property on his death.

Hi AllThanks for your replies so far.This is where it gets a wee bit complicated.They were living together for the last year or so however he was still technically married (separated but not divorced).He did leave a will stating that all his estate went to his wife. His brother is the executor.He contacted my mum saying that in order for his insurance compnay to pay out they require a grant of probate.His estate was worth over £10000 so this would cost £250 if she wanted to claim.I just wondered, since she paid for the holiday that she would be able to claim it back either through her insurance or her credit card.Neil

Hello there.

I'm not sure where this figure of £250 comes from. This is a quote from gov.uk, which should be up to date. They're talking about £105.

Send off your application

Send off your application, which should include:

• the probate application form PA1
  
• the Inheritance Tax form
  
• an official copy of the death certificate
  
• the original will and 3 copies - and any codicils (additions or amendments to it)
  
• the application fee of £105 - a cheque made payable to HM Courts & Tribunals Service (there’s no fee if the estate is under £5,000)
  

https://www.gov.uk/wills-probate-inheritance/applying-for-a-grant-of-representation

If the brother has taken on legal representation, I would say that's his choice. Most people are capable of sorting out a relatively simple estate, I know several. It's usually just a question of collating the information and being organised. I helped my father do this.

My best, HB

Hi AllThanks for your replies so far.This is where it gets a wee bit complicated.They were living together for the last year or so however he was still technically married (separated but not divorced).He did leave a will stating that all his estate went to his wife. His brother is the executor.He contacted my mum saying that in order for his insurance compnay to pay out they require a grant of probate.His estate was worth over £10000 so this would cost £250 if she wanted to claim.I just wondered, since she paid for the holiday that she would be able to claim it back either through her insurance or her credit card.Neil

My opinion for what it is worth, is to claim off her policy for the portion that relates to her trip and forget about the claim for her partners portion of the trip. I am not sure it is worth the hassle of your Mum getting her partners family to make a claim against his policy.

For a sum of £225, you would have to think whether it was worth the hassle of working with the partners family to make a claim under a Travel Insurance. I am guessing that there are many other issues that require attention in this complicated situation.

Hi Everyone.

Thanks for your advice. My mum made a claim on her policy for her part of the trip.

However her claim was denied quoting general exclusion 1 -

a. The claim relates to a medical condition or an illness related to a medical condition which you or any person who your trip depends on (this would include a relative or a close business associate) knew about before you bought this insurance. You must make sure you tell us about any change in the state of health of yourself, anyone travelling with you, a relative or close business associate occurring after you have bought this policy but before you travel. Please refer to the Health conditions section on page 2 of this policy wording for further details.

I admit she probably didnt read all the T&C's but she thought that this only related to her as her partner had his own policy.

I've had a look at the virgin website and at the T&C's.

There is a section with regards to cancellation of the holiday that states she can make a claim in the case of -

2. The death, serious illness or injury of a relative, close business associate, a person who you have booked to travel with or a relative or friend living abroad who you had planned to stay with. The incident giving rise to the claim must have been unexpected and not something you were aware of when you took out this insurance. Please see General exclusion number 1d and 1e for further details

Exclusions 1d & 1e state -

d. You, a relative, business associate, a person who you have booked to travel with or a relative or friend living abroad who you had planned to stay with, are receiving or waiting for hospital investigation or treatment for any undiagnosed condition or set of symptoms at the time of purchasing this insurance and/or at the time of commencing travel.

e. You, a relative, business associate, a person who you have booked to travel with or a relative or friend living abroad who you had planned to stay with, have been given a terminal prognosis at the time of purchasing this insurance and/or before commencing travel.

Admittedly her partner did have medical problems. He was diabetic, suffered with angina and had a heart bypass 12 years ago. He had two previous heart attacks hence the reason for the bypass but had none in the last 12 years.

He was not teminally ill and he died suddenly. It was certailnly not expected as they were waiting for the taxi to take them to the airport.

He was not undergoing any hospital treatment at the time.

What doe she do now? I cant believe that if you take out insurance for yourself you have to provide details of the party you are travelling with.

PLEASE HELP.

Many Thanks

Neil

If you going to be travelling and someone the trip relies on has a medical issue, it is a risk you know about. If your Mum wanted to cover this known risk, she would have needed to provide her Insurers with the details and they may have covered at an increased premium. So her Insurers are correct and there is not much than can be done.

Hi All

Just an update I would welcome your opinions/advice on.

There were 4 people going on this trip, (my mum, her partner, his brother and wife)

My mum was insured with Virgin, her partner with Staysure (i think) and his brother and wife with Insure & Go.

The claim for all four was handled as "one" by the travel claims direct.

Everyone has been paid out apart from my mother.

Virgin rejected her claim on the grounds that her partner had a medical history.

I have written to Virgin and asked them to reconsider stating that everyone else in the claim had been paid.

They responded stating that the other people had different insurers stating that their policy wording would have been different so this does not set a precedent.

I looked at both the policy documents for Virgin and Insure & Go and they have identical wording.

I replied to virgin enclosing the two policy documents and again asked them to reconsider also stating that although her partner had a medical history, that he died from a sudden cardiac arrest, the cause of which was not determined.

I received a letter from them again rejecting her claim on the grounds of his medical history. There was no mention of the policy documents I sent in. This was a finanl response and should I wish to complain further I was directed to the financial ombudsman.

I have since found out that Virgin travel insurance and Insure & go are the same company.

To me (and i know im biased) this is not fair. How can the other parties be paid on the same claim from essentially the same company.

Any suggestions?

Many Thanks

Neil

I suspect it is because on your Mothers policy no medical conditions were provided for the partner and they have not been advised that the heart attack is not related to the medical conditions. Because the trip would have been affected by the partners health, it would be reasonable for the partners health conditions to have been declared as a risk.

Don't think the FOS will find in your Mums favour. Why the Insurers for the Brother and his Wife have paid out, I suspect it is because it could be reasonable to think that they would not have been aware of your Mums partners health conditions, so could not disclose them.

If this were me, I would make a complaint to the Ombudsman - you never know, they may find in your favour. Irrespective of the outcome, the Insurers will be charged a fee for the investigation - it might end up that it would have been cheaper for them to have honoured the claim.

HiThe other party were certainly aware of his conditions. They visited him in hospital in February.He was admitted for a day to be cardioverted. (an application of electric shocks in order to resolve fast atrial fibrillation)I think my plan is going to be to write to the ombudsman, although i agree I dont not think they will find in her favour.I am also thinking of writing to Virgins Chief Executive and asking for their comments as I have been in contact with the BBC's Watchdog program who are interested in highlighting the case.Just how many of the general public are aware that they need to disclose medical information of other people travelling with them even if they have their own insurance!!Maybe to avoid adverse publicity they will reconsider. It might be worth the £150 to them.Dont think i'll hold my breath though.

HiThe other party were certainly aware of his conditions. They visited him in hospital in February.He was admitted for a day to be cardioverted. (an application of electric shocks in order to resolve fast atrial fibrillation)I think my plan is going to be to write to the ombudsman, although i agree I dont not think they will find in her favour.I am also thinking of writing to Virgins Chief Executive and asking for their comments as I have been in contact with the BBC's Watchdog program who are interested in highlighting the case.Just how many of the general public are aware that they need to disclose medical information of other people travelling with them even if they have their own insurance!!Maybe to avoid adverse publicity they will reconsider. It might be worth the £150 to them.Dont think i'll hold my breath though.

With that info, personally I think the correct decision has been made by Virgins underwriters and the wrong one made by the other peoples underwriters.

I think it will be a straightforward decline by the FOS, but as has been suggested, getting the FOS involved may lead to a change of mind. The FOS will contact Virgin before they take on this case officially, to see whether they want to deal with it, before a fee is incurred. They may choose to settle it on an ex-gratia basis, rather than incur the FOS fee.

As for publicity, I think this issue has already been highlighted on a number of consumer programmes. I seem to remember that Dom Littlewood dealt with a similar case on one of his programmes. TV programmes won't be interested unless they happen to be doing a feature about this at the time you contact them. Tony Hetherington at the Daily Fails financial page is probably the best bet, as they do regulars features on such issues.

UnclebulgariaThanks for your reply. I'll certainly contact the Daily Mail.The underwriters are the same for both policies.