Hi, I had a reply and the insurer still refuses to accept my claim, now for 2 reasons: the non uk residence of my father and the pre-existing condition. The whole story makes me feel bad, so I am giving up on this one. I regret having paid insurance for many years for nothing, so to avoid further disappointment I am not taking out any further travel insurance, nor I will in the future.

Thank you for the advice and the text of the letter. I will try to send it to Options and see what comes of it. Just this may interest you: my boyfriend who was to go on holiday with me, is insured with axa, and they are also turning the claim down. Axa has no clause excluding relatives abroad, however, they quote "pre existing conditions". My father being 82 years old was on stable doses of cardiovascular medication for years, as most people are at that age. He had suffered 2 minor hart attacks in his late 50s and a very minor ischemic epoisode two years ago which left no consequences to his health. Before the stroke suddenly killed him, he was in good health (as his doctor specified in the medical form I had to have filled in). He had recently been on a week holiday touring Norway and before then, touring Spain. The week preceeding the stroke he had been working full time on the family farm. Hardly a sick man. AXA however, because of the medication, claim "pre existing conditions". What can he do?

Hi, please help! I had to cancel my holiday last summer as my father suffered a devastating stroke the day before my departure. I rushed to his bed-side in Italy where he resides and he died two days later. I informed immediately my travel insurance company, Option Insurance, who advised me to put in a claim on my return. I did this. I explained all the circumstamces and all seemed fine. I was sent a very detailed questionnaire and medical form which had to be filled in by my late father GP. To obtrain this and his death certificate I had to travel to Italy. I incurred this extra cost as the holiday I had to cancel was an expensive safari to Kenya. After I had sent the documents off, I have now received a letter from Inter Group Claims Services informing me that the claim cannot proceed as my insurance policy in the definition of "Relative" includes only relatives residing in the UK. Since my first approach to the insurance company I had made clear my father was in Italy, but nobody had pointed out this clause to me before (but which is printed in the booklet). I wonder if this exclusion of relatives living abroad in the EU is acceptable under our European rights? As an Italian living in the Uk for the last 10 years I have regularly renewed this yearly travel indurance with Options never knowing that the level of cover provided to me was inadequate as most of my relatives still live in Italy. Do I have any ground to contest? Thank you if you can help me Unhappy Italian Lady