Money Grouse: More woe for sick holidaymaker

LATE cancellation of a holiday can lead to delays when claiming under a travel insurance policy, as Stan Riley from Nottingham found out.

Mr Riley and his wife booked a holiday through Travelcare at the Co-op in Nottingham. They were due to fly to Nerja in Spain for one week on a package deal through Thomson. The couple took out travel cover with Whitely Insurance.

On the day of departure Mr Riley came down with influenza. He saw his doctor, who said he was not fit to travel.

Mr Riley said: 'Completed claims forms, including a medical certificate, were sent to Travelcare on 15 March.'

Whitely Insurance said it would be able to process the claim as soon as the Thomson cancellation invoice was received. But Thomson said it could not issue a cancellation notice because he was taken ill on the day of departure.

Christopher Whitely, partner at Whitely Insurance, said the problem had arisen because of the late cancellation.

When it occurred as close to take-off as this it was treated as a 'no show', where a notice is not automatically issued. In this case the traveller had formally to notify the tour operator, who would issue a cancellation notice.

Thomson said the advice given to Mr Riley was a mistake and it would try to issue the notice as soon as possible.

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