Holidays - Cancellation Insurance

[MichaelJH]

On our local radio station we have a consumer slot. They often do sterling work for people that have been the victims of rogue traders or shoddy customer service. There are also some people who are their own worst enemies. One example was someone who put down a deposit on a car, changed their mind and were unhappy when charges a cancellation fee (fair in my view as the car had to be readvertised, affected cash flow, etc.). Some fall in the middle. The other day someone phoned in. He and his wife had arranged a holiday and were leaving the insurance till later. However, she developed sepsis and they had to cancel. The T’s and C‘s were such that the client was responsible for the full cost – the company always advising people to take out cancellation insurance. There was a fairly happy resolution in that the company refunded about 50% as a gesture of goodwill although they had no obligation to do so. If you are under investigation or have undergone a procedure leaving the travel insurance till a later date can save you a fortune. The problem is as in this case if you do not take out cancellation insurance you could be leaving yourself exposed. You might be willing to take a hit on a long weekend in Ostend but two weeks in Disneyworld?

[Sueithy]

That happened to me in April doc advised not to fly until we had a diagnosis. Cancelled hols. Luckily we had annual insurance and paid us out excluding excess. Staysure did still insure us in July had to be assessed again and paid extra premium. But it was worth it.

[Hullensian]

Because insurance is so expensive when one has health problems, lots of aspects should be taken into account when deciding at what point to purchase the insurance. I work on the "How much is the deposit" and "What are the tour operator's terms and conditions for cancellation". For the past couple of years our deposit was so low it was not financially worth it to purchase the travel insurance until the tour operator's terms and conditions took effect.