Travel Insurance Claim - reasonable information to request?

gnf_ireland

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*I understand the mods may wish to post this in the travel forum, but I think its more suitable to here given it relates to claims rather than purchasing*

Long story, cut short is I need to claim off travel insurance for a holiday due to the passing of a close family member the day before we were due to travel. With full respect to Ryanair who issued an immediate refund, and some of the other suppliers who done the same, the amount of the claim is not that high - less than 3k, mainly for the accommodation cost.

So went through the process of filling out all the forms, getting the various letters off the suppliers etc, and getting the medical declaration from the treating GP and submitted it. Heard nothing after a month, emailed them to see what the story was, and low and behold a few days later have a request for full computerised medical records of the deceased.
I spoke to the GP today and he finds this a very unusual request and has never heard of any case where it has been requested previously. He does not want to issue them as he feels they are private and personal data, but has agreed to speak to the next of kin and see what they say.

Question I have is: is the request for full computerised medical reasons (above and beyond the medical declaration on the insurance form) for a deceased 3rd party reasonable in the case of a family bereavement, or are they simply just slowing down processing of the claim or hoping I will drop the claim (if they knew me they would know this will have the total opposite effect).
 
What the insurers are after is any evidence from the deceased's medical history on which to ground a rejection of your claim on the basis that the now deceased was suffering from condition X at the time that you took out the insurance - something that all relatives are apparently supposed to know in their infinite wisdom !!

Similar happened to my aunt and uncle.
My uncle was my mother's brother.
Aunt and uncle had booked a holiday in Spain.
My mother went in to a sub-acute medical dip and died from kidney failure.
She had seen GP about 7 years previously with a renal abnormality that actually resolved completely.
That was seen by insurers on my mother's records and that was all they needed to reject my uncle's claim.

Uncle pointed out to insurers that in order to comply with policy conditions he would have to circulate all relatives for confirmation of their medical soundness before he dared book a holiday. Even that would be useless as some people have medical conditions that don't know about.
Claim paid eventually. :rolleyes:
 
doeen s policy cover this 'close' family member. Some define 'family'?
Was there any pre existing condition that you were aware of, that should have been declared?
 
Can I ask, was it an Irish insurer? There's a code of practice agreed by the Irish insurance industry with data protection office, and one of the areas is about data not being excessive.
Hi RedOnion (thanks for the sympathies). Yes it was an Irish firm so thank you for the below link ! Might prove interesting in the longer discussions
 
doeen s policy cover this 'close' family member. Some define 'family'?
Was there any pre existing condition that you were aware of, that should have been declared?

Yes the relationship of the family member is explicitly covered in the policy
Absolutely not - and the doctor has provided the medical declaration which stated the same. The doctor also gave full details to them to contact them directly if they had any further queries, but they choose to request full computerised medical records instead. Its like they don't believe the doctors declaration
 
@DirectDevil yes, I think it might be similar. The deceased was 81 and therefore of course had visits to a GP. I think they are looking for an excuse not to pay.

Being the type of person I am, I will just dig my deals in and push this as far as I can, if they try playing games with me on paying out. This behaviour will just further my resolve to do so !
 
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