My father and mother went on holiday in January to Barbados and unfortunately 1 day into the holiday my father collapsed and died suddenly, the doctor on the scene could not revive him. Initially our insurance company where helpful arranging a company to repatriate the body once the autopsy had been performed.

However the cause of death was declared as sudden coronary failure and as such the insurance company cancelled all cover because my father had been seen in 2006 for high blood pressure and he was receiving treatment for it (tablets). Unfortunately my dad hadn't declared this as they didn't realise that Hypertension (as mentioned in the terms and conditions) was high blood pressure.

The insurance company stopped all assistance at this point leaving my mother stranded in Barbados and my fathers body with no repatriation plan. I managed to borrow the money to get them both home but I'm infuriated with the way we were treated by their staff, as soon as they decided the claim was not valid we were not allowed to talk to our claims advisor and were told by their helpdesk that it was my father's fault so we'd have to find the money.

I've written a formal letter of complaint but I just wondered if there was anything else I could do. I just want them to acknowledge the insensitive way they handled the claim and change the way the online application works to make it clearer so this doesnt happen to another family.

Hi Luce,

Sorry to hear about your sudden loss. It's never a good time, and the last thing you need when it does happen is the lack of support from those to whom you rely on. After reading your post, I am quite shocked at how you have been treated. Technically the claim can be avoided due to the failure to disclose. However, I know of some insurance companies that have actually gone out of their way to assist those, even though the cover was not effective. This is called 'Good business'. They know that this would create good press for them and that the family would be truely grateful.

Although an entirely different type of insurance, there was a case a few years ago regarding the AA breakdown service treating a customer/his family in an appalling way. This reader took revenge by speaking to the papers. I don't advocate this sort of action usually, but in these sort of situations it can help! At least the company will be named/shamed and lose business because of it, more than likely! There is a certain level of 'tact' that needs to be applied in these circumstances. I have very little of it, and therefore I wouldn't work within this field. You'd think somebody with a brain at this firm would train their staff for situations like this!

Tell us the company name, and tell the papers!!