Hi,
Hope somebody could help/advise me.
I recently returned from a trip away where I broke my neck on my first day!, i had to stay in the foreign hospital for five days where on the second day i had emergency surgery as i was close to being tetraplegic.

It has been three weeks since said accident and thankfully all limbs are in perfect working order and i am progressing extreremly well.

I submitted a Claim to NatWest on my Advantage Gold Travel Insurance service for various items some of which they have agreed to and some they havn't. The main one i am contesting is the curtailment of the holiday.

They are refusing to pay any curtailment fees due to the fact i didn't return to the UK. Now just to clear this up, i was led in a bed for 5 days straight being served awful foreign holiday food and i was told not to move. Even when i was on the mend i told the insurance company i wanted to return home, they refused saying i need to rest some more.

In the terms and conditions it does state the definition for curtailment as
"Cutting short your trip after its commencement to return to your home address or business address"

Now, in your humble opinion do i have a case to first of all refuse and contest this matter and if that action does not work goto the financial services ombudsmen?

Thanks in advance

Hi

This would be a good case to take to the Financial Ombudsmans Service( FOS) as I can see why the claim for curtailment has been declined. But having read the policy wording online, there is sufficient lack of clarity for you to have a reasonable chance of success with the FOS. If the Insurers wanted to exclude paying for a similar situation to yours, I think the FOS would want to see this as an exclusion in the policy wording.

I have had a quick look at the FOS site and found the following.

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/56/56-travel-insurance.htm

So first write a formal complaint to the Customer services manager , NatWest Advantage Travel Insurance, C/O Inter Group Insurance Services Ltd, Lumbry Park, Selbourne Road, Alton, Hampshire GU34 2HF. Advise them that you are looking for the FOS to rule on the curtailment issue and would like their formal response. Then if necessary submit your complaint to the FOS. The customer services manager may make an offer of payment, as if you go to the FOS, they will have to pay the FOS a fee and it will cost you nothing apart from postage.

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumer/complaints.htm

Hope this helps.

Huckster

Thanks Huckster, I will get the letter typed up now.

I also have another query relating to the same policy.

As I was quite close to being tetraplegic or dead my mother and father came over. Unfortunately they were on a cruise at the time, very bad timing!

Th policy states that they will pay for one next of kin travel and accomodation expenss, which is fine and i understand.

It was my sister who booked the hotel rooms and it showed at the time that a double was cheaper than a single, therefore she booked 3 nights followed by a subsequent 2 nights.

The insurance company have ruled that the total hotel amount ( 1 Double room for 5 nights ) should be halved to represent that it was for one person and this is what they have offered.

Is this another issue i should raise with the FOS?

As always thanks in advance!

Yes I think this should be included, with the explanation as to why double room booked and not single. Evidence ( internet print out ) of the single room being more expensive, would assist. Even if such evidence is related to the current prices and not to the booking at the time, this would be helpful.

Huckster