I had sepsis earlier than Barbados journey – insurer will not pay? SALLY SORTS IT

My husband and I made a travel insurance claim worth over £7,500 in May last year, but it has not been resolved. Despite many emails between us and our insurer Allianz Partners, we are still getting the runaround. Please help.

S.G., Hampshire

Sally Hamilton replies: Your travel claim saga began when, on May 25, 2023, your husband went on a trip to Barbados, with you due to follow him on May 31 to spend a week’s holiday together.

But your plans went badly awry when on May 28 you were struck down by severe stomach pains and were rushed to hospital by ambulance. As soon as your husband was informed, he took the next British Airways flight home from Barbados.

The next day you underwent surgery for a burst appendix and remained in hospital for three weeks as unfortunately you faced complications, suffering sepsis as well as contracting pneumonia and the bacterial infection C.difficile. It took you nine months to recover your health, which must have felt like an eternity.

Your insurance claim seemed to be taking even longer to resolve.

You passed over signed hospital records to Allianz to prove your whereabouts and your condition, but the insurer told you later this wasn’t enough and insisted you pay for a note from your GP.

You thought this odd as you did not even see your GP during your health crisis. However, you complied, and a note was provided stating you were indeed in hospital with a burst appendix.

You say Allianz continued to ask for further information over subsequent months, including demanding a letter from BA to confirm you had not turned up for your flights. One would have thought being seriously ill in hospital would have been proof enough, but seemingly not.

Another doctor’s note was requested in August – this time for your husband’s claim – as the claims handlers wanted to know why he had flown back home early. Sigh. Clearly there was a breakdown in communication at this point. You made a complaint and received £150 as an apology.

You finally got hold of your flight no-show information from BA and passed it to Allianz in early March 2024 – but still the claim wasn’t paid.

In May, in desperation, you contacted me. I was shocked to read about the lengths you’d been forced to go to – without getting anywhere after so many months.

When someone takes out travel insurance it is meant not only to provide peace of mind in case the worst happens, but also to come to the rescue when a policyholder needs to use it. A claim should be dealt with smoothly and speedily with as few hoops as possible to leap through. I felt you had been badly let down.

After I intervened, I am pleased to say your turbulent claim finally got on the right path.

Within days Allianz Partners came back full of apologies and agreed to meet all the costs of your cancelled trip and the extra flight taken by your husband, plus £1,500 in compensation. In total you, received £9,189.

Allianz Partners admits mistakes were made with your claim, but insists cases such as yours are rare and that it handles more than 100,000 travel claims a year with most settled within 15 days.

A spokesman says: ‘We have written to Mr and Mrs G to apologise as our service in this case fell well below the standard they, and we, expect. We’ve now paid their claim in full and an additional payment by way of apology.’

I applied to move £20,000 from my Fidelity stocks and shares Isa to a cash Isa with Halifax. I handed over the forms in my local Halifax branch but after hearing nothing for 30 days, I chased things up. 

When I finally managed to get through on the phone, Halifax confirmed my application, but nothing has happened since. I have lost about £300 in interest so far over three months and have phoned and messaged with no response. Please help.

S.M, Belper, Derbyshire

Sally Hamilton replies: The rules for switching tax-efficient Isas are clearly laid down by the government. They should be completed within 15 working days if savers are moving between cash Isas. But since it is recognised that switches involving stocks and shares Isas are more complicated, providers have 30 calendar days to get these done.

To trigger the move, customers need to get in touch with the provider they are switching to and fill out an Isa transfer form, as you did. It is important to complete a transfer form, not just cash in an Isa to switch the proceeds elsewhere as savers cannot reinvest that portion of their tax-free allowance again.

Once the new provider receives the transfer form it is up to them to contact the provider you are leaving to get the transfer ball rolling. Plainly, something went seriously wrong with your transfer as nearly three months had passed by the time you contacted me, with not a peep about the fate of your new Isa. I asked Halifax to pull its finger out and get your transfer on track.

Halifax quickly investigated and confirmed it had received your request to transfer your Fidelity stocks and shares Isa to one of its cash Isas. It says it then emailed and posted instructions to Fidelity – though not as quickly as it should have, in my view. It was also slow off the mark in chasing Fidelity about the whereabouts of the funds.

Fortunately, a few days after my intervention, your £20,000 was finally received electronically into your new cash Isa. I asked Fidelity to explain its part in the transfer setback. It believes the initial transfer request from Halifax was sent using an encrypted email, which could not be opened.

It says it requested an unencrypted version, or one sent by post, but did not receive anything. Halifax says it sent a postal and emailed version. There was obviously a communication problem all this time but when the two sides finally started working closely on your transfer the problem was quickly resolved.

A Halifax spokesman says: ‘We’re sorry for the delay Mrs M had when switching her Isa to us. While we were waiting for funds from the other provider, we recognise we could have done more to resolve things sooner.

‘The funds are now in Mrs M’s Isa and we’ve made a payment to make sure that she isn’t out of pocket.’

Halifax paid you £436, which included backdated interest and £125 as an apology for your poor experience. You have given the compensation to SSAFA, an armed forces charity that you support.

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