My husband died earlier than our dream vacation however Axa will not refund me the £3,800 deposit as a result of he had a ‘tickly throat’: SALLY SORTS IT

My partner and I booked a special holiday to celebrate his planned retirement in August this year. The trip was to India and included a cruise. We booked it on November 11 last year for travel on November 24 2024, paying a deposit of £3,800. At the same time, I upgraded our annual travel insurance from Europe to worldwide. Sadly, four months later my partner was diagnosed with throat cancer and, following a gruelling round of treatments, died in June.

Axa Partners, the insurer behind our Tesco Bank travel policy, declined my claim as they said we had not declared a visit to the GP in November last year where my partner complained of a tickly throat. I refuse to give up on getting this money back without trying every avenue. I would be grateful for your help.

I.C., Devon

Sally Hamilton replies: I was deeply moved by your letter, which described the chain of events running up to the untimely death of your partner of 26 years. He went to his GP on November 9 last year with a funny feeling in this throat. His doctor suspected it was not anything sinister and recommended he gargle with aspirin. It wasn’t even on your mind when you booked your dream trip to India and at the same time sensibly upgraded your annual travel cover with Tesco Bank, which you’d originally used to cover a summer trip to Greece, from Europe to worldwide.

The irritation in your partner’s throat didn’t go away as you both expected. He was referred for further investigations. By February, more than three months after he first complained of a tickle in his throat, the terrible diagnosis of oesophageal cancer was confirmed. He was advised it was curable with an operation and chemo. Sadly, not long afterwards that scans revealed the cancer had spread to his bones and unfortunately the chemotherapy that followed did not work. By late April he was given the devastating news that had an estimated six months left to live.

In May, while your partner was struggling to cope with this trauma, his father suffered sepsis and died. Despite being in a dreadful physical state himself, your other half helped organise and attend the funeral on May 29. Just five days later, he himself passed away.

You told me you had tears streaming down your face as you wrote to me. It was not just the tragedy of losing your loved one on the cusp of his retirement when you planned to go on new adventures together.

But since then, dealing with an insurance company that didn’t seem to care that you could not afford to lose the £3,800 deposit you had paid for your dream trip that now wouldn’t happen, only added to your pain.

Axa, the underwriter of your Tesco Bank cover, had asked to see two years’ worth of your partner’s medical notes, and this is where the doctor’s visit over the tickly throat came to light. You, your partner, and the GP may have initially though it was nothing but to Axa’s claims handlers it appeared to raise a red flag for the horrendous diagnosis that was to come – and gave them cause to reject the claim.

You said you had no intention of misleading Axa when you changed your policy to cover worldwide trips as the GP had initially dismissed the throat irritation as nothing ominous.

The policy states that buyers ‘must tell us about the pre-existing medical conditions of anyone to be insured on the policy’. As far as you were concerned there was no pre-existing medical condition that had been omitted.

I asked Axa to re-examine your claim. Some days later, Axa came back with the excellent news that it would be paying you after all. That is because the terms and conditions of your policy indicate there is no requirement to notify of a change in health or a new medical condition until the purchase or renewal of a policy. Since you had only upgraded your existing policy, such notifications weren’t required. When I phoned to discuss the outcome, you were understandably tearful and expressed gratitude for my help.

An Axa Partners spokesman says: ‘We are sorry for the issues Ms C experienced with her claim and extend our condolences for the loss of her partner. When Ms C initially submitted the claim, we mistakenly believed she had purchased a new policy which would have required medical information to be disclosed. Following further investigation, it was clear that she had upgraded her existing policy, rather than purchasing a new one, which meant she was not required to disclose any changes in health or new medical conditions.’ It paid you £3,800 for the claim plus £250 for the poor claims experience.

I urge all readers taking out, renewing, or upgrading a travel policy to always err on the side of caution and declare any visit to their GP.

The insurer may still cover you at no extra cost or a perhaps for a slightly higher premium. But better safe than sorry.

I purchased a £214 wooden Christmas scene from a company called Holyart in October 2023. It arrived broken and without the power adapter that it was supposed to include. I asked for a refund. The retailer agreed and returned the money to Amazon Pay, which I had used to make the purchase. However, I never received the money and have been chasing Amazon for a year. Please help.

K.J., Gloucestershire

Sally replies: It is unacceptable that you have been blanked in this way for a year. I contacted Amazon to find out why your refund was gathering dust. It investigated and not long afterwards I am pleased to say it was jingle all the way for your £214, which is now back in your account, along with an extra £100 as an apology.

You have forwarded the latter to the Great Oaks Hospice in Coleford, which last year supported your 100-year-old father-in-law through his final days.

Straight to the point

In September I booked return flights for my wife and I from London to Hamburg via a travel agent website. We opted in to get refunded 80pc of the fare if we fell ill at a cost of £26 each. My wife was unwell so we should get £459 of our £574 fare. I’ve yet to see the money – plus my bank statement shows several other payments to the website – I don’t know why. 

A.R., Cornwall.

You signed up to a membership for £69.99 which allowed you to access the 80 pc refund. The website apologises and has refunded the entire fare and the additional services you bought.

Last week a Halfords mechanic came to fit a new battery in my car. I ordered the battery online and Halfords said it was suitable for my Ford Focus but the mechanic couldn’t fit it. He took payment of £123 even though no fitting was done and said I’d have to contact Halfords, which I can’t get through to. I’ve had to pay £141 to get a battery fitted elsewhere. 

A.C., Cheshire.

Halfords apologises and has refunded the cost of the battery.

I booked a car rental for my trip to Portugal via a holiday package website and booked my car insurance through another website it linked to. At the airport I collected the car from Klass Waggen and showed the worker my insurance form. He said it did not cover me so I felt I had no other choice but to pay 280 euros for insurance with Klass Wagen. I feel I’ve been mis-sold on the car and insurance.

S.M., Basingstoke.

Klass Wagen says once the vehicle is collected, the decision made by its customers cannot be reversed.

I regularly fly from Southampton to Dublin. In September I was told my carry-on suitcase was too big and I had to pay £35. I’ve never had an issue before and on the return leg the bag was allowed on with no issues. 

A.R., Hampshire.

The airline says it is down to the discretion of airport staff and their decision is final.

• Write to Sally Hamilton at Sally Sorts It, Money Mail, 9 Derry Street, London, W8 5HY or email [email protected] — include phone number, address and a note addressed to the offending organisation giving them permission to talk to Sally Hamilton. Please do not send original documents as we cannot take responsibility for them. No legal responsibility can be accepted by the Daily Mail for answers given.