I was forced to cancel holiday with TUI after husband’s cancer diagnosis – but we’re still out of pocket

Q) TWO months before we were due to go on holiday to Jamaica with TUI, my husband Mick was told he had oesophageal cancer.

We kept calling TUI to ask for our options but got nowhere, so we had to cancel and claim on our insurance.

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We’ve got £2,000 back but are still £1,230 out of pocket. Can you help us?

Pat and Mick Button, Kessingland, Suffolk

A) You’d saved and saved for the dream trip to celebrate two important milestones – your 30th wedding anniversary and Mick’s 80th birthday.

But with his cancer diagnosis, there was no way you could travel, so the hospital sent letters to TUI and your insurer, Avanti, which were both signed for in December last year.

Avanti contacted you a few days later and the wheels were set in motion to refund you from your travel insurance, if necessary.

But you hoped that TUI might grant you a refund because of exceptional circumstances.

You kept calling and emailing the travel firm.

Each time you were told it would come back to you but this didn’t happen.

Avanti said it could not pay out unless you cancelled the holiday, so that is what you had to do. With time running out, you were grateful for £2,000 back from Avanti, the maximum payout for your joint policy.

But you still questioned whether TUI should have refunded you.

I asked the travel company to look at your case again.

You then received a phone call from TUI, which agreed to refund £1,230.

It also gave you a voucher for £100 for a future trip.

Holiday firms aren’t obliged to refund you if you can’t take your trip for health reasons, so you were wise to take out travel cover at the time you booked.

But TUI gave you the run-around, causing stress at an already difficult time instead of providing a clear answer straight away.

TUI told me: “We are sorry for the lack of communication and time it has taken to resolve this matter.

“TUI has high standards in place for responding to our customers but on this occasion we did not meet them.”

I hope Mick will be well enough to take another very special holiday with you soon.

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This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk