this is quite normal, That is why we always advise people to have Insurance in place BEFORE you book...

IF you have comprehensive travel insurance DO NOT cancel the holiday till the specialist is prepared to issue you with a letter [cost around £25-00] stating he should not travel if you do you will not have a claim,

If it was a pre existing condition you will get nothing back [the insurers will ask for his medical history from your doctor,

If you did not take out insurance check to see if you have free travel cover from your bank [but beware many bank policies do not cover cancellation]

If you are not insured..SORRY you have under the terms of your agreement lost the lot

It might be worth asking cosmos if you could postpone the holiday? The goa season lasts till April.

I agree with Fiona, see if you can transfer the holiday to a later date.

I think so too, get on to them straight away and try and get a date a minimum of three months after your husbands operation, you may have to pay a small per person amendment fee but it will be much better than losing your deposit which is really the only alternative, and I will give you something to look forward to after his op. you will need to sort out travel insurance though at some point and it may cost more than usual as he will be in a post operative situation, it might be best to push the holiday as far into the future as Cosmos will let you.

I'm not sure about having the insurance in place before you book. If you are only purchasing a one trip insurance policy then you normally have to give the dates of travel when you buy the insurance. Until you make the booking then you won't know the dates so buying insurance before booking doesn't make sense. I would think it best to purchase insurance when you book the holiday or at the latest a few days later.

Hopefully Cosmos will allow you to pospone the trip.

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to post.

Judith's comments are exactly right. We only ever take out single trip insurance and its always from date of departure to date of return. Balance has to be paid (1500) by 10th October that's why I notified them as soon as we found out about the surgery. Holiday companies appear to have this one sewn up as far as deposits are concern. Just have to grin and bare it by the looks of things .I have asked them if we could put this money towards another holiday later next year but so far no response. Goa is a no no now because of the duration of the flight. No more long haul for the husband.

Before you rearrange your trip I would contact your insurance company and ask if they will insure your husband as many companies are reluctant to insure folk in their 70s with even minor illnesses.
Even though the cardiologist said it would be OK to travel its best to check with your insurance company.

Jay, Good advice about the insurance. I had surgery earlier on this year, my consultant told me I was fit to travel after a few weeks but my insurance company told me I would have to wait 6 months before they would cover me for travel.

What does our single trip travel insurance provide?
up to £10,000,000 medical emergency & repatriation
up to £2,000 lost, stolen and/or damaged possessions
up to £5,000 cancellation, curtailment & trip interruption
range of activities covered, from camel riding to jet skiing, climbing to scuba diving
free cover for kids
cover up to and including age 74
24 hour emergency assistance helpline
Remember your cancellation cover starts from the day you take out your single trip travel insurance policy, so you can be safe in the knowledge that if your trip is cancelled before your departure, or is cut short while you are away, you are entitled to make a claim!

There was a recent discussion about single trip policies only covering you whilst actually away.
The underlined bit above shows that you are covered for cancellation etc from the day you take out the policy...always, always, always take out a policy when you book the hols or soon after (unless you have annual policy).

I cant understand anybody NOT buying insurance the minute you book a holiday.

Its the same price whether you buy it at that point or a week before you go!

It seems that a lot of people were under the impression that if you booked single trip polcies then you were only covered for those dates, not for period between booking and departure.

if you buy a really cheap policy then some don't cover cancellation,but from memory all the policies offered by tour operators do

wiz

When you book a holiday deposits are non refundable. Tour operators get people cancelling for medical reasons and death everyday. They can't refund everyone's deposit.
It may be possible to amend your booking to a future date, which will involve admin fees. How much these are will depend on how many changes are made, but charges are often capped.

Insurance should always be taken out as soon as you pay out an amount of money you cannot afford to lose. If you amend the holiday you may find it difficult to get insurance now, due to your husbands condition. At best it's probably going to be expensive.

When you buy insurance make sure you read about what you're buying. If you had done this in the past you would be aware that you are covered for cancellation from the minute you take the policy out.

Keep in mind that some tour operators will not allow you to transfer a holiday into the next "season" - ie, the holiday being discussed is in the winter season.

The UK tour operator I worked for would only allow a holiday to be amended in that same season.

So, for instance winter season is usually November to end of April (for most destinations) so it's possible the latest date you could push your holiday back to could be to the middle of April so your return date will still be in the winter season.

My dad was taken into hospital last year about 6 weeks before they were due to fly out to see us in Cyprus. He had some kind of blood poisoning and was put on a drip and kept in hospital for about 6 days. He received no other treatment and came out without any medication or prescription but he was very weak. So we decided it was better to put their holiday back to the following February (so Feb this year). That was better than trying to cancel as they would more than likely have lost their deposit in any event.

The holiday was with 2bookaholiiday.com and they were quite obliging although there was quite a hefty admin fee involved. It was however, better than having to cancel and rebook later plus we didn't have to make an insurance claim.

The Terms & Conditions on the Cosmos website actually advise that people should ensure they have insurance in place not only for the holiday (it is a requirement for the holiday itself) but in the event you have to cancel for any reason. The same applies with the other major TOs.
From personal experience with Thomson, we had problems earlier this year and they could not have been more helpful when it looked like we would not be able to take the planned holiday, in the event things did sort themselves out but they said we could move it as far forward as February 2014 if need be.

fwh

fwh wrote:

, in the event things did sort themselves out but they said we could move it as far forward as February 2014 if need be.

That sounds promising and like they have more compassion these days too!

I also moved a Cosmos Holiday from 1st May one year on to 15th October. I thought hey were pretty accommodating really, especially as I had paid for a lot if it with Tesco Vouchers. Maybe as they are smaller than TUI and Thomas Cook they value repeat business or th idea of it a bit more, although sometimes I think it just depends on who you get on the other end of the phone on the day.

doe wrote:

I also moved a Cosmos Holiday from 1st May one year on to 15th October. I thought hey were pretty accommodating really, especially as I had paid for a lot if it with Tesco Vouchers. Maybe as they are smaller than TUI and Thomas Cook they value repeat business or th idea of it a bit more, although sometimes I think it just depends on who you get on the other end of the phone on the day.

Plus if they let you move the holiday they then get more money than just gaining on the deposit amount.

True Glynis. I think I got very lucky with the person I spoke to. I stayed with the same hotel, but the October date was actually cheaper than the May date and she she took the per person amendment fee out of the difference that I saved.