Insurer won’t pay wedding cancellation after brother’s emergency cancer diagnosis

Two days before her wedding last May, a woman in London cancelled the ceremony after her 23-year-old brother was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and underwent emergency surgery. She had bought cancellation cover in December 2023 from The Insurance Emporium (TIE) and submitted a claim, which was later denied.

The claimant says TIE staff were unsympathetic, lost the claim forms so she had to resubmit, and required repeated chasing for updates. Two months after the claim was submitted, the insurer refused to pay on the basis that the brother had experienced daytime drowsiness before the policy started; doctors had reportedly found no cause for concern and made no diagnosis at the time.

TIE told the paper it was not unreasonable to omit the brother’s fatigue from the declaration given earlier medical reassurances, but says the symptoms were, in retrospect, related to the tumour and therefore fall under a pre-existing condition exclusion. The policy’s terms describe a pre-existing condition as any illness that showed “clinical signs” before cover began.

In October, five months after the claim, TIE offered £9,000 to reflect uncertainty in the medical evidence and the sensitive circumstances, but the offer was withdrawn three weeks later. The company has since agreed to reinstate that £9,000 offer and has paid £350 for service shortfalls.

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