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Katie Morley Investigates: our reader had to scrap her travel plans to care for her daughter
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Dear Katie,
We booked a British Airways flight for Kalamata, Greece, departing on September 5 for our son’s wedding. The whole family was to attend, but three days before we were scheduled to fly, devastatingly, our daughter was diagnosed with leukaemia and very quickly admitted to hospital.
We needed to stay behind and support our daughter, so we immediately cancelled our travel arrangements. We had travel insurance in place and managed to quickly get confirmation from all the hotels, car hire, etc, that we were cancelling.
However, when we attempted to get proof of a no-show from the airline we’d booked flights with, British Airways, it proved to be rather difficult.
By September 26, we had given British Airways all the information required and we were told to go to BA.com/receipts and fill out the necessary form. We duly received a case reference number with a letter informing us that this could take up to 28 days to resolve.
However, this time frame has been and gone, and we have not received the information. I have rung several times and been told we must wait another two weeks. This is unacceptable to us. Until we receive this last part of the jigsaw, we cannot put a claim in with our insurer for the total loss.
We really need the money. Our daughter is in her second cycle of treatment, which includes chemotherapy on an almost daily basis and, because the hospital is quite far away from home, it’s costing us a lot in transport.
We have explained to BA how stressful it is becoming but we’re getting nowhere.
– AT, Northamptonshire
Dear AT,
Your 33-year-old daughter’s diagnosis was such an awful shock to the family that your son ended up cancelling his wedding and the planned christening of his child which was due to take place on the same day.
You had so much to sort out with ferrying your daughter to and from an endless stream of chemotherapy appointments and caring for her around the clock. The last thing you needed was BA dragging its heels on the information you needed. You say you had explained the urgency of the situation to it, yet this seemed to make no difference.
Happily, when I stepped in, it was a different story. You say that following my involvement, BA provided the information you needed “pretty much instantly”, showing that it was, of course, possible all along.
BA confirmed it had resolved the issue, but didn’t explain the reason for the delay. More than a week later, your £2,300 travel insurance claim was paid, which was a huge relief to you.
When I called you, you were in hospital with your daughter, who had been bedridden fighting an infection for 10 days. This was due to the effect her treatment was having on her immune system, you said.
You say she has also had to postpone her own wedding to her fiancé to 2026. I sincerely hope she makes a full recovery and that, in due course, you’ll be able to celebrate the nuptials of both your children as a family.
Better days lie ahead for you all, I feel sure.
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