Your problems: a hip op ruined my trip but the insurer won’t pay

I have been waiting four months for a payout on my travel policy after I had to cancel my holiday to have a hip replacement. I already had an annual worldwide travel insurance policy with Staysure, but the cancellation cover at £5,000 was not enough for a holiday I planned to take in Antigua this February, so I took out extra cover costing a further £1,000 last July.

I am 80 years old and was struggling to look after my husband who had Alzheimer’s, so when I visited my doctor about my hip in September, I didn’t think to mention it to Staysure. I was referred to a consultant orthopaedic surgeon who said there was nothing wrong with it. As the months went on, the pain in my hip got worse but my doctor told me it wasn’t my hip, so it must be my back. I had an injection in my facet joint which did nothing to quell the pain. In January I went back to the surgeon, who immediately organised an MRI scan. He said I needed an operation as soon as possible and I must not travel under any circumstances.

I immediately cancelled my holiday to Antigua and sent all the information about the cancellation and reports from my doctor and surgeon to Staysure. It has had my claim since 17 January, but every time I call I am fobbed off with “we are looking into it”. I am owed £15,000 which, of course, Staysure does not want to pay. Can you give me advice as I am not sure what the next move is.

Your claim should have been straightforward as you suffered no pain in your hip and made no visits to the doctor until well after you bought the extra insurance. There was nothing to disclose about osteoarthritis in your hips on your insurance application.

Medical claims made on travel insurance policies can take a heinous amount of time to sort out, and four months is quick in my experience. Travel insurers usually blame delays on difficulty getting the necessary information from hard-pressed doctors but, in this case, Staysure admitted that it was at least partially responsible. It said: “We are truly sorry for both the distress our policyholder has experienced and for the way her claim was handled. A request was made to review her medical records, and upon receipt, it was necessary to assess the medical declaration provided. We recognise that the process took longer than it should have – both in gathering the necessary additional information and in the handling of her case overall.”

Your formal complaint about the delay, resulting in “a thorough investigation” by Staysure’s claims partner Davies Group, apparently added to the delay. However, just one day after the Observer intervened, Staysure apologised and settled your full claim of £15,000.

Octopus, my energy provider, has just deducted nearly £1,500 from my account without explanation. I have a smart meter and Octopus has had access to my readings since I opened the account in April 2023, so there is no reason why my bill should suddenly be this high.

Octopus told me it has been unable to collect data for electricity usage from your smart meter for the last 12 months. Although it collected £286 from your bank account every month for both gas and electricity, it only deducted the amount you needed to pay for gas, so you have accumulated a balance of £1,545 in your Octopus account.

Octopus admits it should have contacted you about the meter problem, and has paid £100 compensation into your account in apology. However, you should also have kept an eye on your Octopus account balance and questioned why it was growing so fast.

Back-billing rules enforced by energy regulator Ofgem prevent energy companies from charging customers for energy used more than 12 months ago, if they haven’t received an accurate bill for that period. But you are not covered by this as your billing problems all occurred within the last 12 months.

Octopus’s estimates of how much electricity you would use each month were very close, so there was enough in your account to cover the £1,448 bill when it was eventually calculated. But if the winter had been colder and your electricity usage higher, you could have faced a substantial deficit.

If you would like advice from Jill, please email your.problems@observer.co.uk, including an address and phone number. Submission and publication are subject to our terms and conditions.