Accidental death insurance claim

Accidental death insurance claim

I am contacting you on behalf of the family of Lucy Dickenson, who died in a car accident in Africa in march 2013. Lucy was taking part in a leadership development program with an organization called Zambia Land Alliance in Monze, 190km south of Lusaka. At the time of the accident she was travelling in the back of a pickup driven by a colleague, accompanied by his wife.

The insurance Lucy had taken out was a gap year comprehensive policy with Endsleigh insurance, underwritten by Axa. Three days after her death there seemed to be some uncertainty from Axa as to whether it would pay her medical fees and repatriation. Axa was asked if there were any factors that would prevent these costs being covered, and the £35,000 accidental death cover due on the policy. After some deliberation it said there was no reason why such a claim would be denied.

A complaint was raised with Axa challenging this decision. A month later the family was sent a final decision denying the appeal. They are aggrieved about this, as they were given very clear initial information that the accidental death cover would be paid. Axa knew from the outset that Lucy had not been wearing a seat belt. Is it within its rights to refuse the claim? Can you help us challenge this highly distressing decision?

This has been a very sensitive and complicated case to deal with, but we have at least got a better outcome for Lucy's family. As you say, Axa had decided that having looked at the facts of the case it would not pay the death benefit, worth £35,000, contradicting what the family had been told.

Having gone through the incident in detail, it would appear Axa turned down the second most expensive part of the claim too hastily. Axa initially told us that at the time of the accident Lucy had taken off her seatbelt and was trying to retrieve something from a bag in the back of the pick-up. It then relied on a clause in the policy that said it would not pay out if the insured person had exposed themselves to needless peril.

We argued it was hard to see that she had done this. At the time of the crash she was sitting in the back of the pickup truck – as is common practice across vast parts of the developing world – and was not in control of the vehicle. It was being driven by a colleague, someone she trusted. Ultimately, however, the vehicle came off the road, went into a ditch and Lucy was thrown out.

We also pointed out to Axa that if it was going to start turning down any claim that arose as a result of a customer not wearing a seatbelt, then it needed to make this clear to buyers, up front and perhaps in the "key facts" box. We pointed out that Lucy's policy was one aimed at backpackers travelling to parts of the globe where buses, tuk-tuks, and pickups' are commonplace, but seatbelts are not.

After lengthy correspondence on the case, Axa has now agreed to meet the family's claim, and will send payment of £30,000. A spokesman says: "We would first like to express our deepest sympathies once again to Ms Dickenson's family for their loss and apologize for any distress these delays have caused. Claims such as this are not straightforward and must be assessed on a case-by-case basis. In claims of this nature it is often necessary to make decisions quickly based on the information at hand. We would always encourage policyholders to travel safely where they can and would not endorse the manner in which Lucy travelled, however on reflection we have concluded there is enough ambiguity in the circumstances of this incident to settle the accidentaldeath benefit claim.

Insurance policy car insurance life insurance insurance insurance news life insurancInsurance policy car insurance life insurance insurance insurance news life insuranc Insurance policy car insurance life insurance insurance insurance news life insurancInsurance policy car insurance life insurance insurance insurance news life insurancInsurance policy car insurance life insurance insurance insurance news life insurancInsurance policy car insurance life insurance insurance insurance news life insurancInsurance policy car insurance life insurance insurance insurance news life insuranc