How a Yeovil family fell foul of travel insurance rules and face a huge bill to get their dad home

ITV News

4 days ago

When three generations of the Kirby Whitemore family packed their bags for Zante last month, they thought they had everything they needed: suncream, snorkel, flippers, everything to enjoy a week on the Greek island. They had even remembered to buy travel insurance.
Today, that dream vacation has become a living nightmare, with 67-year-old Alan Kirby fighting for his life in an Athens hospital while his devastated family faces an impossible choice between staying by his side and financial ruin.
The holiday began like any other family trip to the Mediterranean. For the first two days, the Kirbys soaked up the Greek sunshine, splashed in crystal-clear waters, and created memories across three generations. But on day three, everything changed.
"It started innocently enough—a muscular pain down his side," recalls the family. "We assumed it was from Alan throwing the children into the sea all day at the beach. He'd been playing with them for hours."
What seemed like typical holiday muscle strain quickly revealed itself as something far more sinister. The apparently healthy grandfather's condition deteriorated rapidly, and within days he was diagnosed with pneumonia and suspected lung cancer, now dependent on an oxygen tank to breathe.
Alan's family describes the Greek public hospital as "scruffy and understaffed". The stark contrast between the healthcare he desperately needs and what's available has left the family feeling helpless and abandoned.
Legally, the only way Alan could fly home to the NHS is on a medical flight with a specialist nurse. That costs £30,000 and his family can't afford it.
The source of the Kirbys' nightmare lies buried in the small print of their Allianz travel insurance policy. Alan had failed to declare a benign lung tumour discovered the previous year—a condition that required no active treatment and seemed to have no impact on his daily life.
To Alan and his family, the inactive tumour appeared irrelevant to their holiday plans. To Allianz, however, this omission was grounds to deny coverage entirely, regardless of whether the undisclosed condition was directly related to his current crisis.
In a statement Allianz explained: "Our sympathies are with Mr Kirby and his family during his recovery. In common with other travel insurers, we ask customers to adhere to policy terms, including disclosure of any pre-existing medical conditions for anyone covered under the policy. Unfortunately, a pre-existing medical condition was not disclosed to us, so we are declining the claim. We acted in good faith and covered the costs of Mr Kirby until the pre-existing medical condition was established."
His daughter Liza's said: "Please, when everyone's going on holiday, check everything—every single thing you might not be covered for."
His partner Helen's added: "I just don't know what to do. I just want him home." The couple, along with Liza, have launched a GoFundMe campaign as their last hope to raise the funds needed for Alan's medical repatriation.
As Alan fights for his life in Athens, his families story has become a powerful warning to travellers everywhere: when it comes to travel insurance, every medical detail matters, no matter how insignificant it may appear.