INSURERS have refused to refund the £3,500 cost of a family’s dream holiday after they had to cancel when a relative died.

Stephen Holdcroft shelled out for the “holiday of a lifetime” to Florida for wife Marie and their children Gareth, aged 15, and 18-year-old Corinne.

But a week before they were due to fly in September, Mrs Holdcroft’s 90-year-old dad Walter Sterling died suddenly of cancer.

Holiday agents The Travel Shop, based in Burslem, told the family it was too late to postpone the holiday and they would have to cancel and claim the cost back from insurers NatWest Travel Insurance.

But officials there have now told Mr Holdcroft his claim has been rejected because Mr Sterling, who was not one of the holiday party, had a pre-diagnosed medical condition.

A spokesman for NatWest Travel Insurance said: “The terms and conditions of Mr Holdcroft’s NatWest Travel Insurance policy state that there is an exclusion for claims relating to a medical condition of a close relative, travelling companion or business associate (whether they are travelling or not) who has been diagnosed with or had cancer in the past year.

“Unfortunately for Mr Holdcroft the circumstances of his claim are not covered by his policy.”

The response has angered Mr Holdcroft, who is now considering legal action against both companies.

The 47-year-old, of Bedford Place, Kidsgrove, said: “This was to be a really special holiday, possibly the last with the children because they are growing up, and we had splashed out.

“When we booked the holiday in June we didn’t know about Walter’s cancer. He was receiving treatment but died very unexpectedly.

“I told the travel agents I did not want to cancel the holiday, just postpone it for a few weeks while we sorted out the funeral.

“I couldn’t believe it when they refused to be flexible in those circumstances and cancelled. We waited three months for NatWest to come back to us about the claim and I’m disgusted at how we’ve been treated.”

Mr Holdcroft says he contacted the hotel, airline and attractions booked separately and all were willing to change the holiday dates.

But they told him they had not yet received payment from the agent and when he confronted The Travel Shop the holiday was cancelled.

Mr Holdcroft said: “All the individual companies said it was no problem to swap the dates but they couldn’t do it themselves because they had not been paid by the agent.”

He has now managed to recover some money paid out for excursions and car hire, amounting to almost £1,000.

A spokesperson for The Travel Shop said: “Unfortunately, Mr Holdcroft informed us that he wanted to postpone his holiday less than a week before he was due to travel, which under our terms and conditions meant he was not eligible for a refund.

“By this point all monies had been paid to the operator that we used to fulfil his booking.

“Reclaiming the remainder of the monies is for discussion between Mr Holdcroft and his insurer.”

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