My partner and I were booked on a once-in a-lifetime trip to South America and the Antarctic in January this year to celebrate my 60th birthday. 

Our chosen expedition is only available once a year and cost us £30,000. We had saved and planned for it for a long time.

We took out Saga’s travel insurance policy for £488 because it included emergency medical expenses and repatriation cover up to £20million, as well as cancellation cover of £20,000 per person.

Given the significance, rarity and substantial cost of the trip, I wanted to have the reassurance of comprehensive protection.

A week before travelling, I sustained a serious fracture to the radial bone in my right forearm after a fall. The bone needed to be manually reset and I was medically unfit to travel.

I submitted my insurance claim to Saga on January 9, 2026, and provided all requested medical evidence on January 19, but it still hasn’t been settled. Please help.

A.H., Buckinghamshire

Sally Hamilton replies: It was devastating enough to have your dream Antarctic expedition sunk by an accident so close to departure. You explained that you had slipped on black ice while walking your dog. Ouch!

Your pain was compounded by glacial delays with the insurance claim, which dragged on for months with no payment forthcoming. Having been told by Saga’s travel cover partner,

Collinson Insurance, that your medical forms were in order on March 9, you expected payment to follow swiftly. However, 18 days later, it changed its mind and requested that your GP complete new forms.

You duly supplied them to Collinson on April 14. When there was no response, you submitted a formal complaint on May 2.

After being told this could take 40 days to investigate, and when follow-up emails from you were ignored, including one threatening to take the insurer to the Financial Ombudsman, you ran out of patience and asked me to intervene.

I understand insurers must ‘dot the Is and cross the Ts’ with any claim, including checking medical evidence before approving a payout. 

But I felt yours looked like a straightforward case: you had broken an arm and could not travel. 

How long should it take to check the facts? It was also the lack of communication with you that fell below par.

On my intervention, Saga investigated and within 24 hours your payment – £33,800 net of a £250 excess – was in your bank, along with a goodwill sum to make up for the poor service.

A Saga spokesman says: ‘We apologise for the delay Ms H experienced in receiving her claims payment and recognise the frustration this has caused.

‘We have now reimbursed her and as a gesture of good will, we have offered £500 in compensation. While this is not reflective of our customers’ usual experience, we are reviewing the matter internally and taking steps to strengthen our processes.’

You were delighted. I was glad to hear you are well on the mend and will be rebooking your Antarctic expedition for January next year – and that you plan to take special care when out walking in the weeks before departure.

Need to settle bill for husband's care home troubles

My husband was placed in the care of Oake Meadows care home in Taunton, Somerset, at the beginning of February. 

I assumed it would be a permanent placement and paid them a month’s fee of £5,575. My husband has middle-to-late-stage dementia and is prone to violent outbursts. 

After being in the home for a few hours, he became violent in his desire to leave, breaking two windows and threatening staff. 

The police were called and he was removed to the local hospital where he was sedated and subsequently held under Section 2 of the Mental Health Act. 

I know that under the terms of the contract that I signed, I am liable for certain payments to them. 

However, I have asked several times for an itemised account and the return of any remaining balance. Even a registered letter got no response. I am hoping you may be able to have more success than me.

S.T., Somerset

Sally Hamilton replies: What a hugely upsetting experience for all involved. You had hoped your husband would settle at the home, but within 48 hours it became clear this was not possible because of his mental state. 

Under Section 2 of the Mental Health Act a person can be compulsorily admitted to a hospital for a mental health assessment. 

You are not blaming staff or management for being unable to cope with your husband, but were unhappy that your requests for a breakdown of costs, including the window damage, were not forthcoming – and neither was a refund.

You say you found the home’s silence on the matter an unnecessary burden on top of the distress over your husband’s condition.

On your behalf, I quickly contacted Welford Healthcare, the company that runs the network of care homes that includes Oake Meadows, and asked them to investigate what had gone wrong.

Within a couple of days, the situation was resolved and an employee of the home contacted you to apologise.

A spokesman for Welford Healthcare says: ‘Our finance team have looked into this matter, and I can confirm that there has been a clerical error regarding the refund of monies owed to Mrs T. 

We had not received any email or phone correspondence at head office to notify us of the error of the refund not being processed. 

We have learned that Mrs T did write a letter to the care home itself as she has indicated, but unfortunately this letter had been misplaced and was not actioned. 

We have been in touch with Mrs T to apologise for the inconvenience and have processed her refund.’

You confirmed that you were happy to receive £4,714, from which you plan to donate £1,000 to the Alzheimer’s Society as you believe more research should be carried out into dementia.

• Write to Sally Hamilton at Sally Sorts It, Money Mail, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT or email sally@dailymail.co.uk ¿ include phone number, address and a note addressed to the offending organisation giving them permission to talk to Sally Hamilton. Please do not send original documents as we cannot take responsibility for them. No legal responsibility can be accepted by the Daily Mail for answers given.