Nothing stopping him from doing so. In the case of a claim then a claim may only be done with one of them.

Hi,
Thank you for your reply. If my nephew did take out a policy himself and needed to make a claim (hopefully not!) it would obviously be made on his own policy only but would there be any way the insurance companies could connect this with the policy taken out by the holiday booker as obviously my nephew's name and that of his son would be on both policies?
Many thanks again.

As long as he only makes the claim on one of the policies.

We have free travel insurance with Nationwide but we take out a separate policy for pre existing medical conditions. The 2nd policy automatically covers loss of items etc. If we needed to make a claim I'd choose one policy.

Yes I understand that but what I need to know is if he makes a claim on his own insurance policy will it alert the insurance companies that he and his son are named on two policies for the same period and raise any suspicions?
Many thanks.

insurance companies do talk to each other and in the event of a claim i am fairly sure that in the small print you have to sign a statement that there is no other insurance in place covering the same risks.
for a smallish claim they may not make too many enquiries, but for a larger claim they will certainly look to see if there is any way they can minimise, or even decline, payment.
it is not necessarily suspicious to have a separate policy, particularly to cover medical issues, but you need to be sure that all medical issues are declared to his own insurer, and i would also suggest that they inform their own insurer about the group policy.

Thank you jimd-f. My sister is concerned that the booker of the original group policy may not have be completely honest about all pre existing medical issues for the group and is therefore concerned that should something happen to her son or grandson that the whole policy would be deemed fraudulent and invalid and if something should happen to them they wouldn't be covered. So she wanted to get her son to take out a separate policy just for himself and his son which he would claim on should anything happen to them but it looks like that could cause problems with the original policy and maybe even invaldidate her son's policy, too. Do you think this could be the case? I suppose there's the issue of taking out another policy because you are aware of issues with the first so that also makes you culpable?

if the issue is around the medical history of your nephew and his son then having a separate policy makes perfect sense and should not have any detrimental effect if they have made full disclosure to their own insurers, and probably best if they contact the group insurers to update them.
if the medical issues are around someone else in the group, presumably the lead party, then it should not affect a medical issue your family may encounter in isolation, unless there has been a failure to disclose a family issue.
however, if for example the lead party had a heart condition that was not disclosed and he was driving and suffered a heart attack at the wheel and your family were injured then you may find that neither insurer would pay out, certainly not without a fight, particularly if the medical condition was known to your family before the trip.
i presume this is some sort of organised trip and so your nephew should ask for a sight of the policy documents, which should detail any exclusions.
you cannot legislate or insure against all eventualities, without encountering large premiums, so a considered decision needs to be taken around the risks of accident or medical issues. common sense around what activities they undertake on the trip should go a long way to minimise risk.
they should be particularly aware of any activities that insurers classify as high risk or dangerous and again a look at the group policy exclusions should be done asap as these risks vary from company to company

Ok. So this is the actual situation. There are five people in the party and four of them have pre existing medical issues, including my sister's son some of which are very serious. My sister is concerned that the group booker's way of 'taking care of the medical issues' is not to have reported any of them as this would cost too much. So she wanted her son to take out insurance just for himself and his son, just in case they need it. But if he needs to alert the group insurers to update them as well surely it will draw attention to the non disclosure of the serious medical conditions of the four party members and result in the group insurance being cancelled by the insurers?

i reckon the best thing your nephew can do is to speak to the group booker and others in the party and explain that if there has been non disclosure then their insurance is not worth the paper it is written on, and ask to see the policy documents which will show any endorsements and exclusions.
your nephew could get a quote for him and his son from any insurer and then compare that to what is being charged on the group policy. this should provide some evidence as to what has been declared as the group policy would not be that much cheaper per head. also, comparing the cost of a trip, without any medical disclosures, with the premium your son is being asked to pay would indicate whether any medical disclosures have been declared o the group policy.
he would be within his rights, in fact i would think he should insist, to tell the booker that he was going to contact the insurer directly to ensure that he, and the rest, are adequately covered and then guage what action to take depending on the reply.
if there is any resistance to this then either pull out of the trip completely or take out their own insurance and declare to their insurer that they are doing this as they do not believe there has been full disclosure on the group policy and they are taking out this insurance to ensure there are no problems in the event of a claim. make sure their insurers are aware and record that they will not be using the group insurance for any accident/medical issues.

this whole situation looks a bit of a mess and whatever action your nephew takes is likely to cause issues with the booker, and possibly others in the party, so first thing is to speak to all those in the party and then make a decision on the way forward.

Hi again jimd-f,
My nephew has decided to take out his own policy for himself and his son now but doesn't want to say anything to the group booker for fear of causing a problem within the other party members who he believes are aware and accepting of the situation. Nor does he want to tell the group policy insurers that he's taking out his own insurance for fear of drawing their attention to the inaccuracies of the group policy and ill feeling of the other party members.
But could this still cause a problem if he needs to claim on his own policy for any reason?
Many thanks for your advice.

in all probability there will not be any issues; but
if your nephew falls ill then he needs to be sure that there is only a claim made on his policy. the last thing he needs is that the lead booker offers up the group insurance to a hospital in the event of something that should have been declared.
depending on his age/maturity your nephews son should be made aware of the insurance details and be aware of the action he should take in the event of anything happening to your nephew.
there are multiple things that still could go wrong particularly any accident involving others in the group that affects your nephew that could complicate any claim but under the circumstances you have outlined then they have probably covered themselves as well as they can.
they obviously cant isolate themselves from the rest of the group for the duration of the trip but the just need to be a bit more careful in any activities the group partake in
i presume that if they are travelling to europe that they have EHIC cards as most insurers will insist that these are used first.

Hi jimd-f,
Many thanks for yet another reply.
Hopefully all sorted now. My nephew has taken out his own insurance for himself and his son (who is only six) and will only use that if necessary. He is going to tell the main party booker so there can be no misunderstanding on the holiday should the need to claim arise. In the meantime, the holiday booker has now told him if anyone else in the party needs any medical attention he will be paying for it in cash! (Yes, don't even go there!).
As for the EHIC card my nephew has already ordered his for himself and his son and is just awaiting them to arrive. Apparently, at least one other member of the party was advised to get one but said they couldn't be bothered so presumably haven't been asked for this by insurers! Glad my nephew seems to be the sensible one in the party!
Many thanks for all your help with this matter!

Glad it's sorted Jane. Can't be bothered getting their EHIC? Oh my, takes 2 mins online & is free!

Your nephew and his son in reality only have one insurance policy. The first one might as well not exist if the lead person has lied on the form.

I know.

I know! Stupid is, as stupid does! The silly thing is they might not even need it but you can be sure if my nephew had that attitude and hadn't bothered, knowing our family luck, something serious would happen and he'd be right up the creak without a paddle!!!! And let's face it, it could be a very serious medical situation, even a life and death one! So totally not worth the risk! At least we can all breath easily now and hope they have a great holiday!

You did the right thing Jane