How to cancel a TUI holiday when someone dies

Losing someone is hard enough without the added burden of trying to unravel a booked holiday. If the person who died had a TUI holiday coming up – or if a death in the family means you can no longer travel – this guide explains what TUI’s policy is, how to contact the right team, what documents you will need, and what your realistic options are for getting money back.

The picture with TUI is more complicated than with many companies, because TUI sells holidays in several different forms. An ATOL-protected package holiday (flight plus hotel, booked together) has different consumer protections than a hotel-only booking or a standalone flight. TUI also sells its own travel insurance through Allianz Partners, and the deceased may have had a TUI Money Travel Card or TUI credit account. This guide covers all of these.

Quick reference:

• TUI customer services: 0203 451 2688
• TUI travel insurance (Allianz Partners): 020 3481 4152 (Mon–Fri 9am–6pm, Sat 9am–1pm)
• Allianz travel insurance email: insurance@allianz-assistance.co.uk
• Cancel online: Via myTUI account at tui.co.uk or Manage My Booking
• No automatic bereavement waiver: Cancellation fees apply; travel insurance is the main route to a full refund
• ATOL-protected packages: Cover if TUI becomes insolvent, but not for personal cancellations

How to contact TUI

TUI does not operate a dedicated bereavement team in the way that some other companies do. Cancellations following a death are handled through the same customer services department as standard changes and cancellations – but that does not mean they are handled without compassion. The important thing is to explain the circumstances clearly from the outset.

Online: Manage My Booking

If the booking was made through TUI directly, the lead passenger can log in to their myTUI account at tui.co.uk and access “Manage My Booking” to cancel. This is the fastest route for straightforward cancellations.

However, managing a bereavement cancellation online has limitations: the automated system will apply standard cancellation charges and will not accommodate a compassionate request. For any situation where you are asking TUI to exercise discretion – for example, if you want to argue for a partial refund beyond the standard terms – phone is essential.

By phone: 0203 451 2688

Call TUI’s main customer services number on 0203 451 2688. This line handles booking changes, cancellations, and general enquiries. When you call, explain immediately that you are contacting them about a bereavement – this allows the agent to handle the call appropriately.

Have the following ready before you call:

TUI’s call centre hours are typically Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm, with reduced hours on weekends. Waiting times can be long during peak periods (school holidays, and the weeks following a major news event affecting travel). If you cannot get through, the online cancellation route at least preserves the cancellation date, which matters for the fee calculation.

Through the travel agent

If the holiday was booked through a travel agent or high street TUI store, the agent holds the booking and must process any cancellation. Contact the travel agent directly – do not try to cancel via TUI’s own channels if you booked through an intermediary, as TUI cannot act on bookings they do not hold directly.

Documents TUI will need

When cancelling a TUI booking due to a bereavement, you should have the following documents ready:

• Death certificate – the formal certificate issued by the register office after the death is registered in England and Wales. Deaths must be registered within five days. TUI is likely to ask for a copy, either scanned and emailed, or posted to their customer services team. If the death is subject to a coroner’s investigation, an interim death certificate is usually acceptable while the full certificate is awaited.

• Booking confirmation – the original confirmation email or letter, showing the booking reference, travel dates, and total price paid.

• Proof of your identity and relationship – if you are acting on behalf of the deceased’s estate rather than as a travel companion on the booking, TUI may ask for evidence of your authority to act. This could be your own photo ID, and in some cases letters of administration or a grant of probate if you are the executor of the estate.

Certified copies of the death certificate cost £12.50 each in England and Wales, ordered from the General Register Office at gov.uk/order-copy-birth-death-marriage-certificate. Order several copies when registering the death – banks, insurers, and other institutions will each want their own.

TUI’s refund policy when someone dies

TUI does not publish a dedicated bereavement refund policy. What applies instead is TUI’s standard cancellation charge schedule, with travel insurance being the intended route to recovering money in bereavement circumstances.

Standard cancellation charges for package holidays

For TUI package holidays (flight-inclusive, booked directly with TUI), the cancellation charges are:

These charges apply regardless of the reason for cancellation, including bereavement. TUI’s booking terms and conditions do not carve out an exception for death. The deposit is non-refundable even if the calculated charge would be lower.

Does TUI make compassionate exceptions?

TUI does not have a published compassionate refund policy, but customer experience – reported on consumer forums including MoneySavingExpert – suggests that TUI will sometimes agree to refund, rebook, or waive charges as a goodwill gesture when the circumstances are explained clearly and supported by documentation. This is at TUI’s discretion and is not guaranteed.

If you believe TUI’s standard cancellation charge is unreasonable given the circumstances, you can:

1. Call 0203 451 2688, explain the situation, and ask whether any goodwill adjustment is possible
2. Submit a formal written complaint to TUI’s customer relations team
3. Escalate to ABTA (TUI is an ABTA member), which has a dispute resolution scheme for package holiday customers

The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 give package holiday consumers significant rights, including the right to cancel before departure and receive a refund of the amount paid minus reasonable termination charges. Whether the charges are “reasonable” in bereavement circumstances is a question that could be raised with ABTA or, ultimately, the courts – though in practice, travel insurance is a simpler route.

ATOL protection: what it covers

All TUI package holidays that include flights are ATOL-protected (under the Civil Aviation Authority’s Air Travel Organiser’s Licence scheme). ATOL protection means that if TUI were to become insolvent, your money would be refunded and, if you were already abroad, you would be repatriated.

ATOL does not protect against personal cancellations. It is a financial failure protection scheme, not a general cancellation guarantee. If you cancel your own booking for any reason, ATOL does not apply – the standard TUI cancellation terms take effect instead.

Hotel-only and flight-only bookings

Standalone hotel bookings made through TUI (without a flight) are not ATOL-protected. Flight-only TUI Airways bookings are also handled separately from ATOL package holiday protections. Cancellation terms for these products may differ from the package holiday schedule above – check your booking confirmation for the specific terms that apply.

TUI travel insurance and bereavement claims

TUI sells travel insurance through Allianz Partners. If the deceased or any member of the travel party had TUI travel insurance in place at the time of booking, this is likely to be the most straightforward route to recovering the cost of the holiday in full.

What TUI travel insurance covers

TUI’s travel insurance policies (underwritten by Allianz Partners) include cancellation cover as a standard element. Death of the policyholder, a travel companion, or a close family member is a covered reason for cancellation under these policies. This means that if someone covered by the policy dies before the holiday, or if a close family member dies and makes it unreasonable to travel, a claim can be made to recover the holiday cost.

The definition of “close family member” in insurance policies typically extends to spouse or partner, parent, child, sibling, grandparent, and in-law – but the exact definition depends on the specific policy wording. Always check the policy document.

How to make a claim

To make a travel insurance claim through TUI / Allianz Partners:

1. Contact the claims team as soon as possible. Phone: 020 3481 4152 (Monday–Friday 9am–6pm, Saturday 9am–1pm). Email: insurance@allianz-assistance.co.uk. Address: Allianz Partners, 102 George Street, Croydon, CR9 6HD.

2. Provide your policy number – found on your insurance certificate or in the confirmation email from TUI when you added insurance to your booking.

3. Submit the required documents – at minimum, a death certificate and your booking confirmation. The claims team will advise on any additional documentation.

4. Note the excess – most travel insurance policies carry an excess, meaning you absorb the first part of any claim (commonly £50–£100 per person). The claim pays out the remaining holiday cost above the excess.

5. Cancel with TUI first – insurers expect you to attempt recovery from the travel provider before claiming. Cancel the booking with TUI (which fixes the date for the cancellation charge calculation) and then submit the insurance claim for the irrecoverable amount.

If the deceased had third-party travel insurance

If the deceased booked their holiday and purchased travel insurance separately (not through TUI), contact that insurer directly. The process is broadly the same: cancel with TUI, obtain a written confirmation of the cancellation and the charges applied, and submit this to the insurer along with the death certificate.

If you are unsure whether the deceased had travel insurance, check:

• Their email inbox for a policy confirmation
• Bank and credit card statements for an insurance premium payment
• Any packaged bank account (many current accounts include travel insurance as a benefit – check whether the deceased held one)

If there was no travel insurance

Without travel insurance, recovering the full cost of the holiday is unlikely. The options are:

• Request a goodwill gesture from TUI (as above)
• Ask TUI whether the booking can be transferred to another person (TUI may allow this for a fee, and it may cost less than the cancellation charge)
• Pursue a formal complaint via ABTA if you believe the cancellation charge is unreasonable

Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 protects purchases made on a credit card between £100 and £30,000 against a failure by the supplier – but this applies when the supplier fails to provide what was promised, not when a customer cancels for personal reasons. It would not apply to a bereavement cancellation.

Other TUI accounts and products

TUI Travel Money Card

TUI offers a prepaid Travel Money Card (issued by PrePay Technologies Limited, regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority as an e-money institution). If the deceased had a TUI Travel Money Card with a remaining balance, the card will need to be cancelled and the balance recovered.

Contact TUI’s customer services on 0203 451 2688, or contact PrePay Technologies directly, with the death certificate and the card details. The remaining balance should be refundable to the estate. Because this is a prepaid e-money card rather than a credit card or bank account, the estate does not need a grant of probate in most cases – but TUI or PrePay Technologies may ask for documentation to verify your authority to act.

TUI credit card (NewDay)

TUI previously offered a co-branded credit card issued by NewDay. If the deceased held one of these accounts, it should be reported to NewDay directly rather than through TUI. Contact NewDay at newday.co.uk/contact-us with the death certificate and the credit card number. NewDay is a member of the Death Notification Service, which allows you to notify multiple lenders with a single submission at deathnotificationservice.co.uk.

myTUI account

The deceased’s myTUI online account does not need to be formally closed in the way that a bank account does. Once any bookings and financial matters have been resolved, the account will become inactive. If you want it formally closed, contact TUI’s customer services team.

TUI loyalty and reward points

TUI does not operate a traditional points loyalty scheme in the way that airlines do. Any promotional credit or booking incentives linked to the deceased’s myTUI account should be raised when you contact customer services about the booking – they may be recoverable depending on the terms under which they were issued.

How long it takes

TUI’s refund timelines vary depending on the route:

• Standard cancellation online: The cancellation is typically confirmed immediately online, but any refund to the original payment method may take 7–14 business days.
• Phone cancellation: TUI agents can process cancellations over the phone, but refunds may take longer to appear – allow up to 14 business days.
• Travel insurance claim: The claims process through Allianz Partners typically takes 10–28 working days from the point all documents are received. Complex cases take longer.
• Formal complaint or ABTA referral: If you are pursuing a dispute about the cancellation charges, resolution through ABTA can take several weeks to months.

Factors that cause delays include: a death that is subject to a coroner’s investigation (which delays the death certificate), a large volume of claims (TUI’s customer services team is busy in peak periods), missing documentation, and bookings made through third-party agents where TUI must liaise with an intermediary before acting.

Tips and things to watch out for

Travel insurance is the intended protection for this situation. TUI’s cancellation terms are standard commercial terms, and the company has not built in a formal bereavement exception. Travel insurance is designed precisely for situations where something beyond your control prevents you travelling. If the deceased had a policy in place, that is where the main recovery route lies.

ATOL protects against TUI’s failure, not yours. This distinction matters. Families sometimes expect ATOL to provide a refund in bereavement circumstances because the holiday is “package” and “protected.” ATOL does not work that way. It protects you if TUI collapses financially, not if you need to cancel.

Check the definition of “immediate family” in the insurance policy. TUI’s own travel insurance covers a broader range of relatives than Ryanair’s bereavement policy (which is limited to spouse, parent, and child). But the exact definition varies by policy year and policy type. Read the wording carefully before assuming a particular relative qualifies.

The deposit is non-refundable even in bereavement. Even if you cancel early enough that the calculated charge would be less than the deposit, TUI retains the full deposit. Travel insurance covers this as part of the irrecoverable costs.

Ask whether the booking can be transferred. Rather than cancelling outright, some families find it preferable to transfer the holiday to other family members who can use it. TUI may allow name changes on bookings for a fee. This avoids the cancellation charge entirely if a suitable traveller can be found. Ask the customer services team what is possible.

Companion travellers need to act separately. If the deceased was part of a group booking but other members of the party still wish to travel, those passengers may need to amend the booking rather than cancel it entirely. The deceased’s seat can be removed (with the applicable cancellation charge applying to that passenger’s share), while the remaining passengers continue under the amended booking. Call TUI to discuss the options.

ABTA provides a safety net for disputes. TUI is an ABTA member. If you believe TUI has applied cancellation charges unfairly or has not handled your bereavement case with appropriate consideration, you can escalate to ABTA’s dispute resolution scheme at abta.com after exhausting TUI’s internal complaints process.

Quick reference summary

For related guidance, see our what to do when someone dies hub, our guide to cancelling a British Airways booking when someone dies, our guide to cancelling a Ryanair booking when someone dies, our guide to notifying easyJet when someone dies, our guide to notifying Jet2 when someone dies, our guide to cancelling a Virgin Atlantic flight when someone dies, and our guide to cancelling a Booking.com account when someone dies.