'Please help us get dad's body home from Spain'
A British family has launched a Facebook campaign to raise the £4,000 (€5,000) they need to bring home the body of father-of-six Thomas Owens who died while on holiday in the resort town of Benidorm.
Thomas – known to his friends as Tommy – was on holiday with ten of his pals from Wythenshawe, Manchester when he fell down dead in a bar on October 2nd.
His insurance company, Staysure, told The Local they have not paid to have the body flown home because Owens, 59, failed to declare a pre-existing heart condition or the fact that he had a pacemaker fitted when he filled out an online insurance policy form,
Tommy's family say that he may have misunderstood the insurance form or made a mistake when filling it out.
But in a statement supplied via email to The Local, the company said: "The process of buying online makes it absolutely explicit that customers must disclose their medical history and any pre-existing conditions they have, but sadly, in this case, Mr Owens did not declare the conditions and therefore our insurers declined the claim because the cause of his death was directly connected to a pre-existing health condition which was not declared and covered on his policy."
Owen's family are now appealing for funds to bring his body home and have set up a Facebook page, 'RIP Thomas Owens' for donations.
His wife of 39 years, Anne, told the Manchester Evening News, "We're just desperate."
On the Facebook appeal page, one of Tommy's children wrote: "We have tried everything possible including bank loans, who are not able to assist. We are desperate for help and support and running out of ideas, this is our last resort, so please please, please can you help donate whatever you can to help bring our dad home to us, where we can finally say our last goodbye and lay him to rest."
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Thomas – known to his friends as Tommy – was on holiday with ten of his pals from Wythenshawe, Manchester when he fell down dead in a bar on October 2nd.
His insurance company, Staysure, told The Local they have not paid to have the body flown home because Owens, 59, failed to declare a pre-existing heart condition or the fact that he had a pacemaker fitted when he filled out an online insurance policy form,
Tommy's family say that he may have misunderstood the insurance form or made a mistake when filling it out.
But in a statement supplied via email to The Local, the company said: "The process of buying online makes it absolutely explicit that customers must disclose their medical history and any pre-existing conditions they have, but sadly, in this case, Mr Owens did not declare the conditions and therefore our insurers declined the claim because the cause of his death was directly connected to a pre-existing health condition which was not declared and covered on his policy."
Owen's family are now appealing for funds to bring his body home and have set up a Facebook page, 'RIP Thomas Owens' for donations.
His wife of 39 years, Anne, told the Manchester Evening News, "We're just desperate."
On the Facebook appeal page, one of Tommy's children wrote: "We have tried everything possible including bank loans, who are not able to assist. We are desperate for help and support and running out of ideas, this is our last resort, so please please, please can you help donate whatever you can to help bring our dad home to us, where we can finally say our last goodbye and lay him to rest."
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