A FAMILY could be more than £2,000 out of pocket after a teenage prank went wrong.

Deborah Gomersall is furious that a holiday to Turkey cannot be delayed until next summer after son Jake, 14, seriously hurt himself slipping off a bike rack at school.

Tour operator Monarch said the trip could be postponed until next year, but there would be a cost involved and the family had no holiday insurance.

The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) said the situation was a “classic example” of why holiday-makers should take out insurance as soon as they booked.

Jake, who lost his balance while walking over the rack bars, was rushed from Bradford Royal Infirmary to Leeds General Infirmary for surgery after the incident on Tuesday.

He faces further surgery for the urethral injury so will not be able to fly to Hisaronu on August 8. Ms Gomersall, 46, said she fears losing the £2,167 she paid for the holiday.

“I rang Monarch to explain about the accident and to ask if we could put the holiday on hold until next summer. They said I could delay it but would have to take it this year some time. We can’t do that because we don’t know when he’ll be having his other surgery,” she said.

“I didn’t want the money back, I wasn’t asking for that but now it seems we could lose the whole lot.”

Ms Gomersall, of Little Horton, said she was waiting to arrange holiday insurance because she had a hospital appointment this week and might have to make a declaration about her own health.

“It’s a classic example of why people must take out insurance as soon as they book a holiday. It’s common human nature to put things off until closer the time, but travel insurance isn’t one of them.

“If the family already had cover then this would have been a straightforward claim. No one can predict accidents happening,”an ABTA spokesman said.

“If the family want to put the holiday on hold then all they can do is ask the travel company but it will depend what’s in their terms and conditions. The company doesn’t have to do anything. Unknown and unpredictable things happening are why we have insurance. The message is to always get it when you book, don’t delay it.”

“She could have got the insurance beforehand and then told them any changes later. What’s important is that people make those changes before they travel.”

A Monarch spokesman said Ms Gomersall had been spoken to and her options explained.

“We are happy for an advisor to call her and go through it all again.

“The problem is they had no insurance.We could move the holiday to next year but it would involve extra costs,” he added.