I was unable to get any refund from ET on an unused return following death of traveller.

Were youdirectly related to the passenger or responsible for the passenger's estate? If so , then this seems very odd ( unless it was just that there was no refund due after deducting fare for journey undertaken) since EK does have a standard exemption to allow refunds for death of passenger

Sorry for your loss Alison that is very sad.

on a slightly different note when my grandma died in sept EK were fab and they moved my flights for free and didn’t ask for documents etc. Getting a refund from EK is difficult and it’s good that you at least got something - perhaps pass this onto your insurance company?