Travel Insurance Article Discussion

If she is travelling with her husband then most policies cover Close Relatives and Travelling Companions. However they would both have to declare the PEMC to their insurance companies and have it accepted.

luci wrote: »

Have a look at https://www.eta.co.uk They will cover PEMC's provided there has been no change in medication in the past 12 months.

This is pretty good, but check the wording carefully. This only applies to PEMCs for which you are taking prescribed drugs. You are not covered for any PEMC for which you do not take medication.

So, for instance, my daughter has asthma, but not bad enough to need any medication. If her asthma flared up whilst on holiday, she would not be covered. Ditto my wife's back, on which she had an operation 2 years ago, but takes no medication.

koru wrote: »

This is pretty good, but check the wording carefully. This only applies to PEMCs for which you are taking prescribed drugs. You are not covered for any PEMC for which you do not take medication.

So, for instance, my daughter has asthma, but not bad enough to need any medication. If her asthma flared up whilst on holiday, she would not be covered. Ditto my wife's back, on which she had an operation 2 years ago, but takes no medication.

Have you called them to have this confirmed?

I called them to declare a new medical condition, but because I am not taking medication for it then it didnt need to be declared and is covered.

luci wrote: »

Have you called them to have this confirmed?

I called them to declare a new medical condition, but because I am not taking medication for it then it didnt need to be declared and is covered.

I was going by the wording of the Key Facts part of the ETA policy. This says:

"Pre-existing medical conditions are excluded other than in the following circumstances:
It is a condition for which you take prescribed drugs but there has been no increase or decrease in the quantity or frequency of those drugs or change to the type of drugs prescribed within the last 12 months.
You have regular check-ups for an ongoing condition for which you
take prescribed drugs and those check-ups have not resulted in treatment for that condition or any change to the type frequency or quantity of drugs prescribed for the condition within the last 12 months."

Therefore, the basic rule seems to be that PEMCs are not covered, but there are some exceptions in the case where you take prescribed drugs. However, if I look at the actual wording of the policy itself, I think the situation is not as bad as this suggests. What the Key Facts wording does not make clear is that their definition of a PEMC is extremely narrow, even before you look at the exception for prescribed drugs. The general exclusions section says:

"We shall not be liable under any section of this insurance in respect of:
...
2. Any claims or expenses arising directly or indirectly from any of your medical conditions for which medical advice or treatment has been given by a medical practitioner or hospital during the twelve
months prior to any trip covered by this Certificate.
This exclusion shall not apply to any condition for which you take regular continuing medication provided that there has been no change in the type, frequency or quantity of drugs within the last twelve months. However no claims or expenses relating to such condition will be admitted hereunder in the event of your failure to take such drugs in accordance with the medical advice given."

So, the starting point is that any medical condition (other than mental health - see below) is covered as long as you have had no medical advice or treatment in relation to the condition in the 12 months prior to your trip. That's really good.

For conditions on which you have had medical advice or treatment in the last 12 months, you are still covered as long as it is a condition for which you take regular continuing medication and there has been no change in your prescription over the last 12 months.

Therefore, it would appear that, based on a strict interpretation of the wording of the agreement, the only conditions (other than mental health related - see below) that are not covered are those for which you receive medical advice or treatment in the 12 months prior to your trip and (a) you are not on medication for that condition or (b) your prescription has changed in the last 12 months. What you were told over the phone therefore seems inconsistent with the actual policy wording, unless your new condition is one for which you have not received any medical advice or treatment.

One other point that I noticed from looking at the policy wording is that there is a sweeping exclusion of cover for any medical condition that is in any way related to even the mildest mental health problems, no matter how long ago. The general exclusions include:

"6. Any claims due to any condition caused by, prolonged by, or aggravated by any psychiatric, mental or nervous disorder, including stress, anxiety and/or depression."

This isn't just picking up major psychiatric disorders such as bipolar and schizophrenia. Many of us have a degree of stress, anxiety or depression, even though most of us would not regard this as being a mental health problem. Could this give them a way to wriggle out of paying up on, say, a heart attack, if they could show, say, that you had a bit of trouble sleeping at some point, due to stress, and could argue that this might have aggravated an undiagnosed heart problem?