Florida Medical & Travel Insurance Info B4 You Go!

FH_Brit

disney_cjd wrote: »

we live both in the UK and USA and I must say that we have been unfortunate enough to have to go to the ER and the Walk In centre. For the treatment we needed the cost was about the same and the service was OK although the level of Doctoring left a little to be desired.

We were lucky as our insurance paid out but the above advice is crucial and well worth remembering. We normally buy our insurance via moneysupermarket.com but we check the policy wording carefully.

Cheers

A Golden rule - most insurance problems are caused but people not reading their policy wording prior to purchase or travel. Then they find out the hard way.

Be carefull - if you are co-habitants between USA/UK then some travel policies will not cover that - you may need an ex-pat policy (it all depends on the length of stay out of the UK, if you work in the US, and each insurance company. Remember you can always call the customer service as a "prospective buyer" and annonymously ask if your kind of policy covers the type of travel/stay you are doing.

FH_Brit

Blink_Eden wrote: »

Excellent thread, really helpful. :T This thread had just about convinced me to go with Aviva when I saw this, Columbus Direct can do me and Mrs Blink Annual Trip Cover for about £40, compared with £105 for Aviva.

Will research the policy further tomorrow. And give them a call about a PEC (Had a car accident a long time ago which caused a few minor issues, no problems day to day but would hate to aggravate anything and they say it isn't covered).

Personally I think this thread should be stickied as I found it hard to find travel insurance advice on this site.

Well thank you - I do try to be helpfull - although there are others who post that think I should know EVERYTHING about their policies. I have to guide and advise as to go into every aspect of insurance would mean I would bore you all to death! But I do appreciate your kind words, and I'll ask Martin's staff to see your comments and see if they can help.

C.

FH_Brit

UPDATE - BEWARE!

WHITE HORSE INSURANCE IRELAND LTD.
P.O. Box 178
Breadford
BD11 2WS

please bear this in mind if you are thinking of taking out a policy with this company. There is very little help that you can get if you have the need to complain. This company is based in Dublin (I assume their Bradford PO Box is a forwarding address) and with my experiences with them they are totally useless (cannot even see that a bill for £5,000.00 is not the same bill as one for £956.00! ! ! let alone cannot see the difference in the name of the companies sending them bills).

This company I have now found out are NOT registered or regulated by the Financial Services Authority and therefore you have little recourse in the event of a complain or dissagreement. They are registered with The Irish version of the FSA but it don't help if you are in the UK.

Please beware - you could buy the policy and then end up paying all you medical bills - just like my customer this morning ($12,000.00)

luci

FH Brit

Do you have any experience of Direct Travel Insurance? Are they good at paying out?

I have just taken out a policy with them as they were considerably cheaper to cover a pre-existing condition than the 6 or 7 other companies I tried. I have still to read their policy thoroughly once I get it as I have 14 days to cancel if necessary.

FH_Brit

Direct are one of the better poicies and their support is better than most. I beleive Direct is now part of RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland) group.

Remember: Every policy is different and no matter how good a company - it will also depend on you complying with the conditions of that policy. If you do not inform them of pre-existing medical conditions or mental health issues or drink/drug addiction, even the best policy in the world porobably won't cover you in the event of a claim.

You should read in particular the sections regarding Disclosure and Exclusions (these may be called other words but there should be similar sections in every policy) REMEMBER - IF IN DOUBT = CALL YOUR INSURERS AND ASK = It's better than having to make the payment on a medical bill.

Example; My personal friend came over in Oct 07, and the first day his wife fell ill (turned out to be twisted bowel). They were with Direct (then bought through Tesco) and Direct paid over $150,000.00 very quickly and with little argument. (there will always be a little arguing as the adjustors job is to basically save the insurers money).

luci

Believe me, I declare everything and that's why I was getting such high premiums from other companies.

I even tried to declare the health of parents (people on whom the travel depends), but Direct didn't want to know and said that as long as there was no current reason why we may have to cancel then it was fine.

FH_Brit

Luci

You should be ok if you have declared everything and they are acceptable.

fishhawks

FH Brit - thanks for all the information you have given, its really helpful and informative.

I am thinking of booking my insurance with Nationwide (who use LV) do you know if LV are OK or do you have problems with them.

Some of our group have pre-existing medical conditions which have all been accepted by Nationwide

Many thanks

FH_Brit

Fishhawks - Nationwide (I do not know LV) have caused me no trouble in the past - well no more than usual!

When you say "your group" - I advise giving them the website/phone or whatever to contact the ins co - even families do not know every medical condition of other family members and if you take out a policy with "your group" listed as covered persons then it may affect the whole policy if a pre-exist condition is discovered.

At least individual families know their immediate family medical history so let each family in your group fill in their own claim form and obtain insurance independantly of each other.

Example - A previous family were here and Grandmother/Grandfather took daughter/son-in-law & 2 grand children plus son/daughter-in law and 1 grand child, they hired 2 people carriers and were involved in a 3 vehicle accident (another car and the 2 people carriers). 4 needed hospital treatment and the insurers found a pre-exist in the son-in-law (that grandfather did not know and therefore did not declare on the policy proposal) and voided the whole policy and none were covered for their treatment.

If in any doubt - ask your insurers (assist/claim number on the documents NOT the place that sells you the policy [bank/shop/travel agent etc]).

fishhawks

Thanks for the advice FH Brit

LV are Liverpool Victoria. I understand what you mean about splitting the group into families and will do that.

I have been looking at other policies and may go for Direct Travel Insurance instead as I know you have recommended them also.