Travel insurance - cold/cough cover?

rebeccak

I don't know if anyone can advise on this. I'm onto about my fourth (single trip) policy schedule from Columbus and every time it seems to get more confusing (and expensive) and I don't know if I'm covered or answering the right things.

The latest is that I've had a cough/cold - I'd had the cough for about four weeks so as I was seeing my GP anyway (about a condition I'd already disclosed and paid an additional premium for) I mentioned it - The GP listened to my chest and said that my chest was fine - It was just a cough/cold virus that was going round at the moment and would clear up of its own accord.

As the policy said to keep them updated of any changes in medical information and I didn't want them to have an excuse to invalidate any claim, I dropped them an e-mail to update them on my GP visit. I kind of assumed I'd just get an e-mail back saying yes, that's fine but was instead told I needed to ring them to change my medical screening.

I've now paid another additional fee on the insurance policy (which I first took out about a month ago) because of the cough/cold and have had to answer a bunch of questions that I don't know if I've answered correctly or not - I tried getting clarification but they just kept repeating the question over and over and telling me I had to say 'yes' or 'no'.

A few questions I have:

If I have already taken out the insurance policy, do I still have to keep paying additional fees if there are any changes during the insurance period? I would have thought they'd just agreed to take me on based on my health/circumstances at the time I took out the insurance?

The doctor told me that I had a cough/cold virus but on the schedule it is recorded as two separate conditions - Acute nasopharyngiti (which I've found out is a common cold) plus a 'Cough of unknown origin' - Is it 'of unknown origin' if I've been told by my GP that it's a virus and isn't a cough part of the common cold?

I told the customer adviser that the GP said I didn't need any treatment/medication for the cough but that I had been taking over-the-counter cough syrup for it and this has been recorded that I am on medication for the cough - Is this correct???

Without going into all the details (as this could go on for ever!) I had a very lengthy, confusing conversation with him about previous coughs. One question was about whether I had had a chest infection in the past 12 months and I am not sure whether I answered this correctly. I had a very bad cough in December last year when I was coughing up blood (I had already fully disclosed the details of this when I first took out the policy) - I was never told that I had a chest infection and don't believe that I had one (my chest x-ray came back clear). However, the very first doctor that I saw about this didn't even listen to my chest and just immediately wrote me out a prescription for antibiotics so I'm concerned that he may have written 'chest infection' on my medical records so I don't know if I need to declare a chest infection and, if I don't, could this invalidate my whole insurance policy (ie even for non-cough-related issues)? Would it be better just to say I don't want to be covered for the cough (or wait until nearer the time of the trip as it will probably have gone by then) so that I am not potentially giving 'incorrect' information in my medical answers?

Thanks to anyone who can help.

luci

Which insurance company is it as it sounds like one to avoid?

I have twice advised our insurer about new conditions mid-term on an annual policy, both requiring surgery, and they accepted and covered the conditions with no additional premium.

rebeccak

luci wrote: »

Which insurance company is it as it sounds like one to avoid?

It's columbusdirect.com

olly300

Give the best answers you can.

Personally unless you have had complications or a condition where the a cold could have caused you to have complications I wouldn't have mentioned it in the first place.

Even then I wouldn't have mentioned it as I would have mentioned the other condition as it's called the "common cold" for a reason.

rebeccak

olly300 wrote: »

Give the best answers you can.

Personally unless you have had complications or a condition where the a cold could have caused you to have complications I wouldn't have mentioned it in the first place.

Even then I wouldn't have mentioned it as I would have mentioned the other condition as it's called the "common cold" for a reason.

Thanks. The only reason I mentioned it to the insurance company was because I'd mentioned it to my doctor. I thought that, if it has been recorded in my medical records and I didn't disclose it, they could use that to get out of paying out for any claim, even if it's unrelated to that. I didn't think it would be such a big deal though

G_M

You've dug yourself into a hole.

If you have already taken out a policy, and answered all the relevant questions at that time, and paid a premium, then you are covered. You should not have that contract subsequently altered (ie increased premium).

A cold with a cough is one ailment. By mentioning both, the (dumb) rep has recorded both, and systme then treats it as two.

Yes, the origin of the cough is the nasopharyngiti.

If you tell the rep you have been taking medication, he'll record you as .... taking medication. But no, no need at all to have over-the-counter cough syrup recorded - Only prescribed medication. Dumb rep.

The chest infection? Well, that really depends if your 1st doctor DID record a chest infection on your medical file. Only way to find out is to ask.

Trouble is these places are call centres manned by newly graduated students of History, Maths or Kite-flying. They are not medically trained, nor do they have relevant work experience, nor are they insurance experts. A poor combination. Escalate to Supervisor (better still Managerial) level.