Travel insurance with mild but permanent medical condition

greenspark

Hi

I've had a medical condition all my life but only had it diagnosed about 3 years ago, and am on one medication permanently to manage it. It's a condition that can be uncomfortable and annoying at times but I've never needed emergency treatment for it or taken time off work with it.

Since I've had it diagnosed I don't know if I need to declare it when buying travel insurance. One quote I got when I did this was around £35 for a 12 day trip to Europe, as opposed to £6 without.

I don't think it's remotely likely that it would cause me to need any treatment while I'm away as I've never needed any treatment for one-off acute episodes of it before - I just put up with it being uncomfortable till it wears off.

I'm happy for insurance not to cover me for anything related to this condition. However I'm worried that if I don't declare it it might invalidate my whole policy, eg, if I get robbed or run over or snap an ankle or something, I wouldn't be covered if they found out I hadn't declared this unrelated condition.

I've tried looking at different wordings of policies etc but they mostly seem a bit vague. I'm reluctant to contact insurers by phone or email as a) they may try and sell me more expensive specialist cover whether or not I need it, and b) it would 'flag me up' in some way if I then bought cheaper non-specialist insurance and needed to make a claim! However this policy:

We will not cover claims arising from any person, including those not travelling whose condition may give rise to a claim, if the claim relates to a medical condition or any illness related to a medical condition which you were aware of before you took out this insurance.


seems to imply that they won't cover claims relating to existing conditions but that claims unrelated to existing conditions will be covered.

Does anyone know the ins and out of this kind of thing?
It could get very expensive and awkward if I need specialist cover for the rest of my life because of something I don't think will ever be a factor in any claim.

Thanks for any advice

carebear13

i suppose ultimtely it would depend on how badly it affects you and whether it would ever be bad enough to put you in hospital or cause you to have to cancel the holiday.
if you posted what the condition is it may be that someone could you give you more help?

shaun_from_Africa

Many insurers won't provide cover for claims relating to a pre existing condition, but they still may need to be informed of this condition.

If you don't tell them about it and you then need to make a claim for something totally unrelated, they may well refuse to pay out as they weren't fully aware of your complete medical history when you took out the policy and could argue that the claim and the pre existing condition were connected.

There are some insurers who will cover known conditions, but they must have been made aware of these before agreeing to provide cover.


If in doubt, always tell your insurers about any medical history because if you don't, they can easily find it out themselves as most policies require that you allow them permission to contact your doctor.

chipp

A few years ago my partner and I were booking a long-haul holiday and we both had different, long-term medical conditions that like yours had never (and still have never) given rise to any emergencies. Because it was long-haul we declared our conditions (had the holiday been a weekend in the EU we might have behaved differently). As we were up-front about our conditions we don't know how much our policy was loaded, if at all, but we got insurance through Asda at what we thought was a very reasonable cost. We needed to make a lost baggage claim (outward flight so we arrived with only hand luggage, very glad of our flexible friend!), on our return it was processed smoothly and because we'd been honest there were no niggling doubts through our holiday about whether it might be turned down.

Things may be different now of course (a travel agent today told me many policies don't cover lost luggage but I suspect she was just trying to sell me theirs), however that's my two penn'orth.

Whatever you decide, enjoy your holiday(s)

McKneff

It's always wise to disclose any pre existing conditions.

You may need to claim for something entirely differently medically and when they get hold of your medical records they will see this condition, it's all the excuse they need to not pay. It will be down to Non disclosure

Try the AA.

Marmaduke123

There ate a lot of insurers who will cover pre-existing conditions of various kinds. You may need to speak to a medical screening person or fill in an online form.

Try here

http://www.moneysupermarket.com/travel-insurance/pre-existing-medical-conditions/

chipp

I've just used a couple of search engines to get travel insurance quotes for a 1 week European trip holiday next month. The cheapest quote from moneysupermarket, which didn't ask any health questions, was more than double the price of the cheapest from gocompare, which did (and I was honest).

I'm not saying the cover is identical, it isn't, and I shall look into what is important for me before I buy, but having a medical condition doesn't necessarily have the scary financial impact we all imagine.

rachhh

Recently did a university exam on this, if you didn't tell them they could refuse any claim on your policy even if it was unrelated because you're contravening the insurance statute that demands 'utmost good faith' from the consumer. Insurance companies DO find out these things.

greenspark

Thanks all, there's some really helpful advice there. I think I'll do a bit more searching and investigating down some of the paths you've suggested. Looks like it would be sensible to declare the condition. For info, it's a fairly obscure mineral imbalance that is caused by me not absorbing certain minerals, and can lead to muscle spasms, fatigue, etc. It can be bothersome but doesn't require medical attention when it flares up.

One thing I don't really understand is that with some online policies you can get right through to the checkout without there being any opportunity to declare a condition. In this case do they just assume that you don't have any conditions? It seems odd, as a significant proportion of people I know have one condition or another (migraines, anxiety, Crohns, back problems, high blood pressure, coeliac disease etc...and I don't think my family and friends are a notably unhealthy bunch!), but buying insurance makes it seem like a really unusual thing and something you have to seek out specialist advice and cover for.

Anyway, I will declare it, thanks for helping me decide

Marmaduke123

I think you've made the right decision! The need to declare existing conditions might be buried in the small print of a lot of policies, I can't help but think some companies will look for any opportunity to refuse a claim.

For what it's worth, I paid about £3.50 extra on my annual travel policy with Flexicover direct for my condition. Yours sounds a bit unusual, so you might have to search around a bit before you find a company which understands it. In the worst case you should find an option to cover everything except your condition, having fully declared it.