Pre-existing Travel Insurance Guide Discussion

Doc_N

The answer to that, Robie, is that it depends entirely on the questions you have to answer to get the insurance.

You can't give false information, or any claim at all will be at risk. But if no question is asked you don't need to provide the information.

And if it's a policy which just excludes all pre-existing conditions, without asking about them, you'd probably be OK on claims. It would be very difficult, though not impossible, for an insurer to link one of the events you mention to a past mental health issue.

pompeyrich

Robie wrote: »

I suppose simple question for the people in the know.

My wife has had mental health issue in the past but for past 6/7 years no issues whatsoever and she is leading a normal life now (taking meds, working, etc.). The cheapest I have been quoted for her with pre-existing medical condition is £400+.

The question is can I take out travel insurance without mentioning any pre-existing conditions (i.e. I *don't* want them covered by the insurance) but need normal travel insurance? If we have to claim, would they refuse insurance for say an accident or broken leg or flight delay or loss of baggage, etc. just because we have *not* mentioned existing condition?

Thanks
Robie

In my, unqualified opinion, the best way is to declare the isues and then either opt to pay the extra or choose to pay the lower amount and not have them covered. I have a couple of issues, one is raised blood pressure, I have cover with my bank but had the choice to pay an additional premium to cover that or have it excluded at the normal cost. As HBP can lead to heart attack/stroke type problems I opted to pay more as I felt they would say the BP was a cause of the more serious event and not payout if the worst happened.

TwitTwoo

Robbie, IMO it's just not worth it - not disclosing I mean. There's been so many reports on cases where a claim has had absolutely nothing to do with a pre existing issue but, because it hadn't been disclosed, the policy was deemed nul & void.

I've just heard of a company that may be worth contacting for a quote. i'll be trying them next year but good luck.

insurancewith. com

koru

koru wrote: »

I second this suggestion. In my view, these are a better solution for those people who meet the criteria for cover. I'd never come across ETA before - could be a cheap solution for people who were diagnosed more than a year ago, even after heart attack, stroke, diabetes, cancer. Crucially, they do cover conditions treated in the last 12 months, as long as if their medication has been stable for a year.

Not any more. Since September 2017 ETA have switched to the normal approach that they won't cover anything unless it is disclosed in medical screening.

koru

Robie wrote: »

The question is can I take out travel insurance without mentioning any pre-existing conditions (i.e. I *don't* want them covered by the insurance) but need normal travel insurance? If we have to claim, would they refuse insurance for say an accident or broken leg or flight delay or loss of baggage, etc. just because we have *not* mentioned existing condition?

Thanks
Robie

It depends on the insurance policy wording. With Eurotunnel, there is no medical screening. If you have what their policy defines as a pre-existing condition, you are not covered for it, end of story. Everything else is covered.

The same is true of Cheaper Travel Insurance (via Money Supermarket). The difference is that their definition of what is not covered is much wider.

archersluck

Any idea if you need to declare a previous accident? On my last holiday I was hospitalised with a head injury after an accident, took some getting over but will be fine by the time of the next trip.
I figure you wouldn't declare a previous broken leg or similar if now all fully healed...

Doc_N

archersluck wrote: »

Any idea if you need to declare a previous accident? On my last holiday I was hospitalised with a head injury after an accident, took some getting over but will be fine by the time of the next trip.
I figure you wouldn't declare a previous broken leg or similar if now all fully healed...

As always, it depends entirely on the questions you have to answer to get the policy.

sheramber

archersluck wrote: »

Any idea if you need to declare a previous accident? On my last holiday I was hospitalised with a head injury after an accident, took some getting over but will be fine by the time of the next trip.
I figure you wouldn't declare a previous broken leg or similar if now all fully healed...

You only need to answer what they ask you, but you must answer truthfully.
If they ask if you have had medical treatment or were an inpatient in hospital in the last year and it happened 11 months ago, then you need to declare it.

Doc_N

Don't suppose anyone can provide a link to this, but what I'm looking for is a website which lists all the standard travel insurance questions.

Pretty much all insurers use the same standard questions to assess the eligibility/pricing of travel policies where there are pre-existing conditions. If I do it online it's relatively easy to go through all the screens - and there's time to consider each question carefully.

Nationwide BS, though, to upgrade their free travel policy for pre-existing conditions, insist that it should be done over the phone. Much more risky, and it's not something you'd want to make a mistake over.

I know you can do fake applications to get to know the questions you're going to be asked over the phone, but does anyone know a way of getting at the complete list without having to do that?

Probably impossible, but somebody might have the magic bullet.

koru

Doc_N wrote: »

Don't suppose anyone can provide a link to this, but what I'm looking for is a website which lists all the standard travel insurance questions.

I'm not sure if there is a single standard. I have been getting quotes from some of the insurers that specialise in pre-existing conditions using online screening, and I've come across at least two different approaches.

The first group (such as WorldFirst, Holiday Safe, Alpha and InsuranceWith) seem to be the real specialists. They ask the same really detailed questions, relevant to the conditions you disclose. The second group are the ones that come up on Money Supermarket if you disclose medical conditions, and they ask fewer questions, some of which are not very relevant to the condition in question (for instance, failing to understand that the concept of remission is not relevant for all cancers).

In my experience, the first group come up with much lower quotes than the second.

Try one of the first group, as a practice for you phone screening. I would be surprised if the phone screeners asked for more than they do.