Pre-existing Travel Insurance Guide Discussion

theiceking

Doc_N wrote: »

Why not just get the standalone policy for £35 if it gives full medical cover - though that seems unlikely.

Don't rely on the EHIC (E111 as was). For a start, if we leave the EU without a deal it probably won't be of much use. And secondly, it provides only basic cover - the biggest gap is the potential cost of an air ambulance, and that could cost tens of thousands.

Cheers, it is for a single policy, so kind of negates having the annual policy

fionac123

Thanks. Still keen to hear if others have had a similar charge imposed. Seems totally out of proportion to the “condition”

fionac123

sajjed wrote: »

I am insured with L&V I have an annual policy, I suffered a multiple fractured spine on holiday a few month ago, didnt need repatriating but had to travel home in a wheelchair .
L&V have not asked for any money to continue the policy which expires later this year but said I have to declare injuries when it is due for renewal , which I fully expected

Sorry my reply seems to have gone to wrong place. Interesting to hear about your quite different experience with another company

Jaykay369

Overall I think that the MSE guide for travel insurance with pre-existing conditions is really good. I have quite a complex medical situation at the moment and was recommended Insurancewith by my consultant. Due to their excellent service, and very very competitive prices, I think they should be added to the MSE guide on this topic. Insurancewith was set up by a lady who was diagnosed with breast cancer but struggled to find competitive travel insurance, so she set up Insurancewith as a company that puts the needs of travelers first.

Here's a brief account of my first experience with them:
I phoned them up and spoke to a very understanding and courteous adviser, who I was able to explain my situation to openly and honestly. I was made to feel like my condition would be treated on a case by case basis, and the service was made to feel very personal to me.
The price I was given was much better than I was expecting, having used other medical insurance companies in the past, and even had a greater level of cover (we added a winter sports package into the mix too).
I was especially impressed by their approach to the medical excess that is applied to claims - they will only add the medical excess fee if the claim you are making relates to the medical condition(s) you have declared; if your claim is unrelated to your condition e.g. lost baggage, then you will only pay their standard excess fee. All other medial insurance companies I've used before add the medical excess fee to any claim you make regardless of whether it relates to your declared medical condition(s) or not.

Since then they have been the only travel insurance company I use for cover for pre-existing conditions.

Cougargb

I purchased a World First Multi-Trip policy for cover to the USA for me and my wife on the 30/12/17
We both had previous medical conditions which we both fully declared.
I booked 2 return flights to Chicago for 24 Aug-14 Sep on the 26/1/18
My wife suffered heart palpitations and admitted to hospital 8/7/18 and was treated by Cardioversion.
Specialists and GP both told her she would be unable to fly.
We advised FirstWorld as required by their T&C's they responded by cancelling my wife's cover but not mine.
We started the process of cancellation initially discussing the options with First World and they advised we had 2 options.
1, Cancel the policy and get a refund of the unexpired value of the policy
2. Make a claim and the rest of the multi-trip policy would be cancelled

We were amazed, no other insurance policy we have ever had cancels the policy if you have a claim (car, house etc)

As we were unable to get a refund on the flights, even for the extra cabin leg room we paid £40 for, we claimed.

The claim process was detailed requiring GP, specialist reports and numerous copies of invoices etc.

However credit to First World they paid everything as covered less all excesses.
The initial policy £433 and the excess £100 still had me out of pocket by over £500 but of course could have been a lot worse.

I decided that it was totally unfair that my policy had to be cancelled in order to claim so went via the RESOLVER route to recover something back.

OMG what a nightmare, days turned to weeks, turned to months.
Escalation followed several times at each step with each company passing the buck, eventually to a German bank and they said NO
So I passed my case files to the Ombudsman who several weeks later asked me to fill in their multi page doc repeating all the information they had in my case files
I am 75 years old and enough was enough so I gave up!, no doubt the result the Insurance Company knew would happen!
So be AWARE are multi trip policies really worth it

Doc_N

Cougargb wrote: »

So be AWARE are multi trip policies really worth it

Probably, yes - because you do at least get cover for lost deposits etc even if they cancel the policy before you travel.

And if you bought a series of individual policies:

1 It would cost more, and

2 In the circumstances you outline above you'd simply not get cover at all.

victor2

Cougargb wrote: »

...
So be AWARE are multi trip policies really worth it

We have had annual multi-trip policies for years. Claimed twice and never had the policies cancelled.

Doc_N

victor2 wrote: »

We have had annual multi-trip policies for years. Claimed twice and never had the policies cancelled.

The cancellations come when a serious medical condition arises and is disclosed between the purchase of the policy and the date of travel.

It's cheaper for the insurer to pay the cancellation costs than to take on the risk of paying much higher costs of medical treatment/ repatriation abroad.

Seems grossly unfair, but you can see the logic, and I guess it's always gone on.

Cougargb

I understand the logic for my wife who had the medical problem but I didn't and clearly I wanted to claim as I was going to fly to Chicago without my wife, so why not allow me to claim and keep the policy active?

victor2

Cougargb wrote: »

I understand the logic for my wife who had the medical problem but I didn't and clearly I wanted to claim as I was going to fly to Chicago without my wife, so why not allow me to claim and keep the policy active?

Probably because the risk for insuring you with a wife who has a medical condition the insurers are fully aware of, is considerably higher than the average customer. You could argue they don't normally ask someone taking out a policy if their spouse/partner has a medical condition they would not cover, but in your case they know and would be foolish to ignore it.