Holiday insurance after period of ill health

beecher2

HI, my annual cover is due to expire on 30 July and I am going to Spain on 11 August. I had stomach pain last month which has now cleared up but was referred to hospital for an ultrasound and told to expect a long wait. I have not had my appointment through yet and I am thinking of cancelling the ultrasound .

My existing cover says
"Please note that claims will not be covered if you, or anyone travelling with you, has ever had treatment for... any type of irritable bowel disease"

I haven't had any medication from the doctor other than painkillers, and have no diagnosis. I am just wondering what exactly I tell my insurer. Should I possibly just get a one off insurance policy this time?

huckster

Well i think you would have Insurance staff scratching their heads as well, as it sounds like you could not tell them much. They would probably just exclude any medical cover related to the stomach.

If you are going to Spain, i suggest you take an EHIC card with you and in the event of needing any treatment that could be associated with stomach, that you only use Spanish public healthcare. Don't go to any private hospital or doctors, as the Insurance would not cover medical expenses. EHIC enables use to access public healthcare in places like Spain and you would be treated like a Spaniard.

You should speak to your Doctors about the situation. Most Doctors offer a telephone appointment, without you needing to see them.

beecher2

Thanks for that - never really been aware of the minefield of pre existing conditions before as I've always been lucky enough to have perfect health. Will try to get in touch with doctors soon

mufi

Sorry, but you need to advise your insurer that you're waiting for a scan/diagnosis. Whether anyone will cover for that, only they can tell you. Good luck!

beecher2

I'm almost certainly cancelling the scan once I've spoken to my doctor. The problem has gone away after taking probiotics. In that scenario there will be no diagnosis.

missbiggles1

beecher2 wrote: »

I'm almost certainly cancelling the scan once I've spoken to my doctor. The problem has gone away after taking probiotics. In that scenario there will be no diagnosis.

You'll still need to declare it to the insurer.

huckster

Agree that you need to advise Insurers once you have clarified with Doctors.

If you don't have an EHIC card make sure you get one just in case and if you have a stomach problem your Travel Insurance won't cover while you are in Spain, go to see a public sector Doctor using EHIC.

There is a reason why Insurances will not cover irritable bowel and stomach issues for people who have had such problems, which is of course, there is a high risk of problems reoccurring on holiday e.g eating out more than normal, not knowing ingredients etc.

C.M.

firstly you need to be clear on what your doctor is attempting to diagnose / discount, and what the policy actually says.

I say this because there is no such thing as Irritable Bowel Disease.

There is irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) which isn't hugely serious, and can be easily managed through diet, stress management and frequently over the counter meds.

Then you have IBD - inflammatory bowel disease - which is a life long, incurable auto-immune disease which often involves high risk immune supressing treatments, surgery and other medication to manage -

I wouldn't expect IBS to have a such a huge impact so as to exclude you entirely from insurance cover. However, IBD is another case altogether

also - although ultrasound can be a first stop non-invasive diagnostic method for IBD Ive rarely heard of it being used, more often invasive testing is used as it will provide an answer straight away - so I would suggest checking with your GP exactly what it is they are looking for.

I wouldn't suggest excluding yourself from any cover without finding this out first.

Browntoa

if its on your medical records it needs declaring , diagnosis or not


if you self cancel the appointment and then need to claim later they may still exclude it

beecher2

C.M. wrote: »

I say this because there is no such thing as Irritable Bowel Disease.

Well spotted, I'd cut and pasted that part though it wasn't in their schedule last year so definitively need to ask them about that.

My doctor sent for the scan to investigate the cause of abdominal pain - I don't think he's got anything in mind at the moment though my previous doctor had ruled out a number of conditions through various tests. Personally I think it is yet another part of going through perimenopause where all numbers of inexplicable things are happening to my body :rotfl: Don't really want to go down the road of explaining them to an insurer though.

Thanks for everyone's help - I have a couple of weeks grace before I need to get new insurance so will see what hospital and doctor says.