Travel Insurance for Medical Issues

Wanttotravel

Has anyone come across Open Travel Insurance, would appreciate feedback as looks too good to be true! £185 for Annual Cover, anywhere with no medical screening. Designed for 50's and retired specifically WI members. Thanks

jonesMUFCforever

It would depend if you have any medical conditions.
I certainly would not trust them if I had a pre condition.

ThinkingOutLoud_2

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

It would depend if you have any medical conditions.
I certainly would not trust them if I had a pre condition.

Why is that?

ThinkingOutLoud_2

This is quite interesting and they have adopted an unusual approach to age and pre-existing medical conditions. It also runs as a"scheme" with a fixed annual renewal date. However, all three are approaches that have been tried and used before. How suitable they are depends in part on you.

Firstly - "Pre-existing medical conditions are covered as long as members are fit to travel and not terminally ill" = this means your doctor must declare you fit to travel. This is the crux of things and translates amongst other things to "Existing medical conditions are covered provided under control and stable as respects condition treatment" and every claim can mean that fitness to travel has to be proven. If you are not "fit to travel" today or at some future point - then your cover won't operate until you are declared so by your doctor ... which may mean the cover becomes pointless once health deteriorates as you age.

Secondly, with a fixed anniversary and auto-renewal - you can stay in the scheme so long as you like up to 79. But, join part way through the year and the first premium applies to your partial year of cover only, before renewal is due.

Thirdly, flat premiums across the age range when premiums are usually hiked reflects the idea of a scheme you stay in long term - loyalty saving them on marketing / customer churn and over time they hope to recruit and keep those members who are fit to travel and so better risks.

Finally, there are other things as with all policies to consider - the sums insured, the requirement to use an EHIC or whatever that becomes and the detailed exclusions. The unlimited trips and long cover periods may be attractive to retirees with funds.

So they are regulated, but the proof of this WI pie will be in the eating over time. If you can make the health declaration statement of a typical insurer and are under 65 - cover is available for way less than this for Europe and quite a bit less for Worldwide.

scottishf

id be interested in thoughts on this too...