HSBC holiday insurance warning

Squoozy

My husband and I have banked with HSBC for 35 years and have been Premier account holders for a number of years. One of the perks of this is free holiday insurance.

Five years ago my husband developed angina, and we notified HSBC travel insurance, who then sent a letter stating that he would not be covered for claims relating to this condition. My husband has, therefore, had specialist travel insurance since 2013, and I have travelled using the HSBC insurance.

In January my husband had a heart attack in the departure lounge at Gatwick airport. Fortunately he is now fine, and I cannot thank the staff at Gatwick, the ambulance service and the hospital enough. My husband's insurance company paid for his lost holiday very quickly. However, HSBC, via whom I claimed for my lost holiday, took 5 weeks to decide that they would not pay out anything. The reason they have given is that even though I was only claiming for my half of the holiday my husband apparently was still insured through them (a free 'perk' we were not able to stop) and unable to claim, which invalidated my claim. This is even though we have two seperate accounts, one in my name and one in his.

It had never occurred to us that I was not covered by the insurance because my husband was not covered. In many ways we are lucky that he was taken ill in this country and not abroad, where possibly I could have eneded up paying out a significant amount of money for travel and accommodation in order to stay with him. I am writing this as a warning to others. Meanwhile, we are in the process of opening a new bank account with a different bank, and we won't be relying on 'free' travel insurance.

martinsurrey

Squoozy wrote: »

My husband and I have banked with HSBC for 35 years and have been Premier account holders for a number of years. One of the perks of this is free holiday insurance.

Five years ago my husband developed angina, and we notified HSBC travel insurance, who then sent a letter stating that he would not be covered for claims relating to this condition. My husband has, therefore, had specialist travel insurance since 2013, and I have travelled using the HSBC insurance.

In January my husband had a heart attack in the departure lounge at Gatwick airport. Fortunately he is now fine, and I cannot thank the staff at Gatwick, the ambulance service and the hospital enough. My husband's insurance company paid for his lost holiday very quickly. However, HSBC, via whom I claimed for my lost holiday, took 5 weeks to decide that they would not pay out anything. The reason they have given is that even though I was only claiming for my half of the holiday my husband apparently was still insured through them (a free 'perk' we were not able to stop) and unable to claim, which invalidated my claim. This is even though we have two seperate accounts, one in my name and one in his.

It had never occurred to us that I was not covered by the insurance because my husband was not covered. In many ways we are lucky that he was taken ill in this country and not abroad, where possibly I could have eneded up paying out a significant amount of money for travel and accommodation in order to stay with him. I am writing this as a warning to others. Meanwhile, we are in the process of opening a new bank account with a different bank, and we won't be relying on 'free' travel insurance.

unfortunately, this will be the case with any travel insurance.

the HSBC cover does clearly state that they do not cover any preexisting conditions for you or any close relative, unless they are disclosed and agreed before you travel.

Maybe they should have pointed out that it also effected your policy, but it was clear in the policy documents.

Glad your OH is doing well.

mgdavid

Would have thought you'd know that you have to declare his condition to your insurers (which then invalidates it) as you are both travelling together.
As martinsurrey said, all travel insurance works like this !

Squoozy

mgdavid wrote: »

Would have thought you'd know that you have to declare his condition to your insurers (which then invalidates it) as you are both travelling together.
As martinsurrey said, all travel insurance works like this !

Actually I called several insurance companies today to enquire about future travel insurance for myself. Every single one said I didn't have to declare my husband's condition and I would be covered if he was taken ill. His condition WAS declared to HSBC and he had a letter from HSBC at that time stating that he wouldn't be covered and he would need other insurance, which he then obtained. The letter made no mention of my insurance, and was written to him, not to me. I had a separate bank account and this was not joint insurance. Thus, I am pretty fed up that apparently my insurance was invalidated if I travelled with him.

Please don't say things like 'would have thought you'd know' My life has been turned upside down. It has been an extremely stressful time, and I was just trying to warn others. I would not wish the level of distress and worry I have experienced for the last six weeks on anybody.

martinsurrey

Squoozy wrote: »

Actually I called several insurance companies today to enquire about future travel insurance for myself. Every single one said I didn't have to declare my husband's condition and I would be covered if he was taken ill. His condition WAS declared to HSBC and he had a letter from HSBC at that time stating that he wouldn't be covered and he would need other insurance, which he then obtained. The letter made no mention of my insurance, and was written to him, not to me. I had a separate bank account and this was not joint insurance. Thus, I am pretty fed up that apparently my insurance was invalidated if I travelled with him.

Please don't say things like 'would have thought you'd know' My life has been turned upside down. It has been an extremely stressful time, and I was just trying to warn others. I would not wish the level of distress and worry I have experienced for the last six weeks on anybody.

Can you tell us the names of the companies that offer close relative cancellation insurance without having to declare pre existing conditions? Interested as it would be a super find, a lot of people with very sick relative would find it a blessing.

Part of your problem is that you had 2 separate policies, and due to data protection, your husbands policy couldn't "talk" to your policy, they couldn't
write you a letter saying that "due to your husbands medical conditions your policy is effected", as they have no right to divulge his medical records, even to you.

No one is blaming you for this, we are all sympathetic, but equally we cant blame HSBC for this one either, as its a 100% standard part of insurance policies, and I'm worried that you'll, be in a similar position if you go with another insurer, unless its a specialist policy like your husbands.

martinsurrey

ohh and I doubt your insurance was invalidated, it just doesn't cover you for the very specific event of you cancelling your trip because your husband fell ill due to his preexisting condition.

You would have still being covered if you had fallen ill yourself.

Squoozy

I rang several, but for example Travel Toad, Flexicover and All Clear all said they would insure me and Indidnt need to declare anything about my husband or worry about his condition because I would be covered, although Travel Toad wouldnt cover cancellation before a trip. In addition I discovered, via the British Heart Foundation, that if a woman joins the WI and takes out their insurance, which can be individual, couples or families, they will cover anyone with any health conditions with no questions about medical history as long as they are not terminally ill. The insurance runs from fixed dates ( November I think they said) for everyone, do if you join in March you renew again in November.

What you have said about insurance makes no sense to me. That would mean anyone travelling with someone else, who potentially knew nothing about the other persons health, would not be insured if that other person was taken ill? Its ludicrous. That means none of us can ever safely go on holiday without getting all our travelling companions to inform us of any condition, or else have an arrangement to abandon them and continue with the holiday!?

RADDERS

In this case I would refer to the ombudsman and let them have a look at it, especially as you had separate bank accounts and not joint.
I am assuming that the insurance company have sent you the decline letter with referral rights to the ombudsman

mgdavid

Squoozy wrote: »

........ That would mean anyone travelling with someone else, who potentially knew nothing about the other persons health, would not be insured if that other person was taken ill? Its ludicrous. That means none of us can ever safely go on holiday without getting all our travelling companions to inform us of any condition, or else have an arrangement to abandon them and continue with the holiday!?

Absolutely, you've got it. If you want to be covered for events and subsequent claims caused by travel companions' health then you have to find out about their health.
Try to look at it from an insurer's POV. Insurance is a gamble, a bet, and the only way for them to operate at a profit is to set the odds (premiums) according to the likelihood of a claim i.e. the risk expressed as a number. The more information they have the better they can assess the risk and set a premium.
It's not ludicrous it's just mathematics.
Yes it may be possible to get the insurance cover without medical disclosure but the premiums will be more, maybe far more, because they are covering something they don't have the information about.
As evidenced by many posts on forums like this one, many (most?) people buy insurance on low price rather than the true extent of cover offered, and don't read the Policy 'small print' to understand what is and isn't covered.

eskbanker

Yes, it's all about risk - the logic is undoubtedly that if you're travelling with someone who's closely enough related that you'd need to cancel your trip if they had to abandon theirs, then that's a relevant factor when assessing their willingness to cover you and how much to charge for doing so.

AndyW1

The best thing is for the travel companions to be insured all under the same travel policy. You are all then jointly covered if one of you fall sick and the other(s) need to cancel.