Holiday insurance

Gracefularrow

Hi, i am going on holiday and trying to sort out insurance, I need to declare previous medical conditions which isn’t a problem, but one of the questions asked is if you have had a heart attack. Well I had open heart surgery which was successful but a few hours later I had a cardiac arrest, should I declare this as a heart attack as there appears not to have cardiac arrest as a condition, this was over five years ago. Hoping someone can help.

marlot

I think the only way to be sure you're covered would be to ring them.

Boggles190

Yes, 100% you should declare it and then let them make a decision on what extra info they need and cover etc.

If you don’t declare you could find a claim being turned down due to non-disclosure of a medical condition that materially affects the insurance cover.

Mrsn

Ringing around to explain the situation would be your best option. Very hard to get a suitable policy based on questions that probably won’t be relevant to you

Manxman_in_exile

I always 'phone for travel insurance so I can speak to a person and explain my medical history. I would count a cardiac arrest as a heart attack - you've also had open heart surgery!


My travel insurers (Saga) only ask about heart conditions in the last five years. Is there no time limit for your insurers? (Could be that Saga ask about heart conditions in the last five years, but heart attacks are any time).

Boggles190

(Could be that Saga ask about heart conditions in the last five years, but heart attacks are any time).

That's correct, usually they want to know if you have ever had cancer or a heart attack. Most other conditions, it's just within the last 5 years.

garth549

A cardiac arrest isn't the same as a heart attack and is generally much less serious (in the eye of an insurer) as they don't usually have an underlying cause health-wise. As always though contact the insurer if you're not sure.

Dr_Crypto

You'll have to ask them. "Heart attack" isn't a medical term and different people see it as different things - some see it as an infarct (where the heart doesn't get enough blood) and others think of it as a cardiac arrest (where the heart stops beating). I'm surprised an insurance company is using such a non-scientific and imprecise term.