Pre-existing medical conditions - 3rd Party

Jonnymccni

HI everyone, I'm hoping someone can help. I've booked a holiday for next year via a travel agent. My dad has been diagnosed with a tumour and is having further investigations (Hes not going with us). He's in reasonable health at the moment so im hoping all will be good. But I want to take out decent travel insurance which would cover for cancellation should the worst happen and i need to cancel, but every one i have looked at has a condition which excludes such cover. (see below) is anyone aware of the ability to get such cover or does it exist? I see you can get pre-existing medical conditions, but they seem to be for travellers, not 3rd parties. Any help appreciated.

"You will not be covered for any directly or indirectly related claims (see note at the end of this section) arising from the health of a travelling companion, someone you were going to stay with or a family member if at the time your policy was issued you were aware: • they have been receiving medical treatment or consultation at any medical facility for a medical condition in the last 12 months; • they have been awaiting medical treatment or consultation at any medical facility or have been under investigation for a medical condition; "

DullGreyGuy

Have they been given a diagnosis of what the tumour is?

I'm not aware of any insurer that gives you the option to declare the conditions of non-traveling persons, others on here have claimed they've found ones but then cannot remember who they were. 

There is a policy, fairly sure its linked to a bank account, that has more wooly wording about if it was reasonably foreseeable that you may need to cancel due to the sickness of a relative which doesn't give you a definitive confirmation of cover but a potential for it. I thought it was Nationwide but looking at their wording its not the same. A search on here may reveal something as it's a very common question. 

Jonnymccni

Thanks for the reply. Not yet, currently undergoing investigations... which is the exact thing which is excluded. Yes i had a look at the nationwide one in my search, It appears to include the exclusion. I also saw one that said "resonably forseeable" but then in another part of the doc it defined "reasonably forseeable", basically using the same definition as the rest. 

I had thought some of the more expensive cover might have been more inclusive, but that doesn't appear to be the case! In fact some of the more expensive offerings seemed to have more exclusions.

I'll try searching the forum thanks.

Jonny

Brie

I used to have a annual travel policy with LV that had some wording about cancellation due to the death of a close family member.  I don't recall they ever had anything about illness of any sort for anyone other than those actually named on the policy. 

I did in fact ring them once to check on things as my father was very ill at the time with numerous issues with his heart.  In the conversation I was told that I couldn't consider my father a close family member as he lived in a different country and so wasn't actually "close"!   When I escalated this I was told this was nonsense as it was the relationship that was judged to be close rather than the distance between where we both lived.  Because of this confusion I have always insisted that any questions I ask about such things are answered in a letter or by email so I have a copy of the decision as well as the name of the individual who has advised me.

DullGreyGuy

Jonnymccni said:

Thanks for the reply. Not yet, currently undergoing investigations... which is the exact thing which is excluded. Yes i had a look at the nationwide one in my search, It appears to include the exclusion. I also saw one that said "resonably forseeable" but then in another part of the doc it defined "reasonably forseeable", basically using the same definition as the rest. 

I had thought some of the more expensive cover might have been more inclusive, but that doesn't appear to be the case! In fact some of the more expensive offerings seemed to have more exclusions.

I'll try searching the forum thanks.

Jonny

Price isnt always a good judge of quality... used to work for a white labeller that offered travel insurance for other brands to badge as their own. My employer set the wholesale price, there were optional extras the client could add (eg prioritised telephone number) and the client set the price the customer paid.

One brand, well know budget end of the market company, decided to choose every option available and sold the policies at our wholesale price + tax and given them were marketing the product it'd be a loss for them. Another well know company aimed at upper-middle end of the market and claim to be customer focused didn't choose any of the optional extras but was selling it for 50% more than the other brand. 

It may be worth looking at BIBA and finding a broker to have a conversation with. There may be policies out there that can consider it but niche products tend to have manual processes which come at a notable cost. On the plus side, you only pay for it if you buy it so no commitment from you if they do spend time/effort getting the quote. 

Jonnymccni

Thanks for the info Brie - LV was a good shout, though i've just checked their terms:

If a relative, colleague, travelling companion or someone you’re going to stay with, who is not insured on this policy: − has a medical condition that is unstable, or − has a medical condition that is likely to deteriorate, or − is having any investigations or tests 

That rules me out again  

Jonnymccni

DullGreyGuy said:

Jonnymccni said:

Thanks for the reply. Not yet, currently undergoing investigations... which is the exact thing which is excluded. Yes i had a look at the nationwide one in my search, It appears to include the exclusion. I also saw one that said "resonably forseeable" but then in another part of the doc it defined "reasonably forseeable", basically using the same definition as the rest. 

I had thought some of the more expensive cover might have been more inclusive, but that doesn't appear to be the case! In fact some of the more expensive offerings seemed to have more exclusions.

I'll try searching the forum thanks.

Jonny

Price isnt always a good judge of quality... used to work for a white labeller that offered travel insurance for other brands to badge as their own. My employer set the wholesale price, there were optional extras the client could add (eg prioritised telephone number) and the client set the price the customer paid.

One brand, well know budget end of the market company, decided to choose every option available and sold the policies at our wholesale price + tax and given them were marketing the product it'd be a loss for them. Another well know company aimed at upper-middle end of the market and claim to be customer focused didn't choose any of the optional extras but was selling it for 50% more than the other brand. 

It may be worth looking at BIBA and finding a broker to have a conversation with. There may be policies out there that can consider it but niche products tend to have manual processes which come at a notable cost. On the plus side, you only pay for it if you buy it so no commitment from you if they do spend time/effort getting the quote. 

Thanks for that info, very interesting...

Jonny