declaring recent minor surgery on travel insurance (Insure & Go)

katejo

Two weeks ago I had day surgery to remove a harmless epidermoid cyst on my neck. All went smoothly and no further treatment other than a follow up appointment. I got a quote for travel insurance and felt I had to declare this as recent surgery but the questions didn't let me answer accurately. It just asked whether there were plans to remove it so I said no (because this has already happened) but it didn't let me say that. I rang their medical dept. to query it and was told to just say I had the cyst (which I don't). They then added quite a bit to my premium just for asking. I lose out whatever I do. If I don't declare it, I could be in trouble if I made a claim but I can't answer the question accurately.

DullGreyGuy

katejo said:

Two weeks ago I had day surgery to remove a harmless epidermoid cyst on my neck. All went smoothly and no further treatment other than a follow up appointment. I got a quote for travel insurance and felt I had to declare this as recent surgery but the questions didn't let me answer accurately. It just asked whether there were plans to remove it so I said no (because this has already happened) but it didn't let me say that. I rang their medical dept. to query it and was told to just say I had the cyst (which I don't). They then added quite a bit to my premium just for asking. I lose out whatever I do. If I don't declare it, I could be in trouble if I made a claim but I can't answer the question accurately.

Its a square peg round hole problem... I have a medical condition I was born with, 99.999% of people get the problem because they get a growth so  all the websites ask if I have had the growth removed or not... well I don't have a growth to be removed but the websites are set for the 99% and not us weird outliers. I don't even have the organ for a growth to grow on.

Answer the question as yes you intend to have it removed to get quotes... then speak to the insurers/brokers you are interested in and explain the situation. Ideally record the time/date of the call, what number you called from/to and any identifier of the agent they are willing to give (this will vary depending on their policy).

For serious insurance (PHI, Life etc) that could realistically pay out vast sums it's been painful but we got through it. For more basic insurance (eg Travel) its been much less painful but some "low hanging fruit" types just say no

TELLIT01

I had a similar problem with travel insurance although not Insureandgo.  Called to let them know about an appointment and investigation my wife had.  I was told that it wouldn't affect the insurance but there was a £20 charge for updating the record.  As the insurer demanded that they were informed of any medical appointment that has the potential to be a nice little earner for virtually no work.

katejo

TELLIT01 said:

I had a similar problem with travel insurance although not Insureandgo.  Called to let them know about an appointment and investigation my wife had.  I was told that it wouldn't affect the insurance but there was a £20 charge for updating the record.  As the insurer demanded that they were informed of any medical appointment that has the potential to be a nice little earner for virtually no work.

I have now dropped Insure & Go because of their response to my question but also because I couldn't access my previous account. I kept asking for a reminder of my password but nothing arrived in my email account. I chased it up again today and still they insisted that there was nothing wrong and it must be in my spam folder. I gave up and bought a policy from Avanti instead (who were helpful and answered my question). 

TELLIT01

I think Insure & Go autorenew unless you advise them not to.  Worth checking out.

katejo

TELLIT01 said:

I think Insure & Go autorenew unless you advise them not to.  Worth checking out.

No they don't (unless possibly if you have absolutely no medical conditions). I have renewed with them several times before and have always had to answer the medical section all over again. I  can't just say 'no changes since last renewal'.

TELLIT01

@katejo.  I wasn't sure if I'd read about autorenew on my Insure&Go policy or a previous one from another insurer, but found this on the Insure&Go policy documents.

Annual multi-trip - auto-renewal service
To make sure you have continuous cover under your policy,
InsureandGo will aim to automatically renew (auto-renew)
your annual multi-trip policy when it runs out, unless you tell
them not to. Each year InsureandGo will write to you 21 days
before the renewal date of your policy, and tell you about any
changes to the premium or the policy terms and conditions.
If you do not want to auto-renew your policy, just call
InsureandGo free on 0800 083 6237. Otherwise they will collect
the renewal premiums from your credit card or debit card.
Please note that your renewed policy will only be valid when:
• you have told InsureandGo about any changes to your
policy details (including any changes in health conditions);
• and your credit card or debit card details have not changed
In some cases InsureandGo may not be able to
automatically renew your policy. They will let you know at
the time if this is the case.
InsureandGo are entitled to assume that your details have
not changed and you have the permission of the card holder,
unless you tell them otherwise.

Their argument is that they should have been informed of any medical change during the life of the policy so they wouldn't need a new medical declaration.

mexican_dave

My wife & I have my travel insurance via Staysure and they seem to have clear medical questions and autorenew with having to answer any questions. Obviously if you have a change in your medical circumstances then you are obliged to tell them, and they send a reminder just before renewal to say so. So far I haven't had to look at updating them.

katejo

TELLIT01 said:

@katejo.  I wasn't sure if I'd read about autorenew on my Insure&Go policy or a previous one from another insurer, but found this on the Insure&Go policy documents.

Annual multi-trip - auto-renewal service
To make sure you have continuous cover under your policy,
InsureandGo will aim to automatically renew (auto-renew)
your annual multi-trip policy when it runs out, unless you tell
them not to. Each year InsureandGo will write to you 21 days
before the renewal date of your policy, and tell you about any
changes to the premium or the policy terms and conditions.
If you do not want to auto-renew your policy, just call
InsureandGo free on 0800 083 6237. Otherwise they will collect
the renewal premiums from your credit card or debit card.
Please note that your renewed policy will only be valid when:
• you have told InsureandGo about any changes to your
policy details (including any changes in health conditions);
• and your credit card or debit card details have not changed
In some cases InsureandGo may not be able to
automatically renew your policy. They will let you know at
the time if this is the case.
InsureandGo are entitled to assume that your details have
not changed and you have the permission of the card holder,
unless you tell them otherwise.

Their argument is that they should have been informed of any medical change during the life of the policy so they wouldn't need a new medical declaration.

All I can say is that they have  never allowed me  to  renew mine without me answering the medical questions  from scratch. They send me a price for renewal but it excludes medical cover.  I have tried to say to them that it is unchanged since the previous year but they always refused to accept that. In December 2023, they invited me repeatedly to renew but I replied to say that I was expecting minor day surgery in January. I asked whether I could still renew and they didn't bother to reply. I have now had the surgery and have bought a policy with Avanti instead. I have auto renew on that so will see if they let me do it next time round.

TELLIT01

@katejo I was surprised to see that statement on a policy designed for pre-existing medical conditions, but it is there.  I have cancelled the auto-renew on my policy as I don't know yet what we will be doing.