Travel Insurance Query

PJRComputerSolutions

Hi All,

Some Advice needed please regarding Travel Insurance.

I have a yearly policy, took out in November 2023. It was taken out through payingtoomuch Travel Insurance for pre-existing Medical conditions. I have High BB & High Cholesterol, both declared & taking Meds for both.

I had minor surgery last week & even though It was successful, I was admitted to Hospital for Blood Clots in my lungs & am now on Blood Thinners for the rest of my life.

I had a DVT in 2006, after breaking my foot, which was successfully treated with Warfarin & after 3-Months I came off it & no issues since then.

I am due to fly to Abu Dhabi on the 3rd March which is just under 4-weeks away, my consultant says I am legally allowed to fly but would advise against it.

So my question is, will my Insurance pay-out, if I need to cancel because of this new condition?

Will I be punished for not declaring the DVT as a pre-existing condition? Even though it was a once off & was successfully treated & was not even in my mind to be a pre-existing condition? I had no further issues in 18-years, Could my insurer deny me a pay-out in these circumstances. 

Thanks anyone for reading & replying....

lisyloo

They should pay out if you were advised not to fly and have medical evidence of that.

however if you haven’t declared a pre-exiting condition then that might be a showstopper and could be worse than the claim not being paid (your insurance could be cancelled and then you have to declare you’ve been cancelled for non-disclosure causing massive future issues).

the question is did you answer all questions correctly.
for example if they asked about any blood related considions in the past 10 years (for example) you’d be ok.
if they asked if you’ve had any blood conditions or injuries FOREver then you may have a problem.

how much money is at stake and not cancellable?

do you have a copy of your statements when you took the policy (they not all give you a copy of your answers).
personally I’d check this first before making a claim to see whether you’ve made a mistake in your declarations.
you could also ask them for a copy and just say you need to double-check something but pretty sure you should have it.

PJRComputerSolutions

Thanks for your reply,

I can't be 100% certain on what was asked, but I do seem to recall that when I tried the likes of comparethemarket confused & their ilk, the questions asked were very similar, I answered everything truthfully & to the best of my knowledge. I didn't inform them about my minor hernia op on the 23rd of this Month, but in all honesty who does? The Clots were just one of those things that can happen after any surgery. & I would've recovered from that anyway before the flights, if not for the clots...

I wouldn't dream of flying now without informing them of this new pre-existing condition. Are they allowed to cancel the policy anyway? Or make me pay more money to be covered? The Consultant said that the guidance for flying is Climbing 2 sets of Stairs & maintaining an 02 Level of 94% 2-Weeks before you are due to fly, which I can comfortably do now, but his advice would be not to, due to the number, size & position of the Clots in the lungs & he could write a letter to that affect if required.

The cost of the holiday was £2,400

I know the Insurance Industry have a poor rep with everyone for trying to wriggle out of claims, So thought I would get some advice first,

I fear that once I ring them up & explain my new condition they will cancel the existing policy anyway or hike up the premium to some extortionate amount & also refuse any claim, forcing me to not go anyway, as I wouldn't go without any valid insurance anyway. 

DullGreyGuy

What will happen will depend on the questions you were asked when you first took the policy out... some will ask about any conditions in the last X years and major conditions at any time... depending on exact wording and dates the DVT may have been declarable or not.

If it wasn't declarable then it won't have any impact. 

If it was declarable then it will come down to if they believe you intentionally/recklessly failed to declare it or if they accept it was careless. If the later, then would they have covered you had you declared it. 

elsien

Once you inform them with the change situation, they will contact the underwriters to decide whether to end your cover or whether they will cover the condition with an additional premium.
However when you take out insurance, it does ask if you’re having any tests, ongoing investigations etc. and they do ask you to inform of any changes, so you should have told them about your hernia surgery if you hadn’t done so already when you took out the policy. Because that in itself would be a pre-existing condition without the blood clots. 

lisyloo

My advice is to look at your records and look at what you said. I’ll try to find the words for it.

EDIT:  my records call it a “statement of disclosure”.

presumably you kept some documents.
try to find it and read it before you do anything, then come back here.

if you’ve lost it then email or call them and say you’re just reviewing your cover and you’ve lost some documents so can they please send it to you.

personally I woudlnt talk to them about a claim before establishing whether I’d inadvertently made a mistake.

TELLIT01

Most travel insurers seem to require that you inform them of anypre-existing medical condition and any medical intervention be it GP or hospital.  To insurers there is no such thing as a little operation which can be ignored.  They may not charge any extra because of it, but failing to inform them could be enough for them not to pay out in the event of a claim.

lisyloo

TELLIT01 said:

Most travel insurers seem to require that you inform them of anypre-existing medical condition and any medical intervention be it GP or hospital.  To insurers there is no such thing as a little operation which can be ignored.  They may not charge any extra because of it, but failing to inform them could be enough for them not to pay out in the event of a claim.

Couldn’t it be worse than that?
having insurance cancelled due to non-disclosure is a major issue isn’t it?
hence my suggestion to check if it has happened or not before acting.

DullGreyGuy

TELLIT01 said:

Most travel insurers seem to require that you inform them of anypre-existing medical condition and any medical intervention be it GP or hospital.  To insurers there is no such thing as a little operation which can be ignored.  They may not charge any extra because of it, but failing to inform them could be enough for them not to pay out in the event of a claim.

No, most don't want to know about your ingrowing toenail when you were 6 years old when you are now 60  @TELLIT01 there is typically a period of 3-5 years that they want to know about most basic conditions but things like cancer etc they do want to know about your childhood leukaemia 

lisyloo said:

TELLIT01 said:

Most travel insurers seem to require that you inform them of anypre-existing medical condition and any medical intervention be it GP or hospital.  To insurers there is no such thing as a little operation which can be ignored.  They may not charge any extra because of it, but failing to inform them could be enough for them not to pay out in the event of a claim.

Couldn’t it be worse than that?
having insurance cancelled due to non-disclosure is a major issue isn’t it?
hence my suggestion to check if it has happened or not before acting.

Having a policy voided is typically worse and yes they can void a policy for intentional or reckless non-disclosure however insurance tends to see itself in clusters of products. Home and Motor are interested in each others voidings but neither are likely to be interest in a Life policy cancelled for non-payment. 

Travel, pet, gadget etc tends to be seen as a second tier general insurance and so some will care and others will be less interested.

PJRComputerSolutions

Thanks everyone for your comments...

To Answer some of the questions raised. Everything was declared when I took the Policy out @ the beginning of November, At the time, there was no further Investigations or ongoing Tests planned. The Umbilical Hernia was only diagnosed recently & since there was an opportunity to have it repaired by BUPA, last month then it was done. Apart from the DVT Incident in 2006, which did not result in a hospital stay & was successfully treated with Warfarin. I was told by the medics that it was caused by the cast being too tight & restricting the blood flow in my calf after my metatarsal break. In 18-Years there was not one further instance/visit to my GP with this. There was never anything said by any doctor/consultant that since you've had 1 DVT, you are susceptible to further one's, so take precautions when you fly, I flew to New Zealand in 2022, without any issues & I've had a few operations since 2006, without issue, but of course I was younger then. 

elsien

I get emails from my travelling insurer throughout my annual cover, reminding me I need to tell them of any changes. Even if your hernia wasn’t diagnosed when you took the policy out, you may find that they would expect you to have told them about it when it was discovered.
I don’t think the issue is that you didn’t disclose the previous DVTs because of how long ago they were, although as already said this will depend on the wording. 

The DVTs would appear to be directly or indirectly potentially related to your surgery, which you didn’t tell them about, and that might be where you have problems with non-disclosure.