We are considering travel insurance, annual Vs temp cover

NoodleDoodleMan

BlackLab22 said:

I took out annual travel insurance  with Travelsafe premier cover in November declaring conditions which I was covered for. I then had an appendicitis which needed a CT scan and they saw something and said I need an MRI. I phoned Travelsafe to advise them and they said they wouldn't cover me for an condition found in MRI? I thought the whole point taking out insurance when you book is that any new conditions were covered. 

It doesn't (and can't) work that way - travel insurance covers you for known declared medical conditions only at the time of taking out the policy.

Subsequently suspected health issues, such as the "something" observed need to be reported soonest for assessment by the policy provider.

UnsureAboutthis

Bigphil1474 said:

We have a policy through my bank - my OH has a bit of a list of pre-existing conditions, some are covered and some aren't. The last time we travelled they were awaiting a diagnosis and the insurers simply said that the diagnosed condition wouldn't be covered unless we gave them a diagnosis before travel. They aren't helpful but you should be able to find an insurer that covers existing conditions although the premium may be higher. Unfortunately, Barclays are changing their rules so pre-existing conditions now have to be renewed every year (and at an additional cost).

You need to be care and be sure that they are covering all the other pre-existing conditions.
If the above is the case IE they will cover the others but not the undiagnosed one, don't forget if it's to do with diabetes, cholesterol, heart etc and they (God forbid) there was a medical incident, namely a heart attack/stroked, they may not cover it.

I'm posting here today to share the good news that we've finally managed to get insurance - decided on the one-off trip as its their mid range insurance and just sub 300 pounds the other one the lower one was 250. about that - the years insurance was close to one thousand. So even if we dio three trips bar USA/China etc, etc - we should still be ahead and even at three trips in the year  and we might do the three as we have two booked - one in a couple of weeks and another in a couple of months.

UnsureAboutthis

We have managed to take out a single trip cover.

Our family and friends always bang on about "take out annual travel insurance...its cheaper.."  That may be true if you are doing more than 3/4 trips a year. What they do not realsie and millions of others remain ignorant of the facts is:

Annaul cover in the UK from the few providers I contacted (Highly respected, highly "defacto" rated insurers," on annual trip cover do NEED TO KNOW any new appointments/medical investigations - They may increase the premiums - they may exclude the new condition - they may stop/cancel the travel insurance.

The only real benefit of annual travel insurance is  - you don't have to go through all of those form fillings, phone calls etc, etc.

Even with your single trip cover or annual cover - you need to tell the insurers about any new medical/health investigations/problems.

Warning - listen carefully to what they say/write.   They talk fast and small print is small print - often, if you are awaiting a medical investigation, they will say they will cover you for the "trip" BUT NOT your "pre-existing conditions" any of them until you have got a diagnosis of your new medical investigation. The last bit is not always the case IE depends on what is being investigated BUT PLEASE do not go on holiday thinking it's going to be "alright" and then find you are not covered.