Travel insurance - mental health claim

bulf28

Hello, 

Looking for some advice here - my partner and I booked a holiday back in February to travel on 31st May. In late March he had a mental health breakdown, and was suffering from despression and severe anxiety attacks. There were a number of things that would trigger it, but during this state one of things that was causing him to panic was the thought of going away - travelling on a plane, being in another country with severe anxiety, only being at home was bringing him comfort. 

We went through all the right channels, spoke with a mental health nurse, the GP and put him in therapy twice a week. But he still couldn't see past this holiday. So, about 10 days before the holiday we ended up cancelling. I called up Aviva to double check if we were covered for mental health, and they said we were. It was a new thing that had come up since we booked the holiday so again covered there. 

We incurred hotel charges, and BA refunded us £30 for taxes...buzzing. So we've lost a lot of money (and I would do it again if it meant getting my partner better because he was in a horrible place).

I've put the claim in with Aviva. Including evidence of booking, cancellation, doctors notes from his visits, therapy letters. And now they are asking for evidence on when the doctor said he wasn't fit for travel. Of course the doctor hasn't said this because it's a mental health illness. It's not physical. So it's hard for a doctor to decide. I've gone back and said that but they still want evidence. 

Is there anything that can help us here? Whilst I am so happy to say that my partner is on the road to recovery, having to deal with this on top of everything else is exhausting so any help and advice would be appreciated. 

Thank you so much in advance! 

Mark_d

Did the doctor say your partner couldn't travel or would a course of counselling have helped him?  Is this a new phobia your partner has, or has he been fine flying before?  Could you have possibly rescheduled the holiday to avoid cancellation charges - and then gone with a family member/friend if the trip isn't suitable for your partner?

Personally I suffer very badly from vertigo.  I have learnt skills to help me deal with flights, bridges...but I still dread the thought of cable cars.  I've tried using my same skills on cable cars but I've just been absolutely terrified and speechless whilst in the air.  So nowadays we just miss out of cable car experiences.

I'm not suggesting that vertigo is equivalent to a mental illness however there are a number of similarities.

bulf28

The doctor suggested therapy as the first course of action, and then anti-depressants if that didn't work. She didn't say that he couldn't travel. I don't think she would have ever advised that. It wasn't a phobia of flying per-se, just the thought of travelling was causing him to breakdown. 

We looked into moving the holiday but it would have cost us double in price to move it. And BA were saying that we couldn't change the name of the person travelling. I wouldn't have gone without him, becuase he was that low that I didn't want to leave him alone. 

MyRealNameToo

Most policies will require evidence from a medical professional for a cancellation due to being unfit to travel, makes no difference if it is from injury, physical illness or mental illness. 

Unfortunately there are many who claim they had food poisoning or similar which is why they didnt travel but didnt see a doctor because its not the sort of thing you do immediately and it cleared up of its own accord after 48 hours. Insurers want to differentiate them from people who just have just changed their mind about the holiday and think insurance fraud is a victimless crime hence insisting on medical evidence. 

I'd disagree its hard for a doctor to decide, as long as you have a half decent relationship with them most are fairly liberal with giving out fit notes or confirming someone isnt fit to go on holiday. They after all arent in contract with the insurer/employer, arent making testimony to a court of law and can easily word it such that there is little culpability. 

Have Aviva actually gotten a report from the GP? It's normally a question to them if they feel the patient was fit to travel or no. Given you had been seeing the GP they presumably are able to given an answer on this? If they have, have you seen a copy of their responses? 

You however seem to have been exceptionally lucky given the first episode of a potential mental heath issue was late March and in under 8 weeks had already had multiple appointments and be in therapy. BBC News has the story of someone waiting over a decade for treatment despite 4 ambulance visits in the last year alone.  

Flugelhorn

the problem with the "fitness to travel / fly" is that the only reasons for not doing so are quite limited eg recent operation / leg in unsplit plaster / oxygen saturations below a certain level / recent MI, CVA, clot / > than a certain number of weeks pregnant.

If there were lots of other reasons, then the insurance premiums would be much higher 

Mark_d

I suppose the doubling in price depends when you move the holiday to.  If it's the same time next year, I wouldn't expect the increase to be that much...but I could be wrong.  I'm shocked that they wouldn't let you change the name of a traveller.

Whilst I like seeing different places, I'm no fan of travelling - whether it's on a place, on a train/bus, or days at sea.  The travelling itself can be stressful - the bags, the security scanner, public buses, unfamiliar roads - but focusing on the destination (drinking cocktails on the beach) is something that works for us.  I appreciate that your situation is more complex but i hope you manage to find something that works for you.

bulf28

MyRealNameToo said:

Most policies will require evidence from a medical professional for a cancellation due to being unfit to travel, makes no difference if it is from injury, physical illness or mental illness. 

Unfortunately there are many who claim they had food poisoning or similar which is why they didnt travel but didnt see a doctor because its not the sort of thing you do immediately and it cleared up of its own accord after 48 hours. Insurers want to differentiate them from people who just have just changed their mind about the holiday and think insurance fraud is a victimless crime hence insisting on medical evidence. 

I'd disagree its hard for a doctor to decide, as long as you have a half decent relationship with them most are fairly liberal with giving out fit notes or confirming someone isnt fit to go on holiday. They after all arent in contract with the insurer/employer, arent making testimony to a court of law and can easily word it such that there is little culpability. 

Have Aviva actually gotten a report from the GP? It's normally a question to them if they feel the patient was fit to travel or no. Given you had been seeing the GP they presumably are able to given an answer on this? If they have, have you seen a copy of their responses? 

You however seem to have been exceptionally lucky given the first episode of a potential mental heath issue was late March and in under 8 weeks had already had multiple appointments and be in therapy. BBC News has the story of someone waiting over a decade for treatment despite 4 ambulance visits in the last year alone.  

We are going to go back to the Doctor and ask them to send something through if possible. We have already had them fill out the standard form that the insurers ask them to fill out. So we will go back and try. I just wanted to see if there was anything else we could try.

Luckily, we have private medical insurance through work. So he managed to speak to a mental health nurse within 60 minutes, which I was pretty impressed with. And then our GP was able to see him the next day. He was already starting the process of therapy, which once again was through private medical insurance. I was very impressed with the way his case was handled, but then again I appreciate we are privaleged with the private medical insurance and access we had.

bulf28

Flugelhorn said:

the problem with the "fitness to travel / fly" is that the only reasons for not doing so are quite limited eg recent operation / leg in unsplit plaster / oxygen saturations below a certain level / recent MI, CVA, clot / > than a certain number of weeks pregnant.

If there were lots of other reasons, then the insurance premiums would be much higher 

Yeah that's a good point - feels like we are very stuck but appreciate that a line is drawn somewhere

MyRealNameToo

bulf28 said:

MyRealNameToo said:

Most policies will require evidence from a medical professional for a cancellation due to being unfit to travel, makes no difference if it is from injury, physical illness or mental illness. 

Unfortunately there are many who claim they had food poisoning or similar which is why they didnt travel but didnt see a doctor because its not the sort of thing you do immediately and it cleared up of its own accord after 48 hours. Insurers want to differentiate them from people who just have just changed their mind about the holiday and think insurance fraud is a victimless crime hence insisting on medical evidence. 

I'd disagree its hard for a doctor to decide, as long as you have a half decent relationship with them most are fairly liberal with giving out fit notes or confirming someone isnt fit to go on holiday. They after all arent in contract with the insurer/employer, arent making testimony to a court of law and can easily word it such that there is little culpability. 

Have Aviva actually gotten a report from the GP? It's normally a question to them if they feel the patient was fit to travel or no. Given you had been seeing the GP they presumably are able to given an answer on this? If they have, have you seen a copy of their responses? 

You however seem to have been exceptionally lucky given the first episode of a potential mental heath issue was late March and in under 8 weeks had already had multiple appointments and be in therapy. BBC News has the story of someone waiting over a decade for treatment despite 4 ambulance visits in the last year alone.  

We are going to go back to the Doctor and ask them to send something through if possible. We have already had them fill out the standard form that the insurers ask them to fill out. So we will go back and try. I just wanted to see if there was anything else we could try.

So have you seen that form completed by the Doc? 

Clearly if the doctor has said you were fit to travel then getting something later saying you were simply creates contradictory statements rather than clearing the matter up. It would be better for the doctor to address it head on and explain why they said you were fit and now think you weren't. 

GPs have a horrible job and I could never have been one but they are bad at form filling having seen many doctors reports. Indeed my own GP messed up my buying protection insurance; I still dont know what they said to get my application declined (they wanted £150 to show me) but my consultant set them straight and the decline was reversed. 

bulf28 said:
Luckily, we have private medical insurance through work. So he managed to speak to a mental health nurse within 60 minutes, which I was pretty impressed with. And then our GP was able to see him the next day. He was already starting the process of therapy, which once again was through private medical insurance. I was very impressed with the way his case was handled, but then again I appreciate we are privaleged with the private medical insurance and access we had.

Yes, we're are fortunate to be able to afford PMI too and they can react very quickly!

The bold text above and a few other things you've said suggests that this isnt a brand new thing for them? Was the condition predating the buying of the insurance and/or the holiday? Was it declared as a medical condition and accepted?

Found it difficult to get travel insurance with a recent/active mental health diagnosis until it had been stable for a few years without any visits to the crisis team etc. 

bulf28

Mark_d said:

I suppose the doubling in price depends when you move the holiday to.  If it's the same time next year, I wouldn't expect the increase to be that much...but I could be wrong.  I'm shocked that they wouldn't let you change the name of a traveller.

Whilst I like seeing different places, I'm no fan of travelling - whether it's on a place, on a train/bus, or days at sea.  The travelling itself can be stressful - the bags, the security scanner, public buses, unfamiliar roads - but focusing on the destination (drinking cocktails on the beach) is something that works for us.  I appreciate that your situation is more complex but i hope you manage to find something that works for you.

I know, British Airways were so unhelpful and at the time I didn't have the energy to argue it because I was more focused on my partner. 

Appreciate the thoughts and advice, that is definitely what I've been working on with him! Which will 100% work in the future, he was in such a hole at the time that literally nothing was helping. The mind is a wonder. And as you say, so complex.