Travel insurance - not disclosing medical condition - careless or reckless ?

creditcardbaby

Went on family holiday recently took out travel insurance with AXA / Coverwise.

In respect of the following question answered no

At the time of taking out this policy you will not be covered for any claim arising directly or indirectly from: a. Any medical condition you have, or have had, for which you are taking or have been taking prescribed medication within the last 2 years.

Went on holiday, my adult daughter had bad throat infection which required hospital treatment. Gave hospital insurance details.

Got home, medical history requested by AXA. Checked policy, asked daughter the medication question and she told me in the last 2 years she took medication for anxiety. Clearly this is my fault, filled in form quickly, wrongly assumed she had not taken any medication in last 2 years and never occured to me to ask her - foolish I know !

Have checked since, had I disclosed the anxiery condition and answered the follow up questions, the increased insurance cost would be minimal.

The throat infection is clearly unrelated to the anxierty issue. I am however bound by the conditions of the contract I assume. 

Understand the rules under CIDRA are:

1.      If its intentional or reckless - they can void the policy, avoid the claim and retain the premiums

2.      If its careless then it depends on if they would have insured you had you made a full declaration:

a.                   No - they can cancel the policy, avoid the claim and pro-rata refund

b.                  Yes - they must settle the claim but proportionally reduced to reflect the under payment

By forgetting / being absent minded does that come under careless or reckless. I am hoping as the additional cost would have been minimal (we are taking a few pounds) it comes under careless ?

MyRealNameToo

Not sure why you started a new thread?

Its more nuanced than saying forgetting always equals careless and based on your previous post its not a case that you forgot that she was taking medication but the fact you never knew she was as you made an assumption rather than asking her. 

The devil is in the detail... how old is your daughter? Does she live at home still? Why did you assume she hadn't taken meds rather than asking her? 

For example one claimant claimed to have forgotten their partner had taken meds 3 months ago, when we got the medical records it clearly showed she had attended the doctors appointment and it was noted that they'd been instructed not to be intimate plus she should be tested too. Gut feel is if your spouse has caught an STD and you're at the appointment where it's discussed, you're not going to forget that within 3 months.

For another case it was a minor injury they'd seen the doc about, they thought it was over 2 years ago, was actually a few days under 2 years. On that case we accepted it was a genuine error, reminded them of the importance of checking all information is correct rather than guesstimating but settled the claim under 2b 


Sometimes insurers will go outside the rules, to the customers benefit, and allow them to pay the additional premiums due in exchange for settling the claim in full. It's a lot less common now than when CIDRA first came into force but its not totally unheard of. 

Mark_d

It is reckless to buy travel insurance for an adult without checking with them about their medical conditions

creditcardbaby

MyRealNameToo said:

Not sure why you started a new thread?

Its more nuanced than saying forgetting always equals careless and based on your previous post its not a case that you forgot that she was taking medication but the fact you never knew she was as you made an assumption rather than asking her. 

The devil is in the detail... how old is your daughter? Does she live at home still? Why did you assume she hadn't taken meds rather than asking her? 

For example one claimant claimed to have forgotten their partner had taken meds 3 months ago, when we got the medical records it clearly showed she had attended the doctors appointment and it was noted that they'd been instructed not to be intimate plus she should be tested too. Gut feel is if your spouse has caught an STD and you're at the appointment where it's discussed, you're not going to forget that within 3 months.

For another case it was a minor injury they'd seen the doc about, they thought it was over 2 years ago, was actually a few days under 2 years. On that case we accepted it was a genuine error, reminded them of the importance of checking all information is correct rather than guesstimating but settled the claim under 2b 


Sometimes insurers will go outside the rules, to the customers benefit, and allow them to pay the additional premiums due in exchange for settling the claim in full. It's a lot less common now than when CIDRA first came into force but its not totally unheard of. 

Thank you for the reply.

Started a new thread as was told had posted i the wrong category.

Yes made an assumption she was not taking medication as opposed to forgot.

She is 21. Does not live at home - at university. Divorced from her mum. 

Why did I not ask her and assume ? Filled the form quickly made an instintive quick decision without thinking, probably my mind was elsewhere - careless I know. Never claimed before so didn't give the form the care it warranted - painful expensive lesson.

creditcardbaby

Mark_d said:

It is reckless to buy travel insurance for an adult without checking with them about their medical conditions

On that basis, what scanario would be careless to not disclose the information