Travel Insurance Extra Cost And Exclusion

[baldyhiggins]

I bought and paid for travel insurance and listed all my pre existing medical conditions. But have acid reflux now and am on a waiting list for an appointment to go to hospital for a Barium Swallow. I phoned the travel insurer and they have excluded my pre existing condition for acid reflux and charged me over £60's to change the details. I've to phone and tell them the results once I've had said test. I find the extra charge a bit steep and wondered if anyone else has had this experience?

[Peter Pedant]

My medical history is so terrible, I never bother
they dont pay anyway

[jno]

why should you have to tell them the results when they've already excluded it?

[theshedman]

Probably find they have excluded it because you are on a waiting list to see what the problem is. After you get the result they will either include it, maybe for an extra charge or they could even cancel your insurance altogether. If it comes back ok and no problems found they may just ignore it and say there will be no extra charge. Not all things bring extra charges with them but you do need to tell them about any change or the insurance will be invalid and they would not pay out.

[Hopkirk]

If you didn't have this when you took out the insurance, it should have been covered.

[Hymie]

Hopkirk is correct – having agreed to insure you (for a given period) they now cannot increase the premium because you have notified them of some medical condition that did not exist at the time the policy was taken out. That eventuality would have been considered in the original premium.

Perhaps you should name & shame the company on AB – it is disgraceful how some insurance companies behave.

I would complain to them, and if they refused to honour the insurance policy, threaten to put the matter before the financial ombudsman.

[theshedman]

Insurance companies tell you that you must inform them of any changes to your health and this includes being under investigation for any new issues. If nothing is found then all is well but if something is then you may or may not have to pay extra. Sounds like this company have excluded this issue from being insured. The only problem with them doing this is that if you claim for anything on the policy they often try and connect the excluded thing to whatever is wrong to stop the claim.

[Hymie]

If what theshedman is saying was correct – you could suffer some illness that prevented you from going on holiday (one of the reasons to take out the insurance), he is now saying the insurance company could charge you more (quite reasonably 100% of the holiday) because that was what they were going to lose – that is clearly nonsense.

As I have said, having advised the insurance company of your medical history and them agreeing to insure you, unless it is specifically stated in the policy, they now cannot unilaterally change the contract to suit them.

[theshedman]

Hymie, did you actually read what I wrote. I said that you need to inform them of any changes to your health which you do if this occurs before you leave on the holiday. If you have cancelation cover and suffer some illness that prevented you from going on holiday then it should pay up as you would not be able to go. These are 2 different things.

[ubasses]

Unfortunately if you read the T&C you are most likely to find this is covered. I copied the following from a random insurance co.
'If there is any change to your health or anyone to be insured by the policy, you must make immediate contact with our Customer Services team to ensure your policy continues to suit your needs.
We reserve the right to charge an additional premium, exclude the condition or withdraw cover should the stability of the condition make it necessary.'

[Hymie]

ubasses – if the insurance policy includes those terms, there is no point in taking out the insurance policy – the insurer has the right to exclude any condition or withdraw cover.

In my example of you becoming ill and unable to travel, the insurer would have the right to withdraw cover.

[theshedman]

Hymie, did you read my post at 08.41. If you also read what ubasses had written you would see he has put a part of a normal policy on and I have the same written on my one from my one for this year. You must inform them of any change to health before the holiday. If a health issue stops you from going on that holiday you can claim from them but only if you have cancelation cover included in the policy.

[barry1010]

LV has a different policy:
"You don't need to tell us about changes to anyone's health during the period of cover. After you have taken out a policy, cover will continue to apply provided, anyone travelling is considered medically fit to travel and not travelling against medical advice."
https://www.lv.com/travel-insurance/travel-insurance-if-i-get-a-new-medical-condition-or-my-health-changes

Not all are like this, many travel insurance policies have a 'duty of disclosure' and require you to inform them of any change to health before you travel. It's important to read and understand the policy, preferably before buying it.

[Hymie]

So you become ill before the holiday such that you cannot travel, and put in a claim.

The insurance company refuses your claim, as per the terms of the policy - they have the right to exclude the condition.

[theshedman]

As per the second part of barry1010s post if the policy says you need to inform them of changes then you do or they will not pay out. Also if you do not have cancelation cover included they will not pay out if you do need to cancel for whatever reason. All policies should be well checked before you take them out to make sure it is suitable for your needs.

[Hymie]

Even if you have cancellation cover, the policy terms allow the insurer to exclude the condition (for cancellation).

[theshedman]

Yes if it's been classed as excluded from policy. You need to check through policy before taking it out and usually you will have 14 days to cancel if it doesn't cover what you want. In the past I have contacted a company via their on-line help line to ask about something then saved it to my pc in case it was queried by them later on.

[Hymie]

If you make any claim on a travel insurance policy that includes the terms as set out in ubasses post @08:42, the policy terms allow the insurer to subsequently exclude the condition, and not pay out.

[theshedman]

Yes Hymie. So always check as I have said.

[Hymie]

As I have said – there is no point in taking out an insurance policy with such terms.

[theshedman]

Hymie, have you by any chance had travel insurance in the past. As all ones I have had and I have used a number of different companies have similar conditions.