A travel insurance expert warns of simple mistakes that could cost you hundreds, if not thousands of pounds, if made — including pre-existing conditions and recent treatments
Experiencing health issues on holiday that require medical treatment can be an extremely stressful time.
However, the situation can only be made worse if you suddenly find out you’re not covered by your insurer, potentially leaving you with a bill for hundreds or even thousands of pounds.
Forgetting to declare a pre-existing medical condition, or providing incorrect information, could mean that your insurance policy will not cover you, if you require medical treatment whilst away on holiday. Grant Winter, a compliance officer at specialist travel insurance provider, Good to go, shares his advice for making sure you’re not left without insurance cover.
Failing to declare medical conditions
“Failing to declare pre existing medical conditions when taking out travel insurance can result in your policy being invalidated should you need to claim on your insurance, meaning your claim may not be paid in full, or declined completely,” said Grant.
“In many cases, people simply forget about a longstanding medical condition, or don’t think it’s necessary to declare. These conditions often include medical conditions where the person has been taking medication for years, like high cholesterol or high blood pressure. A simple rule of thumb is that if you’re taking prescription medication for something, you will need to declare it.”
Entering incorrect travel dates
“Entering incorrect travel dates can result in you being uninsured for part of your holiday, and therefore unable to claim should you need medical treatment on these dates,” Grant explained.
“This is also important if you’re doing a multi centre holiday, and visiting multiple countries, where you will need to confirm when you will leave and return to the UK, and the countries you will be visiting. If you have an annual policy, whilst you don’t need to tell your insurer when or where you will be travelling, you will need to book your trip in advance, and it must start and end in the UK for the policy to be valid.”
Making intentional omissions
“People will sometimes omit medical conditions, or information about the nature of their holiday, as a way of saving money on their premiums, but this is a false economy, which can result in medical bills of hundreds, or even thousands of pounds, should you need to claim,” Grant continued.
“It’s never a good idea to intentionally omit information, so always remember to disclose medical conditions, or activities which may be excluded, such as skiing. Failure to declare any of this important information could result in your policy being voided.”
Getting private medical treatment
Unless specifically stated, your travel insurance is unlikely to cover you for private medical treatment whilst on holiday. “Of course in an emergency, if there are no public hospitals within a safe distance of your location, then private healthcare will also be covered,” said Grant. “To avoid risking a declined claim, if you have the choice and the situation isn’t an emergency, you should call your insurer’s emergency helpline for advice on where to get treated.”
Not updating changes to your circumstances
Incidents or developments in your health mean that you circumstances change, and therefore your insurance needs to too. “Changes to your health or personal circumstances between the time you took out your policy and the time you travel, need to be shared with your insurer before your date of travel. Otherwise they will not be covered by your policy,” Grant explained.
“This is especially true in the case of annual insurance policies, where there is more likelihood of your circumstances changing in the duration of the policy. You will need to tell your insurer if you speak to a medical professional about an illness or symptoms which have not been previously declared on your insurance, even if this has not yet been officially diagnosed. When in doubt, speak to them through a live chat, or call their helpline.”
Forgetting past, or ongoing diagnoses
It can be difficult when arranging travel insurance for yourself to remember all the things you need to list or make your insurance company aware of. “It can sometimes be confusing to know what you do and don’t need to declare on your travel insurance, especially when it comes to past medical conditions, or ongoing diagnoses,” Grant shared.
“You may not be suffering from a condition any more, or experiencing symptoms, but past instances of cancer or a history of heart conditions, for example, will need to be declared with your insurer. Similarly, if you’re in the process of being tested for an illness but have not yet been diagnosed or if you visit a medical professional to discuss an ongoing illness, you will need to make your insurer aware, as it is not possible to provide cover for undiagnosed conditions.
“In the event that you need medical care due to a past illness or an ongoing but as yet undiagnosed condition that you did not declare, you risk being left uncovered by your insurance provider.”
