holiday insurance warning

[williamalex1]

A friend took ill while on a golfing holiday in Turkey with abdominal pains and had to be hospitalised. Turned out to be his prostrate enflamed.
Cost him £9000 because he didn't mention on his insurance application that he was on prostrate medication.

 

[Reemul]

A friend took ill while on a golfing holiday in Turkey with abdominal pains and had to be hospitalised. Turned out to be his prostrate enflamed.
Cost him £9000 because he didn't mention on his insurance application that he was on prostrate medication.

Yeah as an insurance broker it is pretty clear on travel policies what you need to declare. It is made very clear you need to declare any medication or current medical issues you have. It is likely they would have excluded anything to do with his conditions so he would not have been covered for his inflamed prostate anyways. So don't feel like he has dipped out on cover, he would never have had cover

 

[Dando]

Not really a warning as it’s common sense to tell the truth when they ask for any pre existing conditions.
Thats the pitfalls of not declaring things to insurers!
I tell always tell my insurers about my depression and the medication I take for it.
Maybe he just wanted a cheaper premium

 

[williamalex1]

Yeah as an insurance broker it is pretty clear on travel policies what you need to declare. It is made very clear you need to declare any medication or current medical issues you have. It is likely they would have excluded anything to do with his conditions so he would not have been covered for his inflamed prostate anyways. So don't feel like he has dipped out on cover, he would never have had cover

Wow, I didn't know that, so why is the premium higher, if you're not covered when you say you have certain conditions ?

 

[williamalex1]

Thats the pitfalls of not declaring things to insurers!

According to Reemul he wouldn't have been covered even if he had declared it.

 

[Dando]

Some insurers will cover it, for a price!

 

[Dando]

According to Reemul he wouldn't have been covered even if he had declared it.

He can’t be a very good insurance broker then!

 

[williamalex1]

 

[Tashyboy]

Some insurers will cover it, for a price!

this ? me old man has a few problems and pays for a yearly insurance, flippin eck it’s not cheap.

 

[Dando]

this ? me old man has a few problems and pays for a yearly insurance, flippin eck it’s not cheap.

Get the right broker/insurer and everything is insurable

 

[jim8flog]

My mate has a whole list of problems and he regularly holidays in America. His insurance covers him for all his problems but boy does it cost him a small fortune, probably more than the cost of the holiday.

 

[duncan mackie]

Wow, I didn't know that, so why is the premium higher, if you're not covered when you say you have certain conditions ?

How do you conclude the premium would be higher?

In general the choices would be an increased premium or an exclusion. However, for some conditions you can't exclude everything associated with the condition (and still have any cover!) so you might have specific exclusions and an increase to reflect the wider increased risks.

 

[williamalex1]

I'm almost sure that when I disclosed I had ischemic heart disease my holiday insurance premium increased quite a bit, can't remember by how much though.
I must've misunderstood Reemul's post

 

[PhilTheFragger]

I’ve recently been looking at travel insurance and with my impressive list of past ailments was expecting a huge bill

Eventually it was a choice between a 2 week single policy at £78 or a 12 month one at £90.

12 month one it is ?

 

[duncan mackie]

I'm almost sure that when I disclosed I had ischemic heart disease my holiday insurance premium increased quite a bit, can't remember by how much though.
I must've misunderstood Reemul's post

That may be an example of a condition where there are additionally increased risks associated, or it may have been that they didn't exclude it and provided you with full cover for an additional premium.

 

[jim8flog]

Having worked in the insurance industry for quite a few years I used to say to people "Declare every thing they can only say yes or no and how much" I only one client where they outright refused to insure him

 

[Robin Hood]

The moral of this thread:
Don't gamble by being selective with the truth about your medical history.

 

[SocketRocket]

What does seem unfair is where people have recovered from an illness but still have their premium increased

 

[duncan mackie]

What does seem unfair is where people have recovered from an illness but still have their premium increased

Only happens where 'recovered' still statistically represents an increased risk.

 

[Reemul]

It is quite simple really.

You declare everything, somethings may get cover and may cost extra, something will never be covered and excluded and this will not come at an increase.

For example if you have mental health conditions there will be lots of exclusions or even a real issue to get any form of cover. If you have high blood pressure or cholesterol that would be included, minor ailments or conditions.

If you have had prostate cancer and survived it you are not likely to get cover for prostate conditions regardless of how much you would be willing to pay.

Had a heart attack, bypass and stents fitted cover for another one while abroad not likely.

It is not likely that someone on prostate medication due to prostate issues would get prostate cover from insurers as it is too much of a risk that an issue costing thousands would occur, hence it would be excluded, normally people know this hence why they don't declare it.

To add, a broker brokes the risk, the underwriter writes it, they decide the cover not the broker we just try and ensure we get the right information to the underwriter to get the cover clear and correct, of course everyone likes cheaper so do it themselves and invariably make mistakes or are confused by the questions and get it wrong. We get lots of enquiries so they know the correct information that is needed and then go direct, like getting advice from a golf shop then ordering online, there are less independent brokers available these days.