Five things you need to think about when declaring medical conditions
Statistics from the Financial Ombudsman Service show that a quarter (27%) of disputed travel insurance claims in the last year were due to policy holders failing to disclose pre-existing medical conditions. Gigasure says this is one of the most common disputes when it comes to travel insurance, but one that can be easily avoided if you read the small print.
Gary Murphy, Head of Travel, Gigasure: “Not disclosing pre-existing medical conditions isn't necessarily something we do consciously. Many travel insurance providers won’t explicitly ask you to disclose. They rely on travellers reading the small print of the policy and then contacting them to add the condition. Others will dismiss their medical conditions as pre-existing. For example, if you had high blood pressure and this has come down, but because of medication you are on, they may not see this as pre-existing. But the condition hasn't gone away, it's being managed because of their medication.
“But not disclosing pre-existing medical conditions can be extremely costly. Unfortunately, many travellers are completely unaware they are not covered for certain conditions until it's too late, and they are left with hefty medical bills to pay. Many of the widely publicised stories we see in the media about travellers stuck in foreign countries with rising medical bills for their treatment are often as a result of their travel insurance being insufficient for their specific needs.”
There are generally three types of travel insurance propositions:
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those that completely exclude pre-existing medical conditions.
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those that have a list of covered conditions and require you to disclose anything not on the list.
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those that specifically ask if you have any pre-existing medical conditions and then take you through a process of declaring them.
Gigasure warns travelers to be more vigilant of what they are, and are not, covered for, particularly when it comes to medical conditions. If your travel insurance provider doesn’t specifically ask whether you have any pre-existing medical conditions, you should check carefully whether they exclude all pre-existing conditions or have a list of those that are covered and then require you declare any that are not.
If something happens to you while away and you need to make a claim, your insurance provider may check with your GP as to whether you have accurately declared pre-existing medical conditions and may not pay your claim in full or at all, if you have not. This could be an extremely costly mistake.
Murphy continues: “Not all pre-existing medical conditions will add to your policy cost, but it's likely that often this is why travellers fail to disclose some issues. Trying to save a few pounds here and there could cost you significantly should the worst happen.”
Gary shares his top 5 tips for making sure you are covered for all medical eventualities:
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When taking out the insurance policy, read the questions asked about pre-existing medical conditions carefully, then read them again before answering. It’s important that you answer these questions accurately and honestly/
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Don’t assume any information. For example, if you are asked if you have had a medical appointment in the last two years and don’t know when your last GP appointment was, call your GP to check. The questions asked will vary between travel insurance providers so do take time to read everything thoroughly. The questions may have subtle differences, including the time period they relate to.
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If you have a condition that you are managing and no longer suffer symptoms because you are taking medication or undergoing treatment, you must still declare it. A prime example is sleeping tablets to help with occasional periods of insomnia, or where customers think that they don’t have to declare high blood pressure as the tablets they are taking to manage it has reduced their blood pressure to within the normal range.
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Don’t declare some medical conditions and not others. Declaring a medical condition doesn’t automatically make you uninsurable or add more to your premium. A cost saving now could end up costing a lot more later down the line. Some illnesses in isolation such as Asthma or Diabetes type 2 may not add anything to your premium.
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If you are buying travel insurance on behalf of someone else, check that you have answered the questions correctly before buying cover, and confirm with them afterwards that the answers you gave on their behalf were complete and accurate. If they don’t want to tell you about their medical conditions, suggest that they buy their own policy.
