Insurance - Pre-Existing Conditions

[Guest]

A friend of mine recently suffered the double loss of his father through cancer and his holiday (he and his family had to cut short a holiday in Florida - Virgin even charging them extra to come home early... !). He then found that as the cancer was a "pre-existing condition" he wasn't covered on his insurance!

Which brings me to my own situation. I bought an annual travel policy on 1 July. At this stage my mum (who isn't coming on holiday with us) had been experiencing problems in her face. The problems were being investigated, but we had no reason to think they were serious. In August she was given the diagnosis that this was cancer and is receiving treatment.

So, as our holiday next year is liable to cost upwards of £8k I thought I'd best check that in the event my mum's illness worsened and prevented us going, or cut short the holiday, that we would be covered. The insurance company have said that I wouldn't be covered under the pre-existing condition rule! I find this interpretation of the condition amazing and wonder whether anyone else has had the same experience (maybe you have but just didn't know it... !). Do all insurers work this way?

[Guest]

If you have an annual policy, you have to let them know if something arises during that period and it becomes a pre-existing condition i.e. exists before your next trip. I think most work like this. I know ours does.

[Guest]

Sorry to hear about your Mum

All insurance policies work pretty much the same way. Had you disclosed the investigations your Mum was having at the time you took out the insurance the condition would have been covered as the insurer was aware of the situation and had accepted the risk that it may turn out to be something serious, but since they did not accept this risk it will not be covered.

You may be able to add an extra premium to cover her condition now or even take out another policy which would cover the risk of you having to cancel. In the scheme of things where you stand to lose a lot of money if you had to cancel or alter your holiday plans it may be worth spending the extra for full cover and peace of mind.

[Guest]

I know you're probably right

It was bad enough knowing that my mum had cancer! But then to find that the insurance companies have it there own way and manage to find ways of wriggling out of their responsibilities. We have 14 "close" relatives outside of immediate family, according to our insurers definition. Is the insurer really interested in being informed of ALL doctors visits these 14 people have made during the previous 6 months... And yet when, as in my case, one of these seemingly innocuous visits - after taking out the policy - proves serious, the insurer plays the pre-existing condition card... I can't even recall any part of the application process asking this question!

[Guest]

I have a feeling that a lot of people take out travel insurance policies that won't help them if something goes wrong.

When we wanted travel insurance for our first trip to Florida in 2005 there were lots of online offers of discounts, etc. but actually you can only apply this way if everyone on the policy is in perfect health and always has been.

The least little thing can invalidate your policy and the only way to be sure you are covered is to ring them up and then not only might you end up paying more, you don't qualify for any of the special online offers because you've insured over the phone!

The insurance companies win all round.

[sunkisser]

I have two pre existing medical conditions and most insurers would only cover me for one of them. I struggled to find a company that covered me for both. Before I found this company I was going to take out two policies because I know how expensive medical treatment is out there. In 2005 I had to have my appendix removed at the Florida Celebration hospital . The total bill came to $33000 I was only in hospital for three days.Thank goodness for insurance.
I wouldn't take any chances. Check you are covered for everything you need to be.

[J1WYX]

We were in St Lucia 1 day and had to return as DH father had died.
We too had to pay Virgin to fly home. When we tried to claim from insurance (which we had purchased through Virgin) we were told we couldnt claim as we hadnt phoned the company for medical assistance. Explained that we didnt need medical assistance as it was a death at home but they wouldnt pay anything.
Since then Virgin have changed insurance companies but still makes me think if they can get out of paying they will
Id double check if i was you

[Guest]

i had the same problem on tuesday, we have annual insurance with pre exsisting medical conditions for ds. On tuesday phoned them to let them know dd had broken her collar bone on sunday and they have refused to insure her condition had to spend alot of time on phone finding 1 that would. so now she is on her own annual insurance at even more expense. why the original insurance couldnt up her preminum i dont know.so you should always phone them and let them know of any changes otherwise we would have gone away with our dd uninsured, even though we have been away twice on this insurance this year.

[DIBBadmin]

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