To think travel insurance is an utter scam?

But surely the increased premium will be due to the diabetes. I'd venture to guess that the BP declaration doesn't increase the premium, but the diabetes does. They usually relate to each other, i.e. increased weight for the high BP and unhealthy eating for diabetes (assuming type 2). In fact from memory, one of the questions in the diabetes declaration is whether you've ever had high BP, as the statistics will show that they are commonly associated.

@scissy I may persevere with the drug question companies. (that could be why I rejected insurewith.

@Puzzledandpissedoff I have hearing aids. Never thought of it as a health condition, more akin to wearing glasses.

@Cancermummy sorry to hear all that. You can get cover I am sure, just be prepared to pay a lot. My annual premium for DH and me is £500

I will say one thing in defence of Staysure. I had an annual policy and a new problem occurred for which I needed tests. I had a holiday booked before the issue arose. They agreed to cover me for all my other pre-existing conditions but not that one. I had to get GP to record on my notes that I was fit to travel. They then refunded the rest of the year's policy as they wouldn't cover me for further travel until I had a diagnosis (it was gastritis).

What I also f find frustrating is I had high blood pressure over 15+ years ago , lost weight and have never had high blood pressure since , my chlorestoral has never been over 4 ever but because I’m diabetes 2 , statins are given as a preventative measure and Vitamin D as preventative measure yet I’m still classed as having high blood pressure cos the question asked is have you ever had high bp ! Frustrating

I had to make a claim for a visit to a medical centre in America.

my claim was denied as I hadn’t declared naproxen for a sore back (lifting tables at work) took the meds for 5 days almost two years ago.

my claim had absolutely nothing to do with my back. Completely unrelated.

i was devastated

How many times has it been said on this thread it is not about if you need treatment for that condition. Not declaring any condition or medication you are taking can void the whole policy. For example you break your leg on holiday, but haven't declared you are on hrt, this can void the whole policy no matter that it is not connected to the hrt.

To be fully covered, declare everything you have seen a medical professional about in the past 2 years. If not you run the risk of bankrupting yourself or your family, or being a beggy wanker and setting up a gofundme that people will rip you apart over as you should have had full insurance.

I just checked

It is there if you search for menopause but they dont need to know any further information which says they are not interested. You can also declare a cold!
Really not sure why you would have searched it as a condition in the first place

Nah does it hell. Utter rubbish. You're unlikely to need medical treatment for menopause symptoms when you're on holiday.

It's not the insurer's fault if your GP are being slow sending your medical records.

You can't really expect them to pay out without evidence that you were too ill to travel, or everyone would say that when they changed their mind!

We normally have worldwide cover through my DH company which is really cheap and no declarations, but it didnt cover us if we travelled within 6 months of hospitalisation. I ended up in hospital for undiagnosed diabetesin 2022, so had to find insurance which included diabetes and high bp for the 6 months . I ended up with Staysure . I was 59 at the time and definitely didnt ask about Menopause, not that i ever went to the GP about it.

I’ve just taken out insurance with Staysure and because I had a hysteroscopy procedure and results not back they won’t cover my pre existing diabetes.! Which is nothing to do with a Gynae procedure! I was told everything looked fine by consultant but not had it on paper . Furious but away within days so still took it out .Ridiculous price too . Next time I’m getting diff quotes .Stay away from them!

What company is this who doesn't ask when taking out the policy?

My heart goes out to you.
Would you be able to fund repatriation if you needed to?
Or see what you can declare and exclude if the doc thinks it's OK?

I was thinking of getting travel insurance for when we travel abroad this year but it doesn't seem worth it now. I've had two lengthy hospital stays in the past two years and I'm sure I would miss something that needs to be declared making it invalid anyway so what's the point. The conditions I've thought of so far include:
Sepsis
Bowel perforation
Ileostomy
Kidney failure stage 3
HRT
Bowel adhesions
Bowel cancer surgery
Episiotomy infection
Migraines

We had an annual policy with Avanti and 2 weeks before travel DH a developed a pain in his groin which the gp suspected was a hernia. Was referred for ultrasound and I rang to tell the insurer who referred it to the underwriter. They were happy to let us go on that trip pending scan results providing the gp recorded that he was fit to travel. We were however only going to Canaries for 5 days so this may have been a factor. As it turned out he had something much more minor than a hernia.
Just as a point about same staff working for many insurers - when I rang the Avanti call centre the agent actually said Hello Staysure - and then explained she had also been working for Staysure that morning as well.

i’vd got hearing aids. Never thought if mentioning that. Something else to add to the list.

Staysure said they had a blanket policy of excluding everything that was pre-existing when I told them about the new condition of piles. They wouldn't accept piles were a new condition as apparently they emerge over time and 'don't just suddenly appear'

Many thanks for taking the time to clarify this, @ragingruby; so it appears they're saying you effectively failed to tell them about a new condition right away and therefore they'll no longer cover the medical issues you did advise them of?

Since even things like cancer, diabetes and heart problems can be "there" before you know about them that sounds ridiculous to me, and it's not even as if you were making a claim which they're trying to wriggle out of

Edited to add I nearly came a cropper with something like this myself.
I wear hearing aids and honestly never thought to tell them until I missed something they said on the phone, mentioned them and was told that they'd add this to the policy (though with no extra charge)
Presumably they thought that if I got run over by a truck it might be because I hadn't heard it?

@Merro that's fascinating - I prefer the medication one because in our circumstances the follow-on screening questions it asks then give a much more sensible risk calculation usually! (Epilepsy FWIW)

This is why for anyone with a chronic condition it really makes sense to look around but also try providers who use the different medical screening databases in the backend and see if it makes a difference. I couldn't get medical cover for DH for one of his conditions (I.e. it was specifically excluded) with some for example and they tended to be using the "other" medical screening.

I rarely go to the GP and certainly not for a small pile so what happens if I fall ill holiday and they discover said pile, it won't be on any records but it's still there.

@scissy I'm familiar with the two screening methods after hours of comparing quotes. I prefer the one which asks about the health conditions rather than the one which asks about medication. I've used specialist insurers before but actually most mainstream ones will cover me and the price is comparable. I think I went with Aviva last time. I have a long list of ongoing conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and SVT plus a history of breast cancer, so not trivial though I am actually fit and well as all are well controlled.
I'll look at insurancewith next time. I might have rejected them because of poor reviews about claims but tbh they all get poor reviews about claims!

I only declare anything for which I’ve sought Gp treatment.

DH was taken to hospital in holiday. We had paperwork which we sent to the insurer.
They paid 10 days later (we covered the cost originally)

I think holiday insurance is to cover the major issues, death, accidents - not someone who might forget their medication.

Can I ask the name of your insurer?

Unfortunately if the GP isn't allowing access to records that isn't the fault of the insurers.
I was admitted to hospital while on holiday and they called my insurers. Somehow they were able to check my gp records very quickly and I had surgery later that day. Maybe someone who works in the industry can explain how they do that. I never thought to ask.

If it's a key term in a consumer contract, particularly where it is to the disadvantage of the customer it shouldn't be hidden away but drawn to the attention of the customer.