To think travel insurance is an utter scam?

The title of your thread is unreasonable - travel insurance is an important/vital part of holiday costs (even to EU countries as GHIC cover is patchy between hospitals / situations) and isn't a scam in itself.

However, you're the third person this summer I've heard from who have had Staysure remove cover for previously accepted pre-existing conditions after they've told them about something new before travelling. It seems absurd and of course there isn't time to explore this with their complaints department etc before travelling. Staysure is the problem here and it seems reasonable to conclude that the entire policy is a scam if they have withdrawn cover in any way after you have contractually agreed (by paying) to their original terms.

Incidentally, I have travel insurance with my bank account and it's paid out a few times without ever accessing my medical records, so it isn't a given that they "always" will if there's a claim, but obviously it's a risk if you don't declare something. I have declared pre-existing conditions (which haven't resulted in additional premiums - neither have the previous claims). Last year they repatriated me at huge expense (from an EU country), repaid hundreds in hospital fees (ambulance didn't take me to a public hospital so GHIC was irrelevant), thousands for the costs of the ruined holiday and didn't even take off the tiny £50 excess payment due to some tiny clause that apparently applied which I hadn't known about. Shop around if you can and find a better company. Travel insurance costs such a small amount compared to the rest of the holiday but it's worth getting right.

OK, I used to deal with these sorts of claims.

You slip over in the shower in Florida and knock yourself out. You then get taken to hospital. Due to the osteoporosis, you've fractured your hip rather than just had a bump on the head. The hospital scans, as it's a serious injury and they want to exclude bony metastases as well as assess whether you have adequate blood flow/aren't going to die on the operating table if they can help it for surgery. They see the osteoporosis and the growth on your lung. They've done bloods and see that you have liver disease.

The insurance company contacts your GP. You're known to have osteoporosis, a growth on your lung that's still undergoing investigation and you have liver disease, which could potentially at this stage, be due to alcohol. You could therefore have fallen over due to showering whilst pissed as a fart, especially if the tests also revealed that there is a notable blood alcohol level. That could also increase your likelihood of haemorrhage during surgery.

In the meantime, as a fractured hip can be fatal, they need to operate to save your life if not just your leg. You're going to be in intensive care for some time and certainly won't be fit to fly home for weeks.

You're not covered by the Insurance four times over. This is going to be hundreds of thousands of dollars and the hospital is already phoning your next of kin at 2am due to the time difference, demanding money.

I used to breathe a sigh of relief every time I checked a policy to see that people had paid the additional premium to cover their pre-existing conditions, because it only takes a slip, trip or some other dickhead in a vehicle to destroy them and potentially their next of kin financially and emotionally, whether they made it back alive or not.

I don't know what people are struggling with on this thread.

If you have seen a medical professional (GP, nurse, specialist etc....) for any issue no matter how trivial most insurance will ask you to declare this if they happened in the past 2 years. So yes you should declare piles, menopause, althetes foot, verrucas etc..... IF YOU HAVE SEEN A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL ABOUT THEM.

If you have not seen a medical professional then you won't have to declare them.

It is different for series illness like cancer, heart issues, diabetes, stroke, lupus (not an exhaustive list) these have to be declared whenever they have happened.

If any of these appear on your GP medical records in the last 12/24 months (varies by insurer), then yes you need to declare them when taking out travel insurance.

I get that you’re being sarcastic, but ironically you are completely correct.

I took out insurance last year that needed any investigations in previous 2 years declared. 23 months previously I'd had post menopausal bleeding and had uss and biopsies...all clear but they had nothing on their website for post menopausal bleeding just dysfunctional uterine bleeding for which the only question is " have you developed anaemia with this" I phoned up and spoke with the screening team who were non medical and explained the potential diagnoses from PMB and they went to their medical team who still classed it as dysfunctional bleeding. So their databases are not very good.

There are loads of conditions that do not result in an increased premium but they still need to be declared if you’ve seen a medical professional or been prescribed medication for in the last (usually) 2 years. DH has a list of significant pre existing conditions like you wouldn’t believe but adding things like a throat infection or cataract surgery didn’t load the premium at all. So it may not actually increase the cost but you risk any claim not being paid. I’ve found (and believe me I’ve done a lot of quotes) that if you declare a condition and there are no further questions about it then there is often no additional loading for that condition.
i realised last week that when I bought our travel policy I hadn’t told the them that he had covid 18 months ago for which he had prescribed medication- it added £15 to the annual premium. I didn’t tell them I’d had it because it’s not recorded on my medical records.

I haven’t seen a medical professional about menopause or piles even though I suffer with both of them on occasion - so I’m not sure I’d declare them.

You have to declare anything that required treatment or medication in case there are issues as a result of it. The premium will be worked out based on how likely it is to cause issues in the future - in the case of your daughter it won’t affect anything. Neither will HRT. Therefore it won’t affect premiums. Something like diabetes or epilepsy which might require treatment abroad will attract a premium change.

My dd broke her elbow quite badly last year from falling off her scooter - she is now fully recovered there are no ongoing issues, been discharged from dr etc yet this has to be declared and has put our premium up for some reason?
you really do have to declare everything

@CleftChin You only declare anything that required prescribed medication or treatment.

You're wasting your money taking out a policy.

You won't be covered. You're winging it by travelling without cover and yet you're spending money on it.

Madness.

Well, I don't take HRT and periods finished just over a year ago. So maybe I am OK.

I take a fair bit of medication every day, which I have meticulously declared, and why. That is what they asked for. I was still given the cover.

It would no more have occurred to me to declare menopause as a medical condition than it would have to declare puberty. They are natural life stages in my book even though they can cause issues at times.

I took out an annual Staysure policy a few weeks ago. I can't recall any questions relating to menopause (I'm 58, so would probably be within the age range). Nor any that lead me to declare or mention it at all. From the drop-down menus I just picked out the medical conditions that I am aware that I have (type 2 diabetes, graves disease and under investigation for potential glaucoma). Nothing at all to steer me towards declaring menopause, and I like to think I am very meticulous with these forms.

This thread has made me slightly nervous. I'll see how things go. Hopefully we won't need to use the cover. If we do we also have GHIC cards.

I will shop around carefully again when the time comes to renew next year.

My husband's appendix ruptured whilst we were in the wilds of N Arizona. The £52 policy (in 2007) covered all but £100 of the week in ICU, 4 operations, medical evacuation by helicopter, a further week in hospital, cancelled trips to Disneyland and the Grand Canyon, hotels, car hire and a business class flight home via a different route. The bill was just shy of $250k. We are firm advocates of having travel insurance!

2 years later we were going to an EU destination. I declared DH's appendix issue and they put the price up. I queried this - after all, it would never happen again as DH's appendix was long gone and they said it was "statistically likely he would have another issue". Bears out the saying "lies, damned lies and statistics". He has not so far had any other issue.

but menopause isnt a meddial condition so womenpenalise for it?

Well I've learnt something new.

Thankfully my holiday is in the UK and I'm not that far from home.

The Staysure policy wording defines a pre-existing medical condition as "any past or current medical condition that has given rise to symptoms, or for which any form of treatment, or prescribed medication, medical
consultation, investigation, or
follow-up/check-up, has been required, or received, during the 2 years
prior to the start of cover under this policy and/or prior to any trip: and
• any cardiovascular or circulatory condition (e.g. heart condition, hypertension, blood clots, raised cholesterol, stroke, aneurysm, brain haemorrhage) that has occurred at any time prior to the start of cover under this policy and/or prior to any trip

Medical condition is defined as "Any medical or psychological disease, sickness, conditions (whether diagnosed, undiagnosed or a set of symptoms), illness or injury, that has affected you, or any other insured person.

Given that menopause could be seen as a set of symptoms, I'd be inclined to declare it. But I would absolutely expect them to cover it.

Tbh Staysure are a crap insurer. I'd go with Aviva every time... but then I worked there for over a decade.

If your are declaring piles you might as well include constipation and excessive flatulence. Hopefully warn your fellow air passengers about the flatulence 😉

If course they dont

I had to pay £30 for a fit to fly note as I was waiting for a spirometry (?) test for possible asthma.

And because I added this in the few weeks before travel, they suddenly decided that they wouldn't cover me for anything at all except death and repatriation. Despite having had the policy for nearly 2 years at that point.

So if I had appendicitis or broke my wrist whilst on holiday, for example, no cover.

A few days later, I rang back and queried this, and they did say that was a mistake by someone new and reinstated full cover apart from the potential asthma.

This was staysure.

I've also read more generally that you have no cover if you have got any alcohol in your system, e.g one glass of wine earlier that day. Even if the claim is unrelated to that. Which is worrying!

Please don't let it put you off getting travel insurance. I was seriously injured, nearly killed, in a freak accident on holiday abroad. I was in a foreign (not EU) private hospital for two weeks until I was stable enough to be flown back to the UK. It was a private flight with two nurses and a doctor looking after me. I was still on oxygen and had to be kept lying flat. The flight was long enough to have to stop to refuel half way. I dread to think what the cost would have been. It was all covered by our travel insurance.

You only have to declare it if you have seen a doctor about it and it is in your medical records.