To think travel insurance is an utter scam?

Ok I get that if I had seen a doctor about menopause I should declare it. I haven’t though.

When I’ve had piles I just buy an ointment.

Insomnia - if I was on sleeping tablets I suppose I can see the logic in declaring that.

And I would definitely declare things like a growth in my lung or osteoporosis.

It’s not about trivial things- as in don’t risk underplaying your conditions.

You can get insurance to cover the various conditions, and it’s well worth having when the cost of repatriation is so high.

A family member was air lifted off a cruise, treated in hospital, then returned home along with his wife. Fortunately he was covered for the pre existing condition because I insisted on honesty when they took out the policy. She was somehow convinced it was better to try and downplay the condition to get a better price.

If you have health insurance already you may find it includes travel insurance or you can avail of it

It can feel like a swindle but I won't leave home without it. Even going from Ireland to Spain for two weeks.

People who get seriously ill or injured abroad, their care can run to hundreds of thousands. And if you can't pay, they'll discharge you early and not give a fuck if you are not fully healed, if you're stranded abroad alone requiring personal care or are at a risk of developing sepsis.

I've sadly seen where not having insurance has gone terribly wrong.

It's crap isn't it.

We've always taken out insurance, have never claimed and yet this year dd got stuck abroad because of a cancelled flight. They couldn't get her another flight for days, and the airline refused to pay any compensation so took it to travel insurance and they've offered a fraction of what it cost her.

Insurance will try and get out of paying for anything. I wouldn't want to be in hospital abroad ill or with a broken bone and them turn around and say as you haven't declared xyz we are not paying out. Which has happened to a lot of people. They don't have to be connected to the injury or illness you have gone to the hospital with.

Menopause would need to be declared if on HRT as its a medication.

If you've consulted the GP about it or are on drugs for it, then it needs to be declared, not due to the menopause itself (many women won't have seen the GP and won't be on drugs). Just like every other GP consultation or prescribed drugs that you take has to be declared (within time limits etc).

My dh had this recently and I declared it. He’s always had issues w piles but I only recently added it because the underwriter changed so I had to re-add conditions. The only ‘extra’ payment was for DS and his MH issues cos he saw a psychiatrist.

Menopause isn’t a medical condition! It’s a natural stage of life. It would be like declaring puberty!

Whereas on health insurance that would be considered a managed condition so you are not penalised. Mad isn't it.

Because the conditions of insurance require you to declare all medical conditions, visits to GPs, drugs you're taking, hospital admissions, etc etc. It's not up to the individual to decide what they do and don't need to know.

The algorithm behind the health screening questionnaire is remarkably complex and links to massive databases of risks based on prior claims, publicly available datasets, medical research, etc etc. Not only the "risk" that a condition may cause a cancellation or require medical treatment, but also the "cost" of that risk based on destination, type of holiday, hospitals/doctors cost in each country, etc.

ALL insurance requires FULL declaration of all material/relevant facts. It's what you sign/agree when you take out insurance.

When I declared my broken bone yesterday I was specifically asked if I had been investigated or diagnosed with osteoporosis so I think you really need to declare that.

If you haven't been honest and a claim is in any way connected to your non-disclosure then they can refuse to honour the claim.

If you get run over or fall down some stairs then your failure to disclose acne is neither here nor there and the ombudsman would give them very short shrift if they refused to pay.

We are with stay sure and have an annual policy. I updated ours yesterday as needed to declare a few extra medical bits, I had to pay an additional premium for declaring DD’s recent allergy diagnosis and declared that I had a broken bone since last renewal which is all fixed. They confirmed I am still covered for previous disclosed conditions, medication for high blood pressure and DS’s controlled asthma. Have you made a claim recently that would make them nervous.

So if you fall and break a bone you're happy to risk not having help from your insurers due to failing to declare your osteoporosis? Madness!

@taxguru - but most women of a certain age are menopausal. That is just bloody obvious. Why does it need declaring?

I'm preparing to be flamed here but what the hell here goes....

Why on earth would you let your insurance company know that you have insomnia, menopause or piles !!! all of them are unlikely to cause you to have a medical emergency on holiday that you would need treatment for.

Now me on the other hand, I have liver disease (no medication) and never mentioned to insurance company, a growth on my lung (no diagnosis of cancer yet) no medication and again never mentioned to insurance company and have oestoporosis again no meds and never mentioned to insurance company.

If I need to have treatment for the growth or need meds for the liver disease then yes I will have to declare but up until then i'm happy to wing it.

What's the issue with them being excluded? Are you really anticipating needing to claim for insomnia?

You have to when answering their health screening questions. When it asks "do you have any pre-existing conditions", it's not up to you to decide what they need to know and what they don't. If you answer "no", then you've not been honest and they have every right to choose not to honour the insurance policy.

When I used Staysure last year, I was asked ‘in the last 2 years have you seen your GP’. I had to declare my husbands constipation!

Why on earth would you put piles and menopause on there. 🤣

You have to declare everything because that's the conditions of insurance as required by the provider. It's not up to you to decide what to declare and what not to declare. Just complete their questionnaire, give honest/complete answers and you'll be fine. Insurers refuse to pay out mostly when there hasn't been full disclosure, and rightly so. As I say, it's not up to you to decide what they need to know and what they don't need to know.

Whilst the horror warnings often come up about declaring everything, the PRA is actually very clear to insurance providers when it comes to consumer duty and treating customers fairly that a customer’s failure to declare e.g. high cholesterol would not be acceptable grounds for denying a claim for e.g. a broken leg caused by slipping on ice.

I have insomnia, menopause symptoms and occasionally get piles. Of course I wouldn't declare them because not one of those would require urgent medical abroad or be things likely to cause other issues. You've either chosen a dodgy insurer or have taken the declaration of existing health conditions too far.

There are 2 piles related issues that can put you in hospital - thrombosed and if one pops and bleeds out. My poor Google search history!

How is menopause a medical condition! It’s just a state of the body, like puberty