This holiday insurance requirement is ludicrous and should be changed

Which is because most people don't ever need to claim, and the feedback is probably given shortly after purchase, and not months later when the minority need to make a claim.

I cancelled a holiday 2 years ago due to sudden severe ill health of my Mum and insurance paid out no problem. The small print did say something a long the lines of it could have been reasonably predicted

Why would you think you didn’t need to tell them?

I guess the thing is that you don’t have to cancel for the death of a relative - you’re still physically able to go on the holiday. Obviously emotionally it’s a whole different ball game though.

There is a section when buying travel insurance where you list your medication. You should always list ALL your medication.

I spent 20years working in personal lines insurance I've insured everything from horses to small boats and travel insurance is absolutely shite. The clauses are ridiculous and the cover so limited.

The problem is that the regulators over the years have shafted car and house insurance companies but don't seem interested in travel insurance. I expect it's because the premiums are so low.

And that's the issue, the premiums are very low, we paid £30 for 10 cover on a £5k holiday this year.

The only solution is for regulator to step up. Even when my holiday tour company went bust about 15 years ago they refused to pay out. I pointed out that that wasn't in the key facts documents...and the regulator said they "didn't have to list usual things not included in travel insurance". What a tour operator goes bust is one of the reasons why you buy the bloody thing

But it has to be "small print" because there's so much of it! By simple definition, there's a hell of a lot to mention for any insurance policy, so "small" or not, there's a lot of reading and research to do before you can be confident that the policy covers your specific needs.

Re statins and blood pressure meds, you just follow through the online health questionnaire that's now common to most insurers - you put in the condition and then it asks if you're on medication, and if so, how many different tablets. You do that for each condition.

You still have high blood pressure and high cholesterol as a health condition even if controlled by drugs, so you still declare them.

I don't trust the on-line ones as they don't ask the questions that you need included. I rang up yesterday because of our pre existing conditions and they went into much more depth on the phone than you'd ever get filling in an on-line form. Plus I was able to ask stuff like... do you need to know about my HRT? (Answer was no).

Good summary here....

https://www.gocompare.com/travel-insurance/guide/death-in-family/#:~:text=If%20you%20need%20to%20cancel%20or%20cut%20short%20a%20trip,when%20you%20bought%20your%20policy.

The issue with telling the health conditions of let’s say your parents is that it negates their right to confidentiality. It’s one thing to tell your insurer about your own health issues. It’s another when you have to tell someone’s else (yes including your children) about them.

With that as a background (because they could easily be as difficult re declaration of ‘health problems’ as they are with the insured person), it feels like a misselling to me - were telling you you’re insured but actually we’ve made it nearly impossible fir you to claim anyway. So actually you’re not.

Id say they need to either buckle up and cover death of close family or it’s not on the insurance and made clear when you buy it.

I'm expecting dd's hospital stay in Portugal claim to be declined. She has numerous health conditions and I paid £250 for her insurance. But due to one of her conditions the nhs mapped her whole genome recently and we're still waiting for the test results. And I didn't declare that test. Which will have no affect on the fact she fell and banged her head on holiday. But I'm sure they'll use it as a reason not to pay.

I've recently taken out holiday insurance and they didn't ask any questions about the health of my relatives (this was with Post Office) so I'm not sure where we'd be if I had to cancel if a parent died?

Ex MiL booked a last minute holiday while SiL was terminally ill with cancer and not expected to last the week. Unsurprisingly the insurance didn't pay out. I don't think if something unexpected happens then it should be a problem to claim but for predictable events as above no insurance shouldn't have to pay out unless declared.

While I don't necessarily disagree that holiday insurance might be a rip off, I just don’t think they can cover you for every eventuality. The older people get, the bigger the chance there is of them dying. If you have a parent with a heart condition, high blood pressure or cancer there is a very high chance they could die before you go on holiday. If the insurance companies insured for all eventualities then premiums would be doubled/trebled for everyone. If there is a likelihood that someone’s death/ illness may stop you going on holiday you should need to declare their conditions.
An old persons death/illness need not always stop people going on holiday. I know people who have gone away after a family members death, to get back before the funeral.
As older people, we are trying to see the places in the world we want to before we get even older. Our insurance for our last 3 week holiday was already over 1k. If this premium was doubled or trebled it could be totally unaffordable. We still have an older parent (in their 90s) and older siblings( in their 70s) so there is a high chance of something happening before we go away.

I think it depends on what the issues are eg you don’t need to disclose the normal day to day older person issues but if they have a terminal diagnosis or a serious condition which a reasonable person would realise could affect holiday labs than no it’s not covered. The crucial question is always was it foreseeable?

we didn’t declare mils illnesses and she died shortly before we were due to travel, TUI said we could change the date only paying any difference in price but we decided to go anyway

I wouldn't expect insurance to cover if you needed to cancel due to death of a relative. Obviously absolutely awful if it happened but they really cannot cover every eventuality.

Regarding medication of course you declare everything you take from hrt to iron tablets.

Daughter had anaemia when she started her periods. She slipped by the pool and needed stitches and a hospital stay. They didn't pay out because of the anaemia, which had never been treated and was about 8 years previous.

Insurance companies exist to make money.

We didn't go on any long haul holidays for 10 years as MIL was in a care home.

It's a gamble if you know you won't get refunded.

This surprises me. We use the search engines for health insurance every year. Although I have a couple of existing health conditions that I have to declare, I don't recall ever being asked what health conditions my parents all loved ones not travelling with me have. After all policy is for me and my family travelling with me, not for anyone else

I think you are right, it’s a choice isn’t it. That’s what they will say. It’s insurance for you not others. My daughter was unable to fly home as she had chicken pox, insurance would pay for flight alterations and additional (shit standard) accommodation for her and one parent. As far as they were concerned both parents didn’t need to stay. Which is true.

i dint think insurance pays out for much !