Travel insurance and previous medical conditions

[IShouldKnowThisAlready]

I admit I’ve been putting this off my (short-term) to-do list because the prospect of listing everything is fairly ugly, but I really bloody need to step up and sort out travel insurance.

We’re a family of four. The two DC each have a separate condition to declare, one of which is v straightforward. The other one had a hospital stay four years ago for a vomiting bug and subsequently insanely low sugars, but we’ve never had a repeat and the doctors seem to chalk it up to ‘one of those things’.

First question - am I likely need to do anything about that on a declaration?

Secondly - my own medical history is, shall we say, a bit of a list, and this is where I’m hitting a wall. I’ve had what I can see would be classed as serious conditions from 15-25 years ago but not suffered from since, then there are a few lesser things from over five years ago, and a couple of things more recent that I know to declare and they’re straightforward, then there’s the bloody gestational diabetes from six years ago which you would think would show up in a previous conditions list but doesn’t.

I suppose my question is am I just better off going through a broker? Can anyone recommend one if so? Or do I just list literally every condition on my NHS record, regardless of how far it was in the past? I’m possibly overthinking it all but I can’t find solid guidance on where to draw the line and I don’t want to tempt fate and I want to play by the rules.

Also am having really an absolute shitshow of a month thus far, so if anyone so inclined could avoid going to town on me either for overthinking or just not knowing, genuine thanks.

I’m sure I just list any active problems? Basically anything that affects me day-to-day/could flare up when I’m away? I absolutely wouldn’t be declaring things from years ago.

Forgot to add that in my wisdom I’d started going through GoCompare to try to narrow down options, hence partly why I haven’t got specific guidance to work from. I’m well aware our premium will be somewhat inflated and that’s not a problem, but at the same time nobody wants to pay a ton more than they have to.

often thr questions have time limits, like 'in the past two years, have you...'

But sometimes the follow up questions aren't very clear, and they refuse to clarify things on the phone - you have to simply answer yes/no to whatever it is, and they will accept no other possibilities or explanations. I had to pay more because an upcoming physio appointment was at a hospital rather than at a separate clinic, because it meant that officially I coudln't say I didn't have a hospital appointment coming up, even though it was exactly the same appointment as it would have been elsehwere. But there is no room for grey areas when answering.

and each company seems to have the same underlying algorithm, so changing companies didn't really help either.

But hopefully you can just answer the questions, and ignore any old conditions that don't fit. They don't ask about everything.

I declared a condition DS has and they sent a policy amendment showing it had been declared but it didn't change the premium.

@WooWooWinnie The problem is I’ve seen some sites say to use a five-year cut off for all, some that certain conditions I’ve had need listing regardless of time passed, and some go on about whether you’ve seen a doctor in the last two years. I’m frying my brain and don’t want to get it wrong in case the worst does come to the worst and they look for any reason to back out of a claim.

@BrunchMonster I think I just need to accept I’m going to have to go through all the likely suppliers’ individual quotes processes. It may be that the comparison sites are just too general.

Staysure and just travel have historically been the best for covering pre-existing conditions for me , crohns , CKD and a stroke in 2020. I haven’t ever listed everything that I’ve seen a doctor for just the ones that are still impacting me

Declare the conditions OP, otherwise a claim could be refused. Not every condition will cause an uplift in premiums. Are you looking to book a single trip policy or annual cover? Are you holidaying in Europe or worldwide. This will make a huge difference to the premium. I used Staysure for our holiday, I have Multiple Sclerosis and DH also has a couple of health conditions, the premium for our single trip was ok. Have a good holiday.

The one I use gives time limits in the questions regarding hospital stays, changes to medication, etc. So even if a long term condition if stable with no hospital admissions and no change ti meds in day 3 years, it's not a real issue.

I list everything asked carefully as never want to risk them saying the insurance isn't valid as I forgot to mention something.

Thanks so much, @Roselilly36. It just seems so much! It’s Europe and single for the family but I’m taking another trip separately so will look at both options. I’ll look at Staysure.

You usually have to declare long term conditions relating to heart and circulation, so strokes, heart attacks, etc with no time limit, plus anything that you take medication for regularly, anything you have seen a GP or hospital appt for in last year or had a hospital admittance.

My DS had some hospital treatment years ago, but doesn’t declare as it isn’t an active issue. I have some conditions which are medicated but stable eg migraine, high cholesterol, but have to declare due to repeat prescriptions!

I don’t think your child’s hospital admission of 4 yrs ago will need to be declared, unless they have ongoing check ups and/or medication.

Two medical insurers you could look at are Staysure and AllClear, but I would try and get quotes from well known names such as LV, Axa etc first.

Once you start getting quotes, you will see what conditions are in their list. Some conditions only ask if it is being monitored or not, others have 6/7 questions to answer!

I use InsureandGo which covers all my medical/health conditions.
I didn't want the type that covers you for everything excluding the notified conditions so there is more of a premium.

@Qilin that’s my instinct (partly why I’ve been putting it off a little as it’s a painful bloody job). Do you mind saying who you use?

InsureandGo

I have annual worldwide.

I’m normally really good at shopping around for renewals but I swear to God, when this is sorted they’ve got a customer for life. I’m not bloody doing this every year lazy

I'd recommend staysure as well, we get their annual family cover and it wasn't too much even though my partner has several autoimmune conditions and has a heart attack

Declare everything!

I have dealt with people trying to get medical repatriation and the insurance company deciding they aren't covered as something irrelevant wasn't initially declared.

Some conditions they just aren't interested in as well. DH has a massive medical history but none of it affects his insurance premium in any way.

Yes! This is exactly what I’ve heard of happening. How awful for those people.

I always use this company who specialise in pre-existing conditions and it seems to work out at a reasonable price.
https://www.allcleartravel.co.uk/

I would look at the actual policy wording (not just a summary). In my experience it will be there on the website somewhere. Look for the exclusion for pre-existing medical conditions and how "pre-existing medical condition" is defined. You will probably find that some conditions have to be declared whenever they occurred whereas others only need to be declared if they've occurred in the past X years.

You may be better off having separate policies. I usually take out an individual policy with a medical specialist insurance firm. And a family one for DH plus kids. Works out cheaper for us that way.
And yes as per pps, declare everything.

I think it was on Martin Lewis's website that there was details on how long after the event you were supposed to declare everything so it wouldn't affect your claim. I had a spinal fusion in 2017 and I didn't have to declare it after 5 years. But I'll always declare it - just in case. However it doesn't seem to affect my premium because I've got quotes with and without the declaration and it's the same.

If you do have a complicated medical history and you're looking through a comparison website, I'd declare everything online, get your quote and then I'd ring them and go through it all. They're really helpful and if there's any problem, they just send it through their underwriters for clarification but you can have confidence you're fully covered.

I feel your pain as I’m struggling with this as well - have spent hours answering basically the same questions for multiple providers and comparison sites (as they all seem to use the same algorithms). Was hoping for annual worldwide but either the premium is extortionate or they won’t cover us at all (DH has cancer which is stable but still under intermittent treatment and the DC have various minor conditions (asthma, ADHD) plus one has a rare genetic condition which will absolutely not require emergency treatment but has to be declared - and there is no drop-down for it). I asked on MN a month or so if anyone knew of a broker as our mortgage broker was amazing at just sniffing out deals, but no one did. I might gird myself to try some of the providers recommended here but it is EXHAUSTING. DH says not to declare the minor things but I have the concerns as you.
Holiday isn’t until November but I’d love to get it sorted…

I recently put my medical details into All Clear for an Annual policy and then also did the same on Money Supermarket (which had identical medical questions for my conditions) and ending up going with one of the Money Supermarket recommendations Puffin Insurance.

I was told you have to declare everything, including things like cataract surgery and if you’ve had tests like an ECG, even if nothing was found,