Unwell child / travel insurance

[spacebuddy]

Had to take my son to urgent care yesterday in the US. He was sick on the plane and has had a fever ever since. Whilst on phone to travel insurance I'd said he'd had. A fever for 4 or 5 days. Which was my mistake it was only 4 including the day I called.

Insurance started on 12th so they're saying 4-5 days would make him being ill 10-11th

So they are refusing to pay the bill.

I've gone back and said that what I'd said was an estimation and I hadn't specifically said a start date for illness nor did they ask me for one.

Do I have a leg to stand on here?!

Anyone have similar experience?!

Similar experience of what? A child with a fever? No. Urgent care in the US? Yes, given that I live in the US. Travel insurance not covering something? No.

Looks like you’ll just have to pay the bill. The insurance provider will assume you are just trying to change the story now that you’ve called back and said something to the effect of “I didn’t really mean what I said when I said 5 days”. An urgent care visit for a child with a fever shouldn’t be more than $200 without insurance. Assuming the fever was easily brought under control and is not the result of a serous condition,

If the fever started on the plane then just call and give the correct dates. You could point out that you’d be highly unlikely ti have risked travelling with an ill child- but in saying that you are advised to take out insurance which covers you from the day you book your trip and not for just the duration of the trip.

They didn't ask because you told them when it started voluntarily. No wriggling out of this one. You basically told them you bought the insurance while he was ill.

I bought the insurance months ago 😂 He was sick on the plane and ill from then on, I'm not trying to wriggle out of anything!

I was worried about my son and in a stressful situation and made an offhand comment in a jet lagged and worried state which they've pounced on. I was not asked to clarify an exact date. I told the doc at the clinic the whole situation as I assumed it would be the medical professional who needed to know the details.

Also I was informed that self pay would start at $500 so not $200...

I also think you’ve screwed up here. The call will have been recorded too. You said on the 15th he’d been sick for 4 days. And you said he was sick on the plane, so it’s pretty obvious you started your journey with an already sick child.

Lesson learned for the future- if you have travel insurance don’t push a sick child to travel. Take them to GP and get the note filled out to have travel insurance cover for moving the trip dates or cancelling it.

Wow Mumsnet strikes again! Not asking for your judgment and not that I need to explain anything to you but he was perfectly well when our flight took off 👍

Insurance started on 12th.
This is relevant and what the insurance company will be sticking to.
You say you bought it months ago - did you specify it starting on 12th?

Unfortunately if you have told the insurance company he was ill before you travelled I don’t think you have leg to stand on

You could request the medical notes & see what they have documented. If you've told the doctor there were no signs of illness until you were on the plane & they have documented that then it's worth challenging the insurance company.

I didn't tell them he was ill before he travelled.

I was looking for help and advice as I incorrectly said the wrong timeframe. I'm well aware I screwed up in doing so, you don't need to make me feel worse or like I'm intentionally making my child travel when he's ill. He became ill halfway through our flight.

I think the OP means that several months ago she bought a single trip policy to start on 12th November when they went away. which if you’re not buying an annual policy is the right thing to do

@spacebuddy are they arguing that he was too ill to travel? Would they really have covered cancellation for a child with a temperature?

No they're saying because I said 4-5 days that means he was ill before the policy started. But it was 4 days which is within policy start date. I misspoke - I was very concerned about my son and jet lagged and stressed and was not specific. They just said can I quickly ask what the issue is, I said he's had a fever for 4-5 days. But it was 4 days I was just exhausted and lost track of time. They didn't ask me to clarify the exact date.

That’s not what you told the insurance company and it will have been recorded. Even jet lagged and worried people know the difference between 2 days and 4 days. It is unlikely they will believe your changed story. I’m not judging you, I am saying that they are going to stick with the 1st story you told them.

Ok great thanks 👍

she bought a single trip policy to start on 12th November when they went away. which if you’re not buying an annual policy is the right thing to do
So if he had got ill on 10th November and couldn't travel at all the insurance would be useless?

If they don't pay, you need to log a complaint, and escalate it if you're unhappy with the response. You could argue you were in a vulnerable/stressful situation and didn't realise you had to be 100% on the dates, you obviously wouldn't fly if you knew your child was ill, and had insurance so had no reason to fly either.. can you ask the staff from the flight to provide a statement that they became unwell during the flight?

can you ask the staff from the flight to provide a statement that they became unwell during the flight?

How would she do that??

Too bad it’s not the pandemic. They were doing temperature checks to fly in some airports and if you had a fever you’d be refused boarding.

Jesus how awful some of you are.
Op I'm sorry you're in this situation and it seems very heavy handed that the insurance provider won't pay out over a simple turn of phrase. When you've been travelling people often lose track of the days....obviously perfect MNers don't but normal people do.

I honestly don't know how you'd proceed with this. Could you pay and try to recoup it later? How much are we talking? I would keep speaking to the insurance company and clarify that your son became ill on the plane.

it seems very heavy handed that the insurance provider won't pay out over a simple turn of phrase.
That's the way they work. The Op says insurance kicked in on 12th November, there are no shades of grey with insurance companies.

@badmoon23 thank you for your kindness xxx

I don't even know how much the bill is. We have the money, I'm just annoyed that they're trying to 'catch me out' when I've not actually lied about anything! It was a honest mistake I said 4-5 instead of 4.

The staff wouldn’t be able to confirm he wasn’t ill before the flight. They could possibly say they were informed of illness during the flight but that wouldn’t confirm health before the fight

No but there are shades of grey with people. Nobody is infallible. If you had been travelling, were sleep deprived, jet lagged, in hospital with a sick kid in a different time zone do you think it's possible you might say the wrong day too?

Surely the insurance company should understand that. And if your son was so sick he required hospital treatment then presumably you wouldn't have flown and/or the cabin crew would have picked up on him being so ill and an alarm would have been raised.

It sounds like bullshit and I would totally contest it.