To think a lot of people don’t have valid travel insurance

[Goatymcgoaty]

Apparently getting travel insurance is just not possible when referred and sitting on a waiting list for an outpatient appointment (for symptoms that have not been formally diagnosed). It’s just not possible to insure someone when they are awaiting diagnosis. Any policy claim would be void as you’re not covered in the first place.

But with the length of NHS waiting lists, often a year or more, what do people do? Not go on any foreign holidays for a couple of years until they have a diagnosis? Cancel anything that’s already booked? Do people just assume that they don’t yet have a diagnosis so there’s nothing to declare, and go on holiday anyway?

You can be insured, but would not be covered for the referred problem?

You need to speak to an insurer directly

Re Cancel anything that’s already booked?

You should have had insurance straight after you booked, theres no excuse not to

There are travel insurance companies who will still cover them. I have health issues and the nature of them means investigations. I just budget for the insurance along with the holiday, as i have to do with my pet boarding.

A lot of people don't bother with insurance at all, as the Go Fund me pages show. More people are going to come unstuck once we are fully out of the EU.

You can exclude conditions and investigations from your insurance, that’s what I do. They aren’t things that I’d need immediate medical attention for though are technically open investigations.

You have to declare it. You can be insured. Sometimes you won’t be covered for the thing that’s being investigated and sometimes you will, but you can still be insured and it’d be silly not to be.

It’s explained pretty clearly when you’re getting insurance what is covered and what isn’t, and what you need to declare... But a lot of people don’t look; and then believe things like this from god knows where.

@NoveltyFunsy
"Cancel anything that’s already booked?"
"You should have had insurance straight after you booked, theres no excuse not to"

It then becomes invalid.

There's probably as many people travelling on insurance that isn't valid, as that don't have it.

Many of the, added in with a bank account, insurance policies have a lot of limitations. Especially if say you travel somewhere and do a day trip outside of your main place of stay.

If you get insurance straight after you book do you date it from then or from the day you travel?

I know by you mean OP. I know a woman I know paid about £500 to get insured as she was waiting for tests she also had many other complaints. A friend of my mum's went without insurance as his recent heart attack meant it would have cost him a fortune, he isn't poor and yes we told him!!!

I'm always amazed at how cheap mine is having had a massive dvt, high cholesterol, an ovarian cyst. I declare everything just in case.

Whilst most people will never need to claim on a travel (or life, motor etc) insurance policy, the potential costs should the worst happen far outweigh the cost of taking it out.

Cover for existing conditions can push premiums up but there are insurers that will cover these plus those under investigation. We forget how much healthcare (especially emergency care) actually costs - when abroad it can escalate rapidly to eye-wateringly expensive. Even the cheapest policies would cover the big stuff (albeit with excess etc), you're spending big money on a holiday, why scrimp on the price of a few cocktails to insure it?

You should buy insurance as soon as you book - you enter the date of travel when you take out the policy. That way you're covered if something happens that means you can't go eg broken leg, illness/death of a family member, covid19....

I thought you were asked whether you were waiting for a diagnosis or similar, when you apply for insurance?

I'm always worried that my annually auto-renwed travel insurance doesn't cover me or one of my family, because there's bound to be some doctor visit or something I haven't told them about. But when I consulted my policy recently, it seemed clear that failing to tell them does not invalidate the policy, it just means you aren't covered for the condition in question. (Obviously other polices maybe different, mine is insure-and-go. Please correct me if you have the same policy and interpret it differently.)

My PILs went without insurance. One terminal cancer, one incurable cancer. They said to me to just leave them over there if they got ill or died over there as they didn’t want any hassle over their deaths. They survived fine!

@Ponoka7
"Cancel anything that’s already booked?"
"You should have had insurance straight after you booked, theres no excuse not to"

It then becomes invalid.
Why? You did not know about it, so why would insurance be invalid?

@redwoodmazza

I thought you were asked whether you were waiting for a diagnosis or similar, when you apply for insurance?

Yes, so you declare it.
If you were not aware of it at the time of getting your insurance, then you should be covered. Which is why you get insured as soon as you buy the holiday.

So, for example, I had a mole removed last year, which was diagnosed as a stage 1 melanoma. I haven't told the insurer. I don't believe this invalidates my policy, it just means they won't cover me for any related treatment. There is zero risk I'd want to claim for such treatment, so I believe I don't need to mention it.

I always thought that you had to have insurance before you booked the holiday.

Anyway all insurance will try to get out of paying. I have had health insurance for thirty years (same company for that time) but changed my policy a year ago (still the same company just changed the plan I was on) they fussed over the payment for a recent urgent medical problem. They said if it could be proven that the condition existed before I changed my policy (to a cheaper one) even if I was never aware of it then they wouldn't pay. They did pay in the end but it was a stressful time.

The moral of that story is always err on the side of caution with insurance, they are not your friend.

Bad idea, @RandomLondoner. If, God forbid, you were to go on holiday and break your leg, they could find the break was due to bony metastases or pick up something else on a blood test, x-ray or scan that needed treating urgently and was related to a cancer. As such, you would not be covered for anything relating to your leg break.

To give another example, ex FIL had COPD. They decided not to tell the insurance when they went to Cyprus for a fortnight. Whilst they were out there, he caught a bit of a cold, but thought nothing of it.

On the flight home, he had a coughing fit and stopped breathing. It was only luck that meant the plane was 20 minutes from landing at the time. Had that happened on the flight out, the cost would have been phenomenal - the insurance would not have covered somebody with COPD saying they just had a cold, as the COPD was what made a cold life threatening.

Had he tripped over and broken a rib whilst out there, his medical treatment would have been completely different (and more expensive) as a result of the concurrent diagnosis, so wouldn't be covered.

Declare your melanoma treatment, get it cleared for cover - or you will never know if something is going to be covered.

Some insurance will not insure you at all, some will but will exclude anything associated to what you've been referred to, some won't even ask about upcoming appointments, only what you've been diagnosed for. You need to do some shopping around sadly.

If you don't declare you invalidate the insurance so don't do that.

One year I had this I pulled out of NHS tests to get insurance.

This year I have it again and have found InsureandGo will cover me - it doesn't cover what's being investigated and doesn't cover any medical related cancellations. There are a few specialist providers who do cover, I think moneysavingexpert listed them.

To clarify, I do have annual insurance on which I declared all conditions. But am now being investigated for new symptoms possibly relating to one of the conditions.

Oops sorry i misunderstood your point. I thought that you were trying to get existing insurance to pay out in my defence it is early on a Saturday morning.

Well, travel insurance isn't mandatory. My parents don't bother with it usually because they've weighed up the risks and potential costs and they're happy to go without.

My insurance states if you don't declare one medical condition you invalidate the whole policy.

I would tell you current insurer but they may well but no longer able to insure you then try someone like InsureandGo who can insure you but be aware of the restrictions and what's not covered.

When I mention this to friends/colleagues, about declaring all doctor visits, antibiotics prescribed (for the kids too) in the last two years, they always look . I can’t help but think most people don’t bother, or assume the insurer would only want to know about the big stuff (cancer etc).

I’m also concerned that if I got flu, corona etc, the insurer wouldn’t cover it as “it may be worse than it would have been because of undiagnosed symptoms”. Grey area much?

@mynameiscalypso but what if they were in an accident, both unconscious and taken to private hospitals? They’d be racking up tens of thousands without knowing it. The hospital would then chase them for the debt once they were home?