To think travel insurance is an utter scam?

[ragingruby]

Before taking out annual travel insurance, declared health conditions of menopause and insomnia - both managed by medication. Have had some issues recently with piles. Got anusol from GP to manage.

About to travel later this week. Rang to advise of Insurance company, Staysure, re new condition (as their documentation notes you have to). They said they will continue cover but not for the pre-existing conditions and neither for the recent condition, the latter of which they said don't just emerge suddenly so I must have known about the piles for some time and hadn't told them.

I'm like 'what???'. I've just told you!

They wouldn't budge.

So, despite previously insuring the conditions of insomnia and menopause, both of which are being managed, they've decided now not to. Apparently I'm covered if I die and need repatriation or for medical aid if in a car crash though I suspect they will say if I was driving, I was likely not to have had enough sleep!

Not going to renew my cover with them next year. Renaming Staysure as 'StayAway'. What's the point?

I think the assumption that if it's bad enough to go to the gp for then it should be considered pre-exsisting is far enough tbh.

After all, most people don't go to the gp for "normal" piles or the occasional headache or menopause with no symptoms. They treat with otc meds at home

It was while I was seeing the GP about something else that I mentioned it, so I didn't go for piles per se. It was incidental to the main problem.

Re menopause - loads of women I know are receiving hrt for this so not unusual really

HRT isn't unusual no but I'm guessing it has side effects/contraindications? And it'll be those that they're worried about rather than the menopause itself.

There's always going to be the odd few who mention something small just because they're there, and whilst a little unfair for those people as a benchmark for what's considered pre-exsisting it's not a bad one.

Menopause is not a disease.
Heavens.

I worry about this with Dd who has a list of health conditions inc.

previous pulmonary embolism now on blood thinners
ehler Danlos syndrome which is a connective tissue disorder
endometriosis
coeliac disease
POTS which is a neurological disorder affecting bp and heart rate, can cause fainting
fibromyalgia.

we obviously declare everything and pay a fortune (£200 for two weeks last time). But the insurance states anything connected to those conditions isn’t covered.

well seeing as her conditions cover connective tissue which is present in every body system, then coeliac which is the digestive system, endometriosis which covers everything gynae and the blood thinners, clotting issue which covers all her vascular system I’m not sure what is left to be covered. Car accidents and broken bones maybe??? They could link anything to her health issues if they wanted. Whether they would or not I have no idea.

Basically any medication for a condition that you take needs to be included, no matter how small. I phoned ins Co to inform them about an abscess I had which was treated fine, but obs a new condition, they charged £50 to add condition and another £40 to issue new policy. My friend is trying to get money back from a cancelled holiday to Spain as she had Covid and was too ill to travel. Ins Co wants all her records, proof of Covid, GP letter, who are in no hurry issuing, she feels like giving up trying to claim.

with insurance you get what you pay for go elsewhere and be prepared to pay

If it's a key term in a consumer contract, particularly where it is to the disadvantage of the customer it shouldn't be hidden away but drawn to the attention of the customer.

Unfortunately if the GP isn't allowing access to records that isn't the fault of the insurers.
I was admitted to hospital while on holiday and they called my insurers. Somehow they were able to check my gp records very quickly and I had surgery later that day. Maybe someone who works in the industry can explain how they do that. I never thought to ask.

Can I ask the name of your insurer?

DH was taken to hospital in holiday. We had paperwork which we sent to the insurer.
They paid 10 days later (we covered the cost originally)

I think holiday insurance is to cover the major issues, death, accidents - not someone who might forget their medication.

I only declare anything for which I’ve sought Gp treatment.

@scissy I'm familiar with the two screening methods after hours of comparing quotes. I prefer the one which asks about the health conditions rather than the one which asks about medication. I've used specialist insurers before but actually most mainstream ones will cover me and the price is comparable. I think I went with Aviva last time. I have a long list of ongoing conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and SVT plus a history of breast cancer, so not trivial though I am actually fit and well as all are well controlled.
I'll look at insurancewith next time. I might have rejected them because of poor reviews about claims but tbh they all get poor reviews about claims!

I rarely go to the GP and certainly not for a small pile so what happens if I fall ill holiday and they discover said pile, it won't be on any records but it's still there.

@Merro that's fascinating - I prefer the medication one because in our circumstances the follow-on screening questions it asks then give a much more sensible risk calculation usually! (Epilepsy FWIW)

This is why for anyone with a chronic condition it really makes sense to look around but also try providers who use the different medical screening databases in the backend and see if it makes a difference. I couldn't get medical cover for DH for one of his conditions (I.e. it was specifically excluded) with some for example and they tended to be using the "other" medical screening.

Staysure said they had a blanket policy of excluding everything that was pre-existing when I told them about the new condition of piles. They wouldn't accept piles were a new condition as apparently they emerge over time and 'don't just suddenly appear'

Many thanks for taking the time to clarify this, @ragingruby; so it appears they're saying you effectively failed to tell them about a new condition right away and therefore they'll no longer cover the medical issues you did advise them of?

Since even things like cancer, diabetes and heart problems can be "there" before you know about them that sounds ridiculous to me, and it's not even as if you were making a claim which they're trying to wriggle out of

Edited to add I nearly came a cropper with something like this myself.
I wear hearing aids and honestly never thought to tell them until I missed something they said on the phone, mentioned them and was told that they'd add this to the policy (though with no extra charge)
Presumably they thought that if I got run over by a truck it might be because I hadn't heard it?

i’vd got hearing aids. Never thought if mentioning that. Something else to add to the list.

We had an annual policy with Avanti and 2 weeks before travel DH a developed a pain in his groin which the gp suspected was a hernia. Was referred for ultrasound and I rang to tell the insurer who referred it to the underwriter. They were happy to let us go on that trip pending scan results providing the gp recorded that he was fit to travel. We were however only going to Canaries for 5 days so this may have been a factor. As it turned out he had something much more minor than a hernia.
Just as a point about same staff working for many insurers - when I rang the Avanti call centre the agent actually said Hello Staysure - and then explained she had also been working for Staysure that morning as well.

I was thinking of getting travel insurance for when we travel abroad this year but it doesn't seem worth it now. I've had two lengthy hospital stays in the past two years and I'm sure I would miss something that needs to be declared making it invalid anyway so what's the point. The conditions I've thought of so far include:
Sepsis
Bowel perforation
Ileostomy
Kidney failure stage 3
HRT
Bowel adhesions
Bowel cancer surgery
Episiotomy infection
Migraines

My heart goes out to you.
Would you be able to fund repatriation if you needed to?
Or see what you can declare and exclude if the doc thinks it's OK?

What company is this who doesn't ask when taking out the policy?

I’ve just taken out insurance with Staysure and because I had a hysteroscopy procedure and results not back they won’t cover my pre existing diabetes.! Which is nothing to do with a Gynae procedure! I was told everything looked fine by consultant but not had it on paper . Furious but away within days so still took it out .Ridiculous price too . Next time I’m getting diff quotes .Stay away from them!

We normally have worldwide cover through my DH company which is really cheap and no declarations, but it didnt cover us if we travelled within 6 months of hospitalisation. I ended up in hospital for undiagnosed diabetesin 2022, so had to find insurance which included diabetes and high bp for the 6 months . I ended up with Staysure . I was 59 at the time and definitely didnt ask about Menopause, not that i ever went to the GP about it.

It's not the insurer's fault if your GP are being slow sending your medical records.

You can't really expect them to pay out without evidence that you were too ill to travel, or everyone would say that when they changed their mind!

Nah does it hell. Utter rubbish. You're unlikely to need medical treatment for menopause symptoms when you're on holiday.