This holiday insurance requirement is ludicrous and should be changed

[Sunshineandoranges]

I have just been watching Rip Off Britain. It seems that almost every holiday insurance has a clause which says that in the event of a sudden bereavement meaning you need to cancel your holiday ( the man’s father had died suddenly), you are only covered if you had declared any pre existing conditions the deceased person had. So according to that logic many couples would have to declare not only their own health conditions, but four possibly elderly parents. My adult children don’t even know some of my pre existing health conditions. The presenter said anybody taking out holiday insurance should declare all pre existing conditions of anybody whose death might mean cancellation of holiday,even minor health issues to cover themselves. So, lovely family spend thousands on holiday, granny dies so they have to cancel,no insurance cover unless the company agree to make a goodwill payment. Admiral Insurance refused to pay and wouldn’t change that decision. So, AIBU to think something needs to be changed about this?

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

Zen nudist…who do you insure with? What I don’t understand is if for example someone ( as was the case) didn’t mention hrt that affects a claim for example broken leg. I can understand if you don’t mention something existing that causes the illness that results in a claim. And why for e.g do I have to mention high cholesterol..I don’t have it because I take statins? Also don’t have high blood pressure because I take meds.

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).

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.

Bluetitshark…I agree that it should be made clear that they don’t cover cancellation due to death of close relative if that is the case..not hide it deep in the small print. I will read the article badbunny mentions. Thanks for that

I am learning a lot from the posts here. Thanks everyone.

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.

I am wondering whether the posters not getting paid for clams not related to previous health conditions took out online. When I looked at a comparison site some were getting good feedback because they were easy to set up and pay for not because they provided good insurance.

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

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

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.

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

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

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 think that's the crux really.

If a close relative already has a life threatening/shortening condition, then it almost by default becomes a notifiable event as cancellation due to their death/hospitalisation is a lot more likely. Whereas if, say, your parent is hit and killed by a drunk driver, it really wasn't foreseeable.

So, it's both about foreseeables AND the wording of the policy.

I have had stints working in the travel claims dept, and it’s eye opening how it all works. Part of our training included reading the policies that cover travel claims, and as much as it’s a dry read, I do recommend looking at the policy T&Cs in detail. One of the very worst conversations I had was with a bereaved son, to tell him that we wouldn’t cover the cancellation costs after his mum passed away due to a recurring cancer that progressed very quickly. His mum had been in remission but the policy limit - if anything had happened or been investigated within 12 mths of the booking date - was one of the policy T&Cs. Within a month of booking the holiday, she’d been to see her consultant about minor symptoms, and that appointment was the reason the policy didn’t cover the lost cost of the booked holiday. That was within the period that cancellation of the holiday would have given a full refund with the holiday firm.

The reason I mention this is because the T&Cs of the booking itself provide options much earlier & it’s then a choice to stick with the booking (knowing a later cancellation won’t be covered), hoping if anything happens, it’s not going to be when your due to leave or are on holiday. It’s harsh, and blunt, but having a full understanding of what choices you have, depending on when something may happen, or you become aware of information on a close relative, can at least help you make an informed choice in taking the risk when you have that knowledge, as opposed to this all happening at the very worst time.

I spent a lot of time working on cancelled holidays & people trying to get home when the pandemic started & it put me off travelling anywhere.

My advice is to look around for cover, ask as many questions about the cover as you can, ask about specific scenarios that may apply to you or your wider family’s circumstances & make sure that what you need to be covered is covered.

Insurance is a business, it’s a profit making business, and it’s necessary for them to anticipate risks factors when calculating premiums. Anything in the T&Cs that’s asked for, that you don’t declare, risks a claim being rejected. Innocuous things you think aren’t relevant don’t automatically make the premium charged higher, so there’s no reason not to declare HRT, or a previous medical issue from your history.

An underlying principle in an insurance contract is utmost good faith - insurers ask questions that they trust you to answer truthfully (to the best of your knowledge) and if there are any questions not answered, it breaks that principle & is the basis to justify declining a claim. Not understanding why something you don’t think is relevant is asked about, doesn’t change the fact a Q was asked and either not answered, or answered incorrectly & justifies the declined claim.

I don’t mean to sound uncaring in how I’ve answered this. It’s genuinely not a pleasant part of the job & I have a lot of sympathy when people are genuinely unaware of the small print & are left out of pocket. And most people don’t really pay too close attention to the small print on the basis the chances of things going wrong are slim. But they do happen, and when it does happen, you really need to give yourself the best chance of getting the cost of dealing with it covered, so please ask the insurance co questions about what they’re asking if you don’t understand or can’t understand why they need what you think is irrelevant information. It’s far better to get the clarification & give the information (even if you can’t see the point, or think it’s way too intrusive), to then at least know there’s nothing you’ve done that can invalidate your claim.

I don’t think you have to tell them about pre existing conditions in family. It’s worded more like if you knew they were ill and booked anyway then tough. We had a holiday to Portugal and fil went into hospice care. We checked and as his cancer diagnosis was before we booked we wouldn’t get paid out. He died 4 weeks before we were due to go and we went out just over 2 weeks after he died (which my husband really needed as he was shattered) and MIL also needed to start living her ‘new normal’ where we weren’t there every day. If he had died closer to when we went or even whilst we were away we’d have lost £2k.

This is a really good, clear article actually. The crux of it is that insurers might pay out if you have to cancel your holiday due to an unexpected death (depending on the relationship of the person to you, which differs by insurer), but if they die from a previously known condition (even if you as the policy holder didn't know about it), then they almost certainly won't. I don't think at any point an insurer expects you to declare health conditions of close relatives - mostly because it doesn't matter, they won't pay out if they die from a previously known condition regardless of whether you declared it or not.

All insurance is basically a rip off. A friend of my DF said insurance was the biggest legalised criminal activity on the planet, but you have to be rich to go without it.

Well it would be unreasonable of someone to book a holiday when they knew their elderly parent was pretty unwell, and they intended to just cancel if the parent died, and shift the cost of their gamble onto the insurance company (thereby increasing premiums for everyone else). So the insurance company is basically trying to avoid paying to these chancers. But people who didn't reasonably expect a parent to die get caught in the crossfire.

Anyway having said that, I actually wouldn't expect travel insurance to cover illness/death of extended family members who aren't travelling, and would just accept that was my bad luck. If I specifically wanted that cover I would hunt for a provider that offered it.

Virtually all insurance is a scam, the only exception I can think of is house insurance.

Buy it if it makes you feel better, but don't buy it with the belief that the policy will pay out if you claim. It won't.

For example, I'll bet that most people who go on a cruise holiday think their travel insurance covers them if they get sick or injured, when in reality unless you have taken specialist "Cruise Cover" your ordinary police won't cover you at all.

Car insurance will cost you even if a claim wasn't your fault.

Health insurance costs a fortune but covers virtually nothing.