Did you know you have to tell travel insurance about HRT?

[TravelHunny]

I read that you did so we've just rang and told them. No extra charge. Customer service said best to tell them everything.

Friend said I was being daft it's only hrt patches. Am glad I did ring. Like I said to dh if I got a blood clot abroad and didn't tell them then it could make the policy void. Blood clots obviously being a possible side effect of hrt. Although it would more likely be a flight causing a blood clot.

Only if you've seen a doctor about it.

I declared it on my form and it just said no further information needed. I let them no that I had a steroid after insect bites.
I just like to cover all bases!

Or contacted them about it, but only because you could deny it before that point. But if you turn up in a foreign hospital and tell them you had the symptom from before you bought the insurance then your insurance would be invalid. Or if you see the doctor a week after buying the insurance and state you have had the pain for a month.

Basically, if you mention you are waiting for invesigatios, lots of insurers will just shut the door on you.

But if you don’t mention it they won’t pay out.

I know. They have you over a barrel.

In theory, the thing that happens does need to relate to the thing you didn't disclose. But there are cases where this has happened.

Agree, tell them everything. That way they can't wriggle out.

Any time we go to the doctor I tell them when I renew, there was a case where someone went to the doctor because they felt dizzy but nothing was diagnosed, three years later the insurance wouldn't pay out as they said the dizzy episode is as linked.

I tell them everything, ingrowing toenail, birth control, dental work, anything where I have a medical record.

We did tell the insurance company when DH was waiting for a consultant appointment. It cost us an extra £450 for a year’s cover. The NHS is infuriating in situations like these. Finally got to see the consultant and it was nothing.

@TravelHunny It was a couple of years ago, and it put £100 on an annual worldwide policy for me and DH. I was furious at the time, and went to a different company on renewal.

I have a non emergency referral for something that won't be affected by a holiday and my insurance company dropped me. I had to find another company who would insure me for everything but the condition I haven't yet been diagnosed with. A fee years ago before a holiday I went to hospital for abdominal pain. After tests they said it was likely a kidney stone that had passed. My insurance company wouldn't cover me for anything to do with the abdomen. I said so if I suddenly got appendicitis on holidah I wojldnt be covered and they said no, but anything else was covered apart from that area. They were also very interested in a uti I have had previously. The last few years travel insurance companies have gone crazy lol

Im not sure the opportunism of the insurers is the responsibility of the NHS.

Insure and Go really seem to have simplified their forms. Far fewer questions.

You still haven’t tell them even if you don’t ask.

Same.

There is nowhere on the form to tell them.any more. They used to ask about every trip to the GP. Now they just ask for named conditions. Honest.

Read the T&Cs. I am not contesting what they ask on the form. You may be expected to phone them up.

I’m a travel agent licensed to sell insurance. Yes you should declare HRT as it’s a prescription medication, and you have to declare ALL prescriptions.
And it’s not just about blood clots, if you are treated abroad the hospital need to know about all medications you are taking before they can treat you.
Plus the example above of course, where the insurer denied any payout because she hadn’t declared all her prescription medication. Better to be safe than sorry especially if you have your insurance through a bank for free, as sometimes they are not the best policies.
I’ve also had clients who have been charged for being on HRT, only a nominal amount £5, but a decent insurer shouldn’t.

I've just booked travel insurance and it said they don't need to know about any contraception or HRT being taken.

If they explicitly state they don’t need to know then that is fine. But unless they state it you need to tell them. Contractual terms vary.

I agree. Mine didn't ask. I asked Google. Then rang the insurer.

I actually bought a new annual travel insurance policy last week and I told them that I am on HRT and they said they didn’t need to know about that. On my previous policy it was listed with my medical conditions, so I think it must vary.

It's always better to overshare when it comes to insurance! I remember when I worked in life insurance sales and the question about are you on any medication was answered with a no by every woman I dealt with. On the law of averages surely a fair number of them were on birth control but no one ever mentioned it!

Don't know if it's ever caused an issue but insurance companies will use any loophole or non disclosure as they call it to avoid paying out.

Hi OP, I am a travel insurance underwriter. There is usually a requirement to disclose any medication taken, or treatment which is underway. This would include HRT, weight loss injections and relatively routine treatments such as tablets taken for high blood pressure.

For an insurer to decline a claim the disclosure would need to be material. So failing to declare HRT treatment is unlikely to lead to a decline. However, blood pressure treatments well might and so might any treatment for alcoholism or other addictions which is sometimes not disclosed.

If in doubt, go into your NHS app and tell them anything that's listed there within whatever timescale they specify.