Is everyone declaring COVID as a pre-existing condition on travel insurance

[SayYouDontMind]

Just helping my teenage son get annual travel insurance cover. He’ll declare the fact that he has had glandular fever, gastroenteritis, tonsillitis in the past few years as they all involved GP appointments followed by prescription drugs/treatment. I’m wondering about COVID though. He, along with millions of us, tested positive for COVID (once in his case). It was very mild and didn’t involve hospital treatment or a GP appointment but it is technically a respiratory illness. Do we put it down as a pre-existing condition?

I’d hate, in the hopefully unlikely event of a claim, for the insurers to turn round and invalidate the claim because we hadn’t mentioned his positive test result (and the NHS will have a record of it because it was a test in the first year when we were getting it done at a drive-through testing centre)

I’d be interested to hear what everyone else has done.

I thought these forms focused on hospitalisation and ongoing prescriptions, not short-term treatment outside of being hospitalised.

It wouldn't have occurred to me - nor any other short term illness I had recovered from .

What? Covid isn't a condition.

Diagnosed long covid might be

@bigbluebus is spot on.

I imagine if you have long Covid or were hospitalised it might be relevant .

Yes. Anxiety should be declared.

It wouldn’t occur to me to declare covid anymore than I’d declare I’d had a cold or upset stomach.

Unless there were problems that are still an issue after having covid I wouldn’t even think of listing it. Same with tonsillitis, D&V, glandular fever. Unless they have resulted in a chronic condition I guess. It’s conditions like PPs have mentioned like asthma, hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, serious allergies, thyroid, and other ongoing conditions.

What is the actual question he is being asked? If it is to declare all illnesses in the last five years or whatever then include the things mentioned. If the question asks for pre-existing conditions then I would not mention past illnesses, only things like asthma or long covid.

Same for us! For me, DH & DS there was nothing to declare, but DD has had a bladder infection and an ear infection in the last 2 years, both of which needed a Dr's appointment and anti-biotics prescribed, so we included those. The cost of the travel insurance was the same as before we disclosed the illnesses because they aren't ongoing.

No and glandular fever, gastroenteritis, tonsillitis are not pre-existing conditions either unless the wording asks have you been ill or have you seen a GP of course - depends what question is asked on the form.

There were various ways this question was worded and framed but a recurring one was along the lines of ‘ if you’ve had any illnesses that required treatments/consultations with a Dr resulting in medication in the past 2 years’ - that’s not verbatim just the jist.

Glandular fever in the past 2 years is definitely something I’d advise declaring and I had to do that last year as he was travelling within six weeks of being diagnosed (it’s prone to reoccurring but, touch wood, hasn’t)

It felt stupid declaring tonsillitis and Gastro but it specifically asked about instances that required visits to a Dr and a diagnosis of something that required treatment. It didn’t add anything to the premium.

I realised that his COVID diagnosis was outwith the two years anyway and on balance wouldn’t declare it as it is an illness that has a respiratory element and is not a respiratory condition such as bronchitis - and he was barely ill with it anyway.

Some questions don’t specify a timeframe but I’m sure if you drilled down into the small print you’d find one otherwise you would be declaring all your childhood ailments!

The depression and anxiety ones are cheeky. I often think the ‘pre-existing conditions’ clauses are used to invalidate your insurance. I’m sure I’ve heard horror stories of someone falling ill or having an accident and their insurance being invalidated because of some unrelated non-disclosure ie. a failure to mention that one time you took a course of some anti-anxiety medication before your exams.

I tend to think insurers will prioritise not having to pay out if they can help it. And one of my favourite sayings is that ‘assumption is the mother of all fuck-ups’!

Thanks for all your responses.

I purchased travel insurance through a phone call and the woman I spoke to was very clear that I should declare any and all medications when asked if anyone had been prescribed anything in the last 12 months.

She said people got caught out because they didn’t mention an eye cream for a one off episode of itchiness for example but that whilst it wouldn’t increase the premium, we did need to declare absolutely everything so that it wouldn’t invalidate the policy.

That was a different question to pre-existing conditions though, so it does depend on what exactly is being asked!

Nope. And I work in insurance.