Should we cancel holiday now insurer has excluded DS's medical condition?

[ConflictofInterest]

We've had our first family holiday abroad booked for nearly a year. I bought travel insurance on the day I booked the holiday which was recommended. A few months ago my DS had an accident resulting in fractures. The insurer has said that they won't cover his fractures, so any new injury to the same area or medical treatment needed related to the fractures wont be covered. I've not traveled much so I'm now not sure what to do. What would other people do in this situation? Should we cancel the holiday? We don't have the money to pay for medical care if it's needed, but he's healed well and we've got no reason to expect he would injure the same place again.

Some people are saying that a medical condition that develops after you buy the policy, but before you travel, ought to be covered.

However, whether we might think it "ought" to be or not, the medical coverage of a travel insurance policy generally only kicks in on the day of travel, at which date you are meant to be in good health (or accept that any condition that you have on that day, and which doesn't actually prevent you from being fit to travel, won't be covered).

See for example this policy which states "We have the right from the date of issue up to the date of travel to request a letter from your Medical Practitioner detailing your pre-existing medical condition(s), and confirming that your condition(s) have not changed or got worse, along with agreeing that you are fit to travel."

I suspect that clauses such as this are in almost every policy you can buy. Hence why the GHIC is such a useful thing to have.

Ahhh. That's interesting @samarrange . And also I wasn't aware our EHICS could be so helpful, really helpful to know

I hope you get it sorted OP

@samarrange That's not my understanding of pre-existing. Pre-existing would normally mean prior to the purchase of the policy. So in the example you've quoted, say you buy the policy declaring existing angina, they agree cover based on your health at the point in time of purchase. They then might want reassurance there has been no change prior to the date of travel. Sounds fair enough to me.

In the OP's case, there was NO pre-existing condition. Therefore in the first instance the OP should pursue it to understand why they aren't covering it. If it's because the treatment is ongoing, then they should be coming up with the options.

I would buy another over, staysure cover loads

Be aware that a GHIC, whilst fabulous, doesn't cover lots of things e.g. medical repatriation. So if you break your back, you could get treated in a local hospital on holiday, but you'd have no way of getting home.

Absolutely this. They should definitely pay out for the loss. Good luck.

I have ire existing conditions and still can get some reasonnable travel insurance.

https://quote.medicaltravelcompared.co.uk/?source=MSE is a good way to compare insurance and find one that works for you.

This, a million times. Depending on health conditions, and also destination, the costs can add up to millions. Accident too- being run over by a bus, etc.

Sorry to say, but this is highly irresponsible and sheer madness. Unless you are VERY VERY well off and could pay out of pocket for treatment + repatriation with specialist medical care.

Re previous fractures not being covered- sounds very strange. Unless perhaps due to osteoporosis or other condition, which could make the risk of fractures much more likely.

GHIC is great but a friend of mine had to pay £15000.00 for her air ambulance back with loo eg fractures.

Staysure r really good, my grandson broke his tib n fib he still under orthopedics n they have covered him but he has annual policy

It may not be your understanding, but it seems to be the industry standard. Happy to be shown to be wrong if anyone wants to dig out their policy and find that there is no similar clause in it. But I can understand the actuarial logic, and that's what makes insurance go round. 🤷‍♂️

Travel insurance is unusual because unlike normal medical insurance, it (or at least, the medical part) doesn't start for some time after you buy the policy, and a lot can go wrong during that time. So they will also have a different concept of pre-existing.

I guess the alternative would be for the premium to be higher for every day/week/month between when you buy the policy and when you travel, because every month that goes by is a chance for you to get ill. But that might not be ideal either, because it would tend to dissuade you from buying the policy on day 1, which is when you want the cancellation component to start.

Ultimately it will come down to what the insurance code of conduct and/or consumer law says. But I had no problem finding the statement that I quoted earlier, which again I suspect is just "the way it is".

If your child is still in a cast, remember they have to split the cast before you fly (in case of swelling)

I would guess the issue is more the outstanding follow up appointments. If he were discharged it would probably be fine.

If you are going to Europe then I wouldn't worry for the most part (depending on the exact country). Most European countries have a free to use A&E system which is basically the main use case you would have on holiday. The EHIC covers you for this if they do have a co pay element.

I personally wouldn't bother getting additional insurance. Especially if they are just excluding fracture as pre existing condition so basically it just means you are going to the state run hospital if DS broke his ankle again for free treatment ie cast and then you can fly home without special requirements because a boot/cast doesn't need special flight arrangements

I think previous poster did say that GHIC isn't everything and definitely not repatriation

Sure, and it never was, even pre-Brexit as the EHIC. Travel insurance is always a good idea. But the repatriation bit of the insurance is fairly cheap because very few people need it. If you get travel (medical) insurance for a country where the GHIC doesn't work you will notice the difference because it has to cover more likely incidents, like a broken leg or heart attack.

Having just taken out a new annual travel insurance over the phone I can say that the agent did quote that if there are any changes to our health during the policy term, then we must let them know. I assume they'd make a new assessment of the cover at that point.
It is possibly the potential ongoing treatment which is the issue, rather than just the fracture. People break limbs all the time but still travel with insurance.

I broke both shoulders just before going on holiday, had to cancel and got all our money back.
Was due to go on a different holiday 12 weeks after , phoned insurance up as we always take our a 12 month multi trip policy and they say because I’d recently been discharged from physio and fracture clinic ( even though I had a 12 month open clinic discharge) that there was no reason to take my injuries into consideration,

Definitely contact other insurers. Assuming your DS is a child, you may not be able to take out a separate policy just for him. In fact, you’ll probably have to take out a whole new policy for all of you. But it’s a drop in the ocean cost wise, compared to the holiday.

This is soo frustrating!! They should reimburse/cover you if you can't go but it's unlikely they will do if they haven't offered it yet.
If you still haven't had any luck getting the money back after cancelling then I would recommend having a look at transfertravel.com.
I sold my holiday on there a few years ago when I found out I was pregnant and couldn't go and got more money back than I would have done just cancelling.
Just another option to look at if you're stuck - hope you get fixed up though :)

Brave.

Speak to your insurance company

If they are not going to cover him being away, are they saying that will pay out in full if you decide not to go?

£15000.00 for an air ambulance from Europe for someone I knew. Couldn't get on ordinary plane. Due to fracture

I have annual travel insurance. Found out I was pregnant in January with a holiday booked for May. Rang and told them. Anything pregnancy is not covered whilst on holiday. I am sure if I tripped and broke a leg they would.blame the pregnancy and not pay out.
As we are going to Spain, have a ghic card we will risk it for a week.

But I will not be using that particular insurance company again.