Warning - 2 previous mc invalidated my travel insurance when pregnant

[tryingnottoobsess]

Beware - if you've had 'more than 1 previous complication in pg', your travel insurance might be invalid.

Long version below for anyone affected by this.

Went away this weekend (Spain) at 8w pg and checked my Columbus annual travel insurance and the small print said I needed to notify them if pregnant.

Duly rang them, and they asked if I'd ever had 'complications in pregancy'. When I replied that I'd had 2 mc, he said that my cover was invalid for anything related to complications in pg as I'd had more than 1 previous 'complication'.

So I rang NorwichUnion, and they covered me, but when I said I was pg, their question was 'do you have any pre-existing condidtions that we should know about?'. I felt ok saying 'no', but it might have still been a bit iffy....

watch out, and check the small print!

You have to be aware that you made a claim (even for something totally unrelated to pg) and they got your medical records, they could invalidate your cover as you have failed to disclose the mcs. You really need to tell them everything to be sure.

also make sure when travelling heavily pregnant that your travel insurance covers special care for the baby if born early!

My American SIL was visiting her family in the US when her baby decided to put in an appearance at 28 weeks! Because the baby hadn't been born when the insurance was taken out, it only covered the Mum's hospital care, not the baby's. 8 weeks' care in SCBU comes to about $80,000 !

Very luckily, the Insurance company were happy to pay out if they paid the premium they would have paid to insure the baby.....

...goes without saying that this wasn't a UK or American company!

Thanks guys. So, cmotdibbler do you think that 2 previous mc counts as a 'pre-exisiting condition?' I wasn't 100% sure, but thought the question was ambiguous enough to be able to say no in good faith.

Do you think it'd be worth posting on the legal section?

Only I have to go to France with work next week, and want to make sure I'm covered. I think that EU medical card thing might be enough...? Haven't told work I'm pg yet either... oh great.

The general principle is that you should disclose everything, and they decide whether its a problem (or at least record that you have told them so that theres no arguement later). You really need to ring them and say that you just realised that maybe they needed to know, and see what they say.

I checked out the terms of my work travel insurance before I was pregnant to be sure what the terms were, and there was no pre existing condition restrictions on that, and we were covered for everything for up to 35 weeks.

EU card not enough - it wouldn't cover repatriation/flying family out to be with you etc

Thanks for the reply cmot, reckon I'm going to have to come clean with work and Norwich Union today.

If NU say no, do any companies have a reputation for covering people that other companies wouldn't? Or is it just a case of calling round until I find someone who'll take me?

Sorry to question you - but you sound as though you might work in this area, and might know such things! Apologies if I've assumed wrongly.

You can just tell an HR officer, and ask for confidentiality, so no need to tell everyone.

If NU won't cover you, then find a broker and let them do all the ringing round to get cover for you. Its what they are for, and its their responsibility to get full disclosure from you.

I don't do insurance, but DH does (although not travel), and I get ranted at about people complaining after the fact that their insurer won't pay up when they didn't disclose things that mattered. We've just been through a painful process of sorting out the PILs travel insurance when he discovered they'd taken out a policy that wouldn't cover anything to do with his dads heart or anything else that could be connected to high blood pressure.

Ah ok, see how you got so knowlegable!

thanks for the broker idea... never thought of that - that will be plan B.

Small company, so no HR person, I have to tell the accounts guy, who is nice enough, but... well. He was lovely about my mc's but was all 'oh, I'm so sorry, my condolences' when I rang in, and I was cringing because I know he shares an office with 2 other accounts guys... Though to be fair nobody ever said anything at work, so maybe they didn't hear.

I've just asked him for a private meeting so the same won't happen again!

Seriously, thanks so much... if it hadn't been for your replies, I'd have winged it with the existing NU insurance.

not sure if it's any help but i've just got insurance with the post office
they ask 5 standard medical questions and aslong as you answer no to those then they told me i was fine.
they insure up to 32 weeks and it was £15
a couple of others wouldnt insure after 26 weeks.

I had insurance with Columbus for a holiday this Summer. When I found out I was pregnant I called them and told them. However because I had a previous ectopic pregnancy they refused to cover me and refunded my premium. At this point I had had 2 scans both showing that the baby is in the right place, but they refused to believe that I was no longer at risk of another ectopic. I spoke to a number of different managers, but basically they just stick to a strict set of rules and in my opinion would not use common sense in my case. In the end I got insurance from Direct Line who were prepared to insure me despite my "risk" of ectopic pregnancy.

Shouldn't work provide insuranec if you are travelling on business? Ask for a copy of their insurance docs to take with you.

jess - I had a similar scenario re:travelling when PG and an ectopic being ruled out earlier on in the PG - post office did cover me but charged me about £5 extra!