Experiencing health issues while on holiday that require medical treatment can be incredibly stressful. The situation can become even more daunting if you discover that you’re not covered by your insurance provider, potentially leaving you with a bill for hundreds or even thousands of pounds.
Forgetting to declare a pre-existing medical condition, or providing incorrect information, could mean that your insurance policy will not cover you if you require medical treatment while on holiday.
Grant Winter, a compliance officer at specialist travel insurance provider Good to go, shared his advice for ensuring you’re not left without insurance cover, reported MirrorOnline.
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Failing to list medical information could cost you thousands in bills if something were to happen whilst on holiday -Credit:Getty Images
Failing to declare medical conditions
Grant said: “Failing to declare pre existing medical conditions when taking out travel insurance can result in your policy being invalidated should you need to claim on your insurance, meaning your claim may not be paid in full, or declined completely.
“In many cases, people simply forget about a longstanding medical condition, or don’t think it’s necessary to declare. These conditions often include medical conditions where the person has been taking medication for years, like high cholesterol or high blood pressure. A simple rule of thumb is that if you’re taking prescription medication for something, you will need to declare it.”
Entering the wrong travel dates
“Entering incorrect travel dates can result in you being uninsured for part of your holiday, and therefore unable to claim should you need medical treatment on these dates,” Grant explained.
“This is also important if you’re doing a multi centre holiday, and visiting multiple countries, where you will need to confirm when you will leave and return to the UK, and the countries you will be visiting. If you have an annual policy, whilst you don’t need to tell your insurer when or where you will be travelling, you will need to book your trip in advance, and it must start and end in the UK for the policy to be valid.”
Deliberately leaving out information
“People will sometimes omit medical conditions, or information about the nature of their holiday, as a way of saving money on their premiums, but this is a false economy, which can result in medical bills of hundreds, or even thousands of pounds, should you need to claim,” Grant continued.
“It’s never a good idea to intentionally omit information, so always remember to disclose medical conditions, or activities which may be excluded, such as skiing. Failure to declare any of this important information could result in your policy being voided.”
Make sure all of your information is up to date and correct -Credit:Getty Images
Getting private medical treatment
Unless explicitly stated, your travel insurance is unlikely to cover you for private medical treatment while on holiday. “Of course in an emergency, if there are no public hospitals within a safe distance of your location, then private healthcare will also be covered,” said Grant.
“To avoid risking a declined claim, if you have the choice and the situation isn’t an emergency, you should call your insurer’s emergency helpline for advice on where to get treated.”
Change of circumstances
“Changes in your health or personal circumstances between the time you took out your policy and the time you travel need to be shared with your insurer before your date of travel. Otherwise, they will not be covered by your policy,” Grant explained.
“This is especially true in the case of annual insurance policies, where there is more likelihood of your circumstances changing in the duration of the policy. You will need to tell your insurer if you speak to a medical professional about an illness or symptoms which have not been previously declared on your insurance, even if this has not yet been officially diagnosed. When in doubt, speak to them through a live chat, or call their helpline.”
Forgetting past, or ongoing diagnoses
When organising travel insurance, it’s often tricky to recall all the health details you need to disclose. “It can sometimes be confusing to know what you do and don’t need to declare on your travel insurance, especially when it comes to past medical conditions, or ongoing diagnoses,” explained Grant.
“You may not be suffering from a condition any more, or experiencing symptoms, but past instances of cancer or a history of heart conditions, for example, will need to be declared with your insurer. Similarly, if you’re in the process of being tested for an illness but have not yet been diagnosed or if you visit a medical professional to discuss an ongoing illness, you will need to make your insurer aware, as it is not possible to provide cover for undiagnosed conditions.”
He added: “In the event that you need medical care due to a past illness or an ongoing but as yet undiagnosed condition that you did not declare, you risk being left uncovered by your insurance provider.”
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