Should I declare a past medical condition?

[Wapping]

A cautionary tale:

The Telegraph

digitaleditions.telegraph.co.uk

Cutting through the words, the important bits were:

a. Reading the entire question (ie. not just the bits you want to skim over)

Its medical declaration does indeed say you must declare “any medical condition in the past two years for which you were prescribed medication, received treatment, or had a consultation with a doctor or hospital specialist”. However, it also says you must declare “any heart or respiratory condition, any circulatory condition (problems with blood flow, including strokes, high blood pressure and cholesterol), any liver condition or any cancerous condition…”

b. An insurer is at liberty to check your medical history, to ensure that the declaration you made, when you completed the proposal form, was truthful.

 

[Monsieur]

I seek cover knowing that all insurance companies will seek to avoid paying out on any policy as best as they can so being truthful at the application stage lessens their chances of not coughing up in my hour of need.

 

[Neil W]

When my wife was working as a medical secretary they had a case of a male in his late 30' s who was diagnosed with terminal cancer , as he had life insurance and mortgage cover he thought that at least his family would be looked after.

Typically insurance requested full medical records and then refused to pay out, the reason was 10 years previously he had one high set of blood pressure readings which he had not declared, he would not have even known as it was put down to white coat syndrome ie nerves for having a medical and high readings were never repeated.

So a non smoking non drinking healthy male dying of cancer had his claims refused, it went to the Insurance Ombudsman and eventually it was paid BUT in the means time he died and the family almost lost their home and got into considerable debt.

This was not a one off incident either and more the norm.

All of this was for one anomally which the bloke did not even know about, if you know of a medical issue and decline to declare it then on your own head be it

 

[Jeremy]

Falls under S3 Fraud Act – FAILING TO DISCLOSE Information
“It is an offence when, required to do so, you fail to disclose information for which you are likely to make gain, that may cause loss, or potential loss (including reputation) to another, knowingly.”

 

[Wapping]

It is simply that, unusually, an insurance contract is one based on trust.

 

[Wapping]

I seek cover knowing that all insurance companies will seek to avoid paying out on any policy as best as they can so being truthful at the application stage lessens their chances of not coughing up in my hour of need.

I’m afraid that sweeping statement is manifestly untrue.

If in doubt, see the number of threads on this forum alone, that start:

”I have crashed me awsome”

Then, two minutes later, somebody will chip in:

”Feckin’ rip-off, they don’t pay”

Then, usually a week or so later, the OP pipes up:

”Well pleased with me pay out. More than I was expecktin”

PS See also the number of threads where people recommend telling lies to their insurer, usually to bring their ‘rip-off’ insurance premium down.

 

[brut33]

I went to Spain for two weeks in April. This was prior to me having a major operation listed for
the beginning of May.
First job was to ask my consultants secretary if I was fit to travel by air and spend two weeks
abroad before my surgery. I got approval from the conultant and was good to go.
Next step - Travel insurance.
I pay an annual fee for travel insurance which enables several foreign trips per year for a fit and well
person.
Contacted them and explained my listed operation date, what it entailed and the fact my conultant
is happy for me to travel abroad on an aircraft before my op.
They said they can't include this trip on my policy, because of my mrdical condition and pending surgery.
However, they gave me details of a specialist company...
Specialist insurer went through my condition in fine datail and was happy my consultant gave me the
go ahead to travel.
The fee was £105 cover for my trip. Piece of mind when one considers the financial cost if I'd have
required medical attention while abroad.
I'm fit and well now and the treatment I've had from the NHS would easily have been a six figure sum.
The mind boggles at the fees I'd have incurred in a medical emergency abroad without proper insurance
cover, and for this reason I will always declare as much as I can.
I have since declared my treatment and results (recomended) to my annual insurer and all is well and I'm covered.

 

[Wapping]

There is a current (somewhat sad) news story where a family is spending in excess of £30,000 to fly their seriously ill daughter back to the UK, on a fully staffed medi-vac plane. It is not at all clear if insurance was available when the girl left home and / or if it was rejected. That though is irrelevant. What is relevant is the cost of the flight in the, admittedly rare, event that it is needed.

 

[Bear]

I went to Spain for two weeks in April. This was prior to me having a major operation listed for
the beginning of May.
First job was to ask my consultants secretary if I was fit to travel by air and spend two weeks
abroad before my surgery. I got approval from the conultant and was good to go.
Next step - Travel insurance.
I pay an annual fee for travel insurance which enables several foreign trips per year for a fit and well
person.
Contacted them and explained my listed operation date, what it entailed and the fact my conultant
is happy for me to travel abroad on an aircraft before my op.
They said they can't include this trip on my policy, because of my mrdical condition and pending surgery.
However, they gave me details of a specialist company...
Specialist insurer went through my condition in fine datail and was happy my consultant gave me the
go ahead to travel.
The fee was £105 cover for my trip. Piece of mind when one considers the financial cost if I'd have
required medical attention while abroad.
I'm fit and well now and the treatment I've had from the NHS would easily have been a six figure sum.
The mind boggles at the fees I'd have incurred in a medical emergency abroad without proper insurance
cover, and for this reason I will always declare as much as I can.
I have since declared my treatment and results (recomended) to my annual insurer and all is well and I'm covered.

May I ask which specialist insurer please? I've just paid over £600 for 10 days in France as insurers don't seem to like a condition that's unlikely to cause short-term issues.

 

[stever1]

There is a current (somewhat sad) news story where a family is spending in excess of £30,000 to fly their seriously ill daughter back to the UK, on a fully staffed medi-vac plane. It is not at all clear if insurance was available when the girl left home and / or if it was rejected. That though is irrelevant. What is relevant is the cost of the flight in the, admittedly rare, event that it is needed.

I saw this story (if it’s the one in Spain) it seems they didn’t bother getting insurance as they where only going to Spain

 

[wessie]

May I ask which specialist insurer please? I've just paid over £600 for 10 days in France as insurers don't seem to like a condition that's unlikely to cause short-term issues.

try https://www.staysure.co.uk/medical-travel-insurance/

 

[brut33]

May I ask which specialist insurer please? I've just paid over £600 for 10 days in France as insurers don't seem to like a condition that's unlikely to cause short-term issues.

All Clear Travel Ins.

£600 is a lot more than I paid but it's all based on the condition you have. As with all insurance it's about the risk of claim.

Well worth a call...

AllClear Travel - Compare Medical Travel Insurance

Specialist Travel Insurance: All ages. All medical conditions. UK's Most Trusted Travel Insurance, Which? Best Buy, rated Excellent on TrustPilot.

www.allcleartravel.co.uk

 

[rovert57]

If you don’t declare a something that you think you should you may as well not bother getting any .
best declare it and then you know where you stand, don’t be giving the insurance bods any excuse not to pay out .

 

[rovert57]

I would be in favour of letting the travel insurance company have access to my history as sometimes
you may forget what you have been to the doctors for .it might have been something trivial but better than forgetting something and them not paying out in the event of a mishap

 

[Wapping]

I'd be in favour of simply answering the very few questions asked of you, truthfully.

It really is not hard, as millions of people (who do not ride motorbikes and are thus, not very clever) manage to do it every year.

Quite why bods dream up more and more ways to make it harder than is necessary is a mystery.

 

[Bear]

All Clear Travel Ins.

£600 is a lot more than I paid but it's all based on the condition you have. As with all insurance it's about the risk of claim.

Well worth a call...

AllClear Travel - Compare Medical Travel Insurance

Specialist Travel Insurance: All ages. All medical conditions. UK's Most Trusted Travel Insurance, Which? Best Buy, rated Excellent on TrustPilot.

www.allcleartravel.co.uk

Staysure quoted me about £1200 which seemed ludicrous. I've bookmarked your suggestion for future reference. We're away again at the end of September but in Europe so the only significant risk is if I can't drive home. Having said that, having been repatriated twice, once after motorcycling, once after Mrs Bear broke an Achiulles tendon on a Lanzarotte dance floor, perhaps I'm being over-optimistic.

 

[chasbmw]

Staysure quoted me about £1200 which seemed ludicrous. I've bookmarked your suggestion for future reference. We're away again at the end of September but in Europe so the only significant risk is if I can't drive home. Having said that, having been repatriated twice, once after motorcycling, once after Mrs Bear broke an Achiulles tendon on a Lanzarotte dance floor, perhaps I'm being over-optimistic.

Saysure doesnt do bike travel unless under 125cc

 

[wessie]

Saysure doesnt do bike travel unless under 125cc

as ever, you cannot go on a recommendation made some time ago as the broker could change underwriter between the dates

having just renewed by annual policy to start tomorrow, I was insured by Axa via Tesco as they covered my medical stuff at a good price. The new price was higher than last year. Via Moneysupermarket, Puffin was the same price as Tesco and the cheaper quote were not suitable for bike riding. I ended up with a Zurich policy from Allclear as mentioned above and as long as you buy Gold or better cover, riding all bikes is covered.

So this month, Allclear, Tesco or Puffin are worth checking if you need cover for medical cover and riding bikes but there is no guarantee they will be suitable in the future.

 

[Posh Pete]

Bookmark

 

[Santa-2512]

I specified all my ailments and medical history, then i called to check something so they ran through the quote again, so i asked the question about medical history

The statement i got back, we use this to determine if its needed to be declared

https://www.gov.uk/health-conditions-and-driving/find-condition-a-to-z

If it says it must be declared to DVLA, then you need to tell us, if not needed to inform DVLA, then we dont need to know

net result , all the conditions i'd listed were removed as they were non reportable to DVLA