Crusader Don’t bank on your travel insurance
ONE call at the right time to an insurer might have made the difference to the success of a pensioner’s travel claim. Yet policyholder Brian Kealey, 74, saw no need to report that he’d had tests for a heart condition because the medicine he had been prescribed had worked.
So fit did he feel after the scare, he booked flights for a family trip to the US in February last year.
But a couple of weeks later he was told by doctors he was grounded as his flying could risk a heart attack and he now needed an operation.
Cancellation of his and his wife’s flights cost £1,800. However when the couple claimed on their Advantage travel policy, part of their NatWest Gold current account package, it was rejected.
The reason: Brian had failed to meet the requirement to disclose all pre-existing medical conditions.
Health non-disclosures are the bane of older travellers’ lives. Whatever insurers’ stipulations, the GOOD CALL: Keep insurers in the loop reams of terms and conditions, the checks made before a policy is taken out and the genuine efforts of customers to get it right, it remains one of the biggest causes of failed claims and bones of contention.
Brian’s case has much in common
Cover that helps defy age and illness
It Isn’t an easy task but finding good-value travel insurance if you are older, have been ill or have a chronic condition is still possible. some insurers have age limits but if they can’t help they are obliged to send you to someone who can.
Consumer champion Which? suggests Blue Bear travel Insurance, Covered2go, Insuredtotravel, Holidaysafe and Lets Go Insure for single trips and Circle Cover, saga, staysure and RAC for annual ones.
For medical conditions, some destinations are becoming dearer. with those others. As a long-standing NatWest customer, his travel policy was renewed in line with his account every year. He was aware of medical disclosures and the need to keep them up to date.
“This time I had the tests and the these include spain, Portugal, Malta, Egypt, Cyprus and turkey. Which? advises finding out which automated medical screening system the insurer uses. Protectif is one that’s been shown to lead to lower charges. Cover for high blood pressure and diabetes is easier to find than cancer and heart conditions. If you’ve been refused cover look for specialist firms via brokers’ trade body biba.org.uk.
to find out more, visit which. co.uk/money/insurance/reviewsns/travel-insurance/medicalconditions-travel-insurance. medication was successful,” he says. “My doctors made no mention of any further treatment.
“I would certainly not have booked a holiday to the US if I’d had any inkling of what was to come.
“If we all rang insurers every time something new happened then their call lines would surely grind to a halt.”
When we asked NatWest to review the case it pointed to Brian’s doctor’s report which did confirm he had heart failure in October 2015.
“As the treatment he received was within 12 months of booking the trip his insurance did not cover him for this or any related conditions,” it said. “Our terms are clear, failure to provide information or inform us of any changes could adversely affect a policy.”
But had Brian made the vital call when he was first tested what would have happened? Things might just have turned out differently.
NatWest said: “If he had reported his condition to us we would have asked further questions to determine whether we could continue to offer cover, with the possibility of an additional premium.
“It’s much better to go through this process and know where you stand than to find you have no cover when a trip is already booked.”