Some travel insurance companies are in the news for all the wrong reasons. A number of British policyholders are furious with their insurance providers and have complained about being cheated by medical ‘get out’ clauses.
Knowing exactly where you stand with a travel insurance policy can be tricky enough, without media reports of customer complaints and suspected wrongdoing. So here’s a quick explanation of the disagreement as well as clear guidance on where you stand when you get cover with World First Travel Insurance.
What’s the fuss about?
Travel insurance policyholders have been complaining about insurers changing the terms of policies, after they have been sold.
Basically, some insurers are walking away from customers whose personal conditions change between purchasing their policy and going away on holiday (if they are diagnosed with a medical condition, for instance). It’s argued that some insurers use ‘ongoing medical warranties’ or ‘change of risk clauses’ as a get out if they no longer wish to insure the customer. This despite the fact that a customer cannot get a refund from their insurer on a policy if they wish to cancel it after the 14 day grace period.
It’s an issue that has not escaped consumer watchdogs
In a recent travel insurance survey, consumer group Which? found that nearly a third of 1,876 people questioned had either had their cover removed or were forced to pay an additional premium after they told their insurer about a new medical condition or change in personal circumstances. In some cases this happened despite assurances from medical professionals that the customer was fit to travel.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, complaints to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) on the issue are at a record high. The FOS’s position is that it is generally not reasonable for insurers to exclude medical conditions that arise between the date a policy is issued and the start of a holiday. The only exception is when the insurer’s risk of covering the customer changes dramatically.
Confused? Here’s some advice.
If you are newly diagnosed with a medical condition – or indeed any of your personal circumstances change – between taking out a travel policy and the start of your holiday, contact your insurer. If you don’t, they are within their rights to cancel part or all of your cover. It’s a clause that exists right across the industry.
Ask your insurer for clear direction on how your change in circumstances affects your policy. If necessary, get any assurances confirmed in writing. The worst scenario is that they will refuse to cover you, in which case you can search for another policy with a different insurer. Crucially, you will have saved yourself from the dangerous position of travelling uninsured.
What can you expect from us at World First?
Naturally, we ask that you tell us about any changes in your personal circumstances before you go away – however small you think they are. But we believe that a small change in your circumstances doesn’t affect our risk of insuring you. So in most cases, your policy and premium will be unaffected.
We’ll never turn our back on you.
If your conditions change more significantly then we may be unable to insure you. But we’ll never turn our back on you. Firstly, if you still want to travel we’ll help you find alternative cover and refund your policy if you do. Or, if you have to cancel your holiday, you can claim under the cancellation section of your policy with us – meaning you could get compensation for up to £3,000 of unrecoverable costs.
A few words from Martin Rothwell, World First Managing Partner:
“We do our very best to ensure our customers are treated fairly. A slight change in a minor condition should not change an insurer’s perception of the risk. However, if a customer whom we have already insured contacts us to declare a more serious or terminal condition then that would be a fundamental change to the risk and we would need to consider whether to continue providing cover.
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