Check if your travel insurance contains this get out clause – Money tip #181

According to research by consumer group Which?, 10 out of 12 of Britain’s largest travel insurers have a loophole in the terms and conditions of their policies which can mean that they won’t necessarily cover you should you develop a medical condition AFTER you have taken out a policy with them.

Ongoing medical warranties

Many insurers include an ‘ongoing medical warranty’ in their travel policies which allows them to:

• increase premiums
• exclude the new condition from cover
• or even deny cover altogether should a customer develop a new medical condition, even if the customer has been given the all clear by a doctor to travel

This is still happening despite the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) ruling several years ago that it was generally not fair for insurers to refuse cover on new medical conditions that arose between policy purchase and date of travel. The FOS ruled that this would only be fair if the new condition was so major that the risk insured became completely different.

What should you do?

Not all insurers include these medical condition get-out clauses, so make sure, as always, to check the small print before purchasing any form of insurance. According to Which? research policies from Axa Insurance, Freedom Travel Insurance, Age UK and Miaonline.co.uk do not include this get-out clause.