Middle-aged travellers taking a gamble with their insurance – research shows.
24 June 2014
15% admit to deliberately failing to declare medical conditions to their insurers
An alarming number of middle aged men and women with pre-existing medical conditions are placing themselves at risk when holidaying abroad, by deliberately failing to declare their conditions to their insurer before they travel.
In new research from the specialist travel insurance provider AllClear, some 15% of people aged 45-50 admitted that they intentionally omitted certain conditions, either because they believed that their condition would not be a problem whilst abroad, or because they felt they could save money on their insurance as a result.
One in ten omitted to declare a condition if it had been diagnosed some time ago.
But Garry Nelson of AllClear says that by doing so they run the risk of their insurers failing to pay out should an incident occur: “Some have conditions that they consider so minor or that they have lived with for so long that they don’t think it will be a problem,” he explains.
“But the effect of changes in environment and climate upon conditions such as asthma or high blood pressure can result in an individual falling ill and needing medical treatment, and such treatment can be costly,” he continues.
“If they have not declared that condition, then the insurer has every right to refuse the claim, and in the worst cases this can cost the individual many thousands of pounds.”
In the same survey, 89% of middle-aged men and women failed to guess correctly the average cost of a medical emergency claim in Europe (£5,348) – a fact that brings into sharp relief Mr Nelson’s concern: “Some people are taking a gamble with their insurance just to save a few pounds,” he says.
“But for those who gamble and lose, the true cost could be severe. The simple message to every traveller has to be ‘if in doubt, declare it’.”
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