31 December, 2013: A recent piece published on the website of popular British newspaper, The Sun advises travellers over the age of 50 to be thorough about their medical history when contracting travel insurance policies from companies such as Insuremore.
According to the article in question, many 50-plus travellers are not aware that, when taking out travel insurance, they are required to list all of their medical conditions, rather than simply the ones they are receiving treatment for. Research revealed that around a quarter of all pensioner-age travellers believed the latter was true, while a fifth were not at all aware that they needed to disclose their medical history to their insurance companies when preparing to travel.
Another interesting fact about health-related travel insurance is that very few people seem to be aware of the rule that makes declaring cardio-vascular and circulatory disorders mandatory, regardless of how long ago they have been diagnosed. By not declaring what they believe to be past or overcome conditions, many older travellers are placing themselves at risk with regards claiming health insurance on their trips abroad.
Other statistics gathered by this survey indicate that about 6% of over-50s never declared pre-existing medical conditions, 13% wrongly thought that they needed to declare broken limbs suffered more than five years ago, and that 54% of all asthma sufferers were not aware they should disclose this to their insurance company.
This, of course, is particularly worrisome due to the high possibility of being rejected for healthcare whilst travelling in a foreign country, particularly for serious problems such as broken limbs or congenital diseases. As such, as the article correctly points out, older tourists who willingly or unwillingly neglect to mention all of their health conditions to their travel insurance provider risk having to pay their health bills out of their own pocket. Taking into account that a hospital bill for a minor illness in a country like Spain can amount to as much as £4000, the ramifications of this problem become evident.
Medical expenses are the single most common travel-related claim that companies like Insuremore have to process, making a thorough knowledge of personal medical history essential for travellers of all ages.
About Insuremore:
Insuremore provide a range of low-cost travel insurance policies for the B2C market, including single-trip, multi-trip and family insurance. Contact them athttp://insuremore.co.uk/ .
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