Allclear Travel insurance

[Neal Higham]

Diabetes UK recommends and takes a cut from the above insurance company.

I took out insurance with this company on the recommendation of Diabetes UK. It was for a trip to Greece with my daughter and grand-daughters. I was very careful in completing the application listing every medical condition I could think of, even some from many years ago.

2 weeks before travel I became suicidal because of the daily grind of finger pricking and large doses of insulin(slowly recovering now), I have had mild depression for many years but did not think to put that down, it was just something I did not think as a medical condition,.. it was well managed and in fact had not been an issue for many years.

My GP advised that I should not fly because of my state of mind. I cancelled my part of the trip on that advice and put in a cancellation claim.

That claim has been rejected because I did not declare depression, costing me over a thousand pounds.

Yes I was stupid, yes I deserve all I get, but I tried to do the right thing by being honest with the claim and it cost me dearly. I just wish (stupidly) that sometimes these companies would see beyond the red tape and accept a genuine mistake.. it was medical insurance travel and I was medically unfit to travel.

Just be careful when using this company, or indeed any insurance company, don't be an idiot like Neal.

 

[grovesy]

Any Insurance company would have used this to not pay up.

 

[Northerner]

I'm sorry to hear this Neal I'm afraid that @grovesy is correct, any insurance company will look for a way to avoid paying out on a claim When I was diagnosed I was due to fly out to Stockholm that week - I had insurance but they initially refused my claim, despite the fact I was lying in a hospital bed at the time of the trip. Eventually, I got them to pay out, but it can be a battle.

Have you appealed against the decision? If your depression was confirmed immediately prior to the trip I would have thought you would have grounds to claim, with supporting evidence from your GP. It's not possible to declare everything when we apply for insurance because we may not actually have a condition at the time. It might be worth contacting the Diabetes UK Helpline to see if they can help, details here:

https://www.diabetes.org.uk/how_we_help/helpline

 

[mikeyB]

It depends entirely on whether you received treatment of any sort for previous episodes of depression. If you did, and did not declare it when applying for insurance, then it is an undeclared medical condition. It makes no difference if you have had such a condition in the past but are not suffering from it at the time you apply. That means you have no chance of recovering any money, particularly as that condition was the reason for cancellation. And the insurance ombudsman would agree. You can only put this down as a lesson learned, to be honest.

For what it’s worth, they would in all likelihood refuse the claim even if you had declared it. Then it might be worth arguing, but only if you have been untreated for years.

 

[mikeyB]

And therefore there’s no reason to avoid Allclear insurance.

 

[Radders]

I’m really sorry to hear about your problems.
I however have claimed twice on my All Clear policies for emergency treatment for serious hypos when abroad and on both occasions they payed out without a quibble, so I think I will stick with them.
Hopefully your warning about declaring everything will help others though.
I hope you’re on the mend.

 

[Amigo]

Pre-existing conditions are an absolute minefield Neal and I’m sorry you fell foul of the insurance provisions. More importantly, I’m sorry you felt so depressed that you became suicidal. That’s the main issue because it would have been dreadful to take ill abroad or on the plane. I hope you’re feeling much better now and in a better frame of mind.
Put the experience behind you and wishing you all the best. Amigo