Not taking your prescribed Statins May Invalidate your Holiday Insurance
Posted , 5 users are following.
For obvious reasons, to go abroad without Medical Insurance it is not recommended.
If you have a pre-existing medical condition you have to declare it and undergo medical screening which, in itself is not too arduous. If you don’t declare your pre-existing medical condition and anything happens you are wasting your premium. Insurance Companies will be reluctant to cover any claim you make.
Even if you declare all pre-existing medical conditions watch out for the clause contained in ALL holiday insurance policies that will invalidate your insurance if you do not take GP prescribed medication. This includes statins.
For information the clause goes something like this:
“You will not be covered (for various claims including related health claims) if;
At any time any medical condition to which you are not taking the recommended treatment or prescribed medication as directed by a medical practitioner”.
Two option as far as I can see:
1) Ask your GP to remove the recommendation for statins from your medical records. Very difficult if not impossible with most GP's under the current NICE guidance
2) Try and persuade the Insurance Company that you have a right not to take a particular prescribed drug for a disclosed medical condition. However, I think they will refuse and tell you to find another company to insure your holiday with.
Has anyone had any experience of this dilemma or can offer any advice?
2 likes, 12 replies
usch chris25756
Posted
But, the 'control cholesterol with statins' controversy' may make the headlines, one day.
chris25756 usch
Posted
derek76 chris25756
Posted
As a consultant said to me stick to countries with reciprocal health agreements and don't bother with insurance.
chris25756 derek76
Posted
derek76 chris25756
Posted
It might even be the case that insurers are already asking people if they take statins and use it as an excuse to load the policy.
To control my BP with two pills a day is OK but if it is three they want another £75 a year on my annual policy. I thought that I was being truthful when saying that I did not have heart disease but when reading the small print that also included circulatory diseases. I asked if that included my small (3.2 cm) aortic aneurysm and they did not want to insure me. Some quoted £2K for a month in America or £1K for a month in Cuba. The company I had normally insured with just excluded it from the policy for me.
usch chris25756
Posted
Of course, they could refuse to insure you in the first instance, for basically anything.
I have just bought a travel insurance. I was asked whether it had been recommended that I should take statins. I declared 'Yes'. This was built into the premium costs.
derek76 usch
Posted
Someone should make a claim that side effects ruined their holiday.
According to my GP 40% of people either do not take the drugs he prescribes or collect the prescription.
usch chris25756
Posted
I decided not to take them, because I have not really got a health problem, just a bit higher cholesterol. I did take them for a while, and the side effects were devastating.
I think that many people never make the connection with statins and their aches and discomforts, especially if the 'side effects' are increasing gradually.
Insurance contracts:- it is always better to declare absolutely all and risk a rejection - or high premiums - than to leave something, however trivial, out.
This would immediately invalidate your insurance contract.
chris25756 usch
Posted
If you do not declare any pre-existing medical condition the policy could be invalid and you have wasted your premium.
Some medical conditions such as hypertension or high cholesterol are exempt from screening by some insurance companies. However, even with these medical conditions, if a GP at any time has recommended and prescribed medication and you stop or forget to take it, your policy could be invalid. Obviously depends on the claim being made but if the claim is related, it could be a problem.
Insurance companies are not interested in statins. Their small print clause applies to any prescribed medication not taken (unless withdrawn by a GP or Consultant). But with the problems that satins cause some people (including myself) and the blanket prescribing attitude of NICE- NHS that problem is heightened and it becomes very difficult to find a legitimate and clear way forward.
HazzaMcBazza23 chris25756
Posted
usch chris25756
Posted
There is a lot of confusion regarding the benefits of statins within the medical profession, I think.
chris25756 usch
Posted
From this you can then complete your Insurance form with the full knowledge that you are not missing anything or declaring anything not required.
So, contacted my GP's Practice Manager. Not that easy. Up pops data protection. They need the request in writing with full reasons for wanting data and the date/periods to be covered.
Depending on date periods there is a charge, starting at £50 and working upwards depending on how far you go back. Reason for this? Because Insurance Companies and or their Solicitors ask for everything and therefore the NHS can charge a fee. They cannot discriminate between a patient request and a Company request.
Yo. Stitched up again. Why is everything a battle.