Frustration with travel insurance policies, is it chemo brain or just confusing legalese?
Hi all. Yesterday a battle weary hubby and I booked an overseas trip and we have to pay the deposit tomorrow. Of course being diligent I read the BCNA fact sheet on travel insurance and breast cancer which recommended I check my insurer's Product Disclosure Statement (PDS).
I was happy to read in my insurer's PDS that they automatically cover breast cancer provided you were diagnosed over 6 months ago, have not had any chemotherapy or radiotherapy in the last 6 months, your cancer has not spread beyond the primary site at any time and your journey is less than 6 months.
That seems great for me as I tick all the boxes. However, I was also checking reviews of different insurers on some travel websites where people reported instances of the fine print being problematic when it came to making a claim causing doubt as to whether someone with a previous diagnosis of cancer is covered or not. This lead me to take a closer look at some of the clauses..
For example, hubby and I opted to take additional cancellation cover. The PDS states that if due to circumstances outside of your control and unforeseen at the relevant time you have to cancel the journey (where you cannot rearrange prior to leaving home) they will pay the non-refundable unused portions of all travel costs prepaid in advance.
It's still not clear to me (maybe it's that darn chemo brain again) that if a recurrence is diagnosed prior to departure and you have to change or cancel your travel plans to undergo treatment whether you are covered, since one interpretation could be that for breast cancer a recurrence is not really an 'unforeseen' event. And what about if you do have a recurrence and being on that roller coaster again means you just want to cancel your trip altogether and not have to 'rearrange it' because hey sometimes you just have too much stuff to deal with, are you covered for that? Of course my travel agent was no help with my questions so I did what I thought was sensible and rang to seek confirmation from the insurer about what I would be covered for only to be told "sorry I can't help you as you are dealing with a travel agent." What the...????????
Since I can't get any answers from the insurer can anyone clarify for me? Or has someone ever taken out travel insurance, had a recurrence before they went on the trip and then made a claim?
The trip is not until Sept and it's rather pricey. I don't want to have to pay a large deposit tomorrow if I am feeling a bit unsure about being insured.
Thanks in advance
I was happy to read in my insurer's PDS that they automatically cover breast cancer provided you were diagnosed over 6 months ago, have not had any chemotherapy or radiotherapy in the last 6 months, your cancer has not spread beyond the primary site at any time and your journey is less than 6 months.
That seems great for me as I tick all the boxes. However, I was also checking reviews of different insurers on some travel websites where people reported instances of the fine print being problematic when it came to making a claim causing doubt as to whether someone with a previous diagnosis of cancer is covered or not. This lead me to take a closer look at some of the clauses..
For example, hubby and I opted to take additional cancellation cover. The PDS states that if due to circumstances outside of your control and unforeseen at the relevant time you have to cancel the journey (where you cannot rearrange prior to leaving home) they will pay the non-refundable unused portions of all travel costs prepaid in advance.
It's still not clear to me (maybe it's that darn chemo brain again) that if a recurrence is diagnosed prior to departure and you have to change or cancel your travel plans to undergo treatment whether you are covered, since one interpretation could be that for breast cancer a recurrence is not really an 'unforeseen' event. And what about if you do have a recurrence and being on that roller coaster again means you just want to cancel your trip altogether and not have to 'rearrange it' because hey sometimes you just have too much stuff to deal with, are you covered for that? Of course my travel agent was no help with my questions so I did what I thought was sensible and rang to seek confirmation from the insurer about what I would be covered for only to be told "sorry I can't help you as you are dealing with a travel agent." What the...????????
Since I can't get any answers from the insurer can anyone clarify for me? Or has someone ever taken out travel insurance, had a recurrence before they went on the trip and then made a claim?
The trip is not until Sept and it's rather pricey. I don't want to have to pay a large deposit tomorrow if I am feeling a bit unsure about being insured.
Thanks in advance
