Nearly 1.3 Million People With Medical Conditions Put Their Travel Insurance In Jeopardy

    LONDON, ENGLAND, April 16, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- If you travel abroad and don't inform your travel insurer of any pre-existing medical conditions you could be jeopardising your insurance as well as your finances, as you could find you are not covered. Worrying new research(1) from Sainsbury's Travel Insurance reveals that over the past 12 months, nearly 1.3 million people with pre-existing medical conditions travelled abroad but did not tell their travel insurers about their health issues.

Although insurers will assess the risk and apply a slightly higher premium, they will cover people for most medical conditions. Despite this, Sainsbury's Travel Insurance's research(1) estimates that 267,000 people with heart problems travelled abroad over the past 12 months and did not tell their travel insurance companies about their condition. A further 206,000 people with respiratory conditions did the same, as did 149,000 cancer sufferers or those recovering from it.
The findings(1) also reveal a staggering 500,000 people with medical conditions travelled abroad over the past 12 months with no travel insurance.

Cost and fear of refusal were two of the main reasons why people did not tell their travel insurers about their medical conditions, with 15% saying they feared they would be refused cover and a further 19% saying it was because they believed they would secure a cheaper premium(1).
Sam Marrs, Sainsbury's Travel Insurance Manager, said: "The purpose of travel insurance is to ensure that if a disaster does strike, you'll receive the necessary care and support. Withholding key information such as any medical conditions could, however, mean your cover may be invalidated and in the worst of cases, this could mean facing large hospital bills or arranging your own repatriation.
It's important to be honest with your insurer and provide all the information they ask for. It's a fiercely competitive market so if you have a common medical condition there's a good chance you'll find an insurer to cover you for a fair and competitive premium. For those with more serious medical conditions, there are specialist insurers available. It's simply not worth taking the risk and travelling with potentially invalid cover or no cover at all."

Sainsbury's award winning Travel Insurance has a very robust online and telephone based medical screening process which insures travellers are charged competitive premiums based on their particular medical conditions.

To obtain a Sainsbury's Travel Insurance quote you can log onto www.sainsburysbank.co.uk or call 0845 300 3190. Lines are open 8am-8pm Monday to Friday and 8am - 7pm Saturday and 9am - 5pm on Sunday.

Sainsbury's Finance also provide home insurance, pet insurance, savings accounts, credit cards and life insurance.

# # #