This item is meant to provide some clarification as to the travel insurance cover available for persons concerned with the swine flu outbreak.

Claims relating to cancellation of holidays to destinations that the Foreign Office has advised against travelling to are not generally covered under a large proportion of travel insurance policies. This is partly because where a holiday is booked through a Tour Operator, they will usually agree to cancellation or re arranging of the holiday at no cost to the customer. The situation in Mexico and around the world is clearly very unusual and, with this in mind, if cover and travel have been booked prior to the announcement that it was unsafe to travel to Mexico, JS Insurance has decided that it will be pragmatic in its decision making and look favourably at the policies it underwrites, providing the traveller could not recover costs from other sources such as the airline, hotel or tour operator and provided the customer has purchased an AXA Superplus or AXA Annual policy.

Travellers who are now planning their trips need to be aware of potential limitations in cover and make sure they are arranging the cover they need, resisting the temptation perhaps to focus solely on price.   The problems are particularly acute where holidays have been booked independently, and for this reason JS Insurance made available an ‘Independent Traveller’ extension on its direct policies which provides additional cover in exactly these circumstances, as mentioned above this is available with the AXA Superplus Single Trip policy and the AXA Annual policy only.

Independent Traveller Cover is only valid for those who have not purchased their holidays as a package.

So for example, if they have purchased transport and accommodation from two seperate sources this would not be defined as a package and so would be covered under the Independent Traveller Cover offer by JS Insurance.

One of the most frequent questions asked is how does the medical assistance work, when you travel abroad and have purchased travel insurance.

When purchasing a policy, you are given an emergency assistance telephone number, which should be called in the event of a serious illness or accident which may lead to in-patient hospital treatment. This number should also be called if you need to arrange repatriation or curtailment (cutting short your trip) which may necessitate your early return home.

This service is available 24/7 and every day of the year.

In the case of an AXA travel insurance policy, you are connected to the nearest AXA Assistance office, rather than an expensive call back to the UK.

One service that JS Insurance offers is an text message to your mobile, with your travel insurance policy number and the Emergency Assistance Service number, so you have a quick reference if you need to call them.

The service is there to offer assistance, advice, making arrangements for hospital admission, repatriation and authorisation of medical expenses.

If for some reason you are unable to contact the emergency assistance company due to the fact that the condition requires immediate emergency treatment, you should contact them as soon as possible after the treatment has taken place or get someone to call them for you.

Private medical treatment is not covered unless authorised specifically by the Emeregency Assistance Service beforehand.

Any treatment which would be considered out patient, for example over the counter medication and doctor appointments outside of a hospital or clinic, these expenses should be claimed after you have returned to the UK. One note of warning, be careful not to sign for excessive treatment or charges, if in doubt, always contact the Emergency Assistance Service before signing any forms or agreements.

Any reciepts and health claim forms should be submitted to the Claims Department at this time, to have the money reimbursed to you.

The Emergency Assistance Service has the medical expertise, contacts and facilities to help you if you are injured or taken ill.

If you are admitted to a hospital or clinic whist abroad, the Emergency Assistance Service will arrange payment for you for medical treatment.

Travel Insurance does not automatically cover persons who have pre existing medical conditions and there is some confusion as to what constitutes a pre existing medical condition.

This post will hopefully explain the definitions and cover available for anyone who is purchasing travel insurance and wants some clarification regarding their medical history.

A standard travel insurance policy will exclude certain pre existing medical conditions known to you regarding your health, your relative, your travelling companions or anyone whose ill health may cause you to cancel or cut short your trip.

There travel insurance policies that cover pre existing medical conditions, and you should contact the medical screening phone numebr to discuss your health situation. As this constitutes an extra cover on top of the travel insurance policy provided, there is often an extra payment to be made to the medical screening company.

The best guidlines that can be given, is if a medical condition is on going and within the last 2 years, this should be declared and noted on the travel insurance certificate. If you or someone you know had a medical condition 5 years ago and is no longer receiving treatment for this condition, you do not need to declare this.

There are certain situations where cover would simply be excluded from any travel insurance policy. These include:

• Receiving, or is on a waiting list for in-patient hospital or clinical treatment.
• Travelling against the advice of a medical practitioner or for the purpose of obtaining medical treatment abroad.
• Received a terminal prognosis.

If you purchase a travel insurance policy and then are diagnosed with a medical condition, this should be noted on the certificate but would not affect the medical cover as you were not aware of this when purchasing the policy.

If at all unsure, it is always a good idea to contact the medical screening company to discuss your circumstances, as you don’t want to have a large medical bill to pay if it could have been avoided before you travelled.

As of the 1st April 2009, anyone travelling to The Channel Islands (Geurnsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark and Herm) will need to have travel insurance to cover medical emergencies and treatment.

UK residents travelling to The Channel Islands will no longer be covered for medical treatment after the government has decided to stop the reciprocal health agreement between the UK and the Islands.

The Department of Health, is advising travellers that they must have adequate travel insurance before travelling to The Channel Islands.

More than 550,000 Britons travelled to The Channel Islands last year and in the current economic climate, this will certainly increase this year.  Searches on travel related websites for The Channel Islands have doubled over the last year.

The islands, which are Crown Dependencies of the UK, are not part of the EU and are there for not covered by the EHIC card (European Health Insurance Card).

The EHIC card was introduced in January 2006  and replaced the E111 card, which is no longer available.

This card is easily obtained by filling in a simple form on the website. It is usually sent out within two weeks of completing the online form. Each person travelling would need to have a card and you cannot obtain a family or couple card. You can also call 0845 606 2030 or pick up a leaflet at a UK Post Office or by calling them on 08701 555 455.

The Departement of Health is also urging everyone to check the validity of their EHIC cards as many are out of date and need to be renewed.  Anyone travelling within an expired EHIC card, unless they have travel insurance, is putting themselves at risk.

EHIC stands for European Health Insurance Card and is available to UK residents and persons who are aged 16 years or older. There  may be some restrictions as to the cover it provides depending on your nationality, this can be checked at the Department of Health website. If you are a resident of the Channel Islands or Isle of Man you cannot obtain an EHIC card.

The EHIC card is issued so that if you have an accident or are suddenly taken ill, whilst abroad in the EEA (European Economic Area, which is made up of 27 members of the European Union plus Iceland, Leichtenstein and Norway) or Switzerland, you’ll receive the necessary state provided medical healthcare for free or at a reduced cost. You’ll be treated as if you were a resident in the country that you are visiting. It is important that you carry the card at all times whilst travelling so that if you need medical treatment this can be provided quickly and without hassle.

A word of warning however, this does not mean you are insured. It may not cover all your medical costs and would not cover any private treatment and probably the most importnat point is that it does not cover you for repatriation back to the UK. Unlike the NHS, where medical treatment is free; few Eurpean countries pay for your full medical treatment, even under the European Union’s healthcare arrangements.

You will still need to purchase travel insurnace to ensure you are fully covered for any and all eventualities. Many people think if they have an EHIC card with them that they do not need to take out travel insurance. They regret this when they have to pay for repatriation for example by air ambulance back to the UK or if they are skiing, they need to pay for mountain rescue.

AXA Insurance have changed the cover for pregnancy in line with the the EU regulations which came into effect on 22nd December 2008.

Instead of the limit of 32 weeks in which AXA will cover pregnancy without any restrictions, it is now set that as long as the carrier, such as British Airways, allows the person to travel after the 32 weeks, then AXA Insurance will cover the person travelling.

The customer is still restricted depending on the health requirements of the airline or other public transport provider but AXA Insurance will now offer cover.

Here are some of the health requirements of the airlines, that have been published:

Scheduled airlines tend to let women fly to around 34 weeks. British Airways is particularly generous. It allows anyone with an uncomplicated single pregnancy to travel up to 36 weeks, and anyone carrying twins (or more) up to 32 weeks. After 28 weeks all pregnant women need a doctor’s letter. Virgin Atlantic allows pregnant women to travel up to 34 weeks, although they must have a doctor’s letter from 28 weeks. Women with multiple pregnancies need to call special assistance well in advance of travel.

When you go on a package holiday, a charter flight is usually included in the price. It’s not always obvious which airline is being used so you need to discuss your pregnancy with the holiday company so it can advise you about the airline and its regulations. Monarch, which supplies charter flights for many tour operators in the UK, allows women to travel up to 34 weeks, although they must have a doctor’s letter from 28 weeks.
Ryanair and easyJet both allow expectant mothers to travel up to 36 weeks with a doctor’s letter from 28 weeks.

AXA Insurance travel insurance is now more in line with the airlines and has no specific cut off period when travel insurance is provided.

JS Insurance has now taken this restriction off their AXA policies and will hopefully allow persons who wish to purchase cover whilst pregnant a more flexible policy.