Link – Mental health problems ‘block travel insurance cover’
This is a BBC article, so it’s clearly about folks in the UK. I’m wondering though if others outside the UK have seen this as well?
Ben Rathe had a diagnosis of depression six years ago. He was given anti-depressants by his doctor and went on a course of therapy.
The 30-year-old said that his issues had not affected him for a long time, and had no impact on his day-to-day life.
However, he was still required to declare this historic issue by ticking a box on any travel insurance application – something which he said automatically resulted in a rise of about 50% in his quoted premium.
If you have experienced this, let us know. I, personally, do not recall ever having to answer any questions about my mental health history for travel insurance, but it’s also possible that the shorter trips I was getting coverage for wouldn’t require that while something longer might. I don’t know.
If it is a requirement in the UK or elsewhere, simply having one tick box and judging everyone based on whether the box is checked or not is a pretty ridiculous way to measure the risk of a problem on a trip. The variety of diagnoses and degree of severity is way too broad to just have a one-size-fits-all approach to this and punish everyone who’s ever had a mental health issue.
