American Express Platinum makes a big change to its travel insurance – but hasn’t told us (or you)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

• Ian says:

  6 Apr6 April 10:11

  I would also like clarity on their position relating to existing medical conditions. This wasn’t a concern for me till last year. It’s now impossible to buy new travel insurance from Amex, which I understand is to do with the treatment of existing conditions. So what about their card travel insurance?

  • Alan says:

    6 Apr6 April 18:43

    They don’t cover pre-existing conditions and you can’t pay a supplement to add them on. It is absolutely useless to many people with pre-existing conditions

  • Alan says:

    6 Apr6 April 19:03

    ICC card definitely better than UK Plat for this…

    ICC card:
    “11) Pre-existing medical conditions known to You, when You apply for Your Card and any Cards on Your
    Account, or prior to booking Your Trip, whichever is the most recent, for which You:
    a) have attended a hospital as an in-patient during the last 12 months;
    b) are awaiting test results or on a waiting list for an operation, consultation or investigation;
    c) have commenced or changed medication or treatment within the last three months;
    d) require a medical, surgical or psychiatric check up every twelve months or more frequently;
    e) have been given a terminal prognosis;
    f) know of any reason, which may necessitate any Trip to be cancelled or cut short.
    12) Travelling against the advice of a registered medical practitioner.”

    No mention of hypertension, etc. Unlike the UK Plat card. As long as no recent medication changes or awaiting test, etc. then it’s OK. Also has cover up until age of 80.

    UK Plat:
    ““Pre-existing Medical Condition(s)” means any past or current Medical Condition that, during the 2 years prior to You applying for Your Card and any Cards on Your Account, or prior to any Trip
    (whichever is the most recent), has given rise to symptoms or for which any form of treatment or prescribed medication, medical consultation, investigation or follow-up/check-up has been required or received; and any cardiovascular or circulatory condition (e.g. heart condition, hypertension, blood clots, raised cholesterol, stroke, aneurysm) that has occurred at any time prior to You applying for Your Card and any Cards on Your Account, or prior to any Trip (whichever is the most recent).”

• Christian says:

  6 Apr6 April 10:19

  Does anyone know if this change the small business version of the Platinum card as well as the personal one?

  • DV says:

    6 Apr6 April 15:25

    The Small Business card hasn’t had such a condition in the past, presumably because the insurance cover is clearly intended to cover the beneficiary’s personal travel, as well as that of his family, and if the card is being used solely for business spending, their travel couldn’t be charged to it.

• BlueHorizonUK says:

  6 Apr6 April 10:46

  Do we even know when this change happened? I.e. from which day were new applicants under this new policy, its not clear.

  • Grant says:

    6 Apr6 April 11:57

    I applied for Plat last weekend and the card arrived on Thursday. I haven’t studied the printed terms of the insurance which were included in the ‘pack’ but note that it refers to Chubb rather than Axa.

  • Zara says:

    7 Apr7 April 08:22

    As others have commented, Chubb has been listed in place of AXA for a couple of years now. I guess Rob has only just noticed because after all the recent changes, there is little else left to talk about when it comes to Amex.

    • Rob says:

      7 Apr7 April 08:58

      Irrespective of which bit of Chubb or AXA might be underwriting the policy, the change in the rules on using Platinum only happened in the last week or so.

      • Symon says:

        7 Apr7 April 09:38

        Rob, I have the hard copy insurance for the personal Plat, from 2018, when my other half signed up. They’re printed “07/18” on the back, and there is no mention of AXA, only Chubb.

• AndyF says:

  6 Apr6 April 10:47

  Its seems Amex’s offering are being whittled down bit by bit. Does anyone know if Alex Cruz has been given an advisory position?

• ADMG says:

  6 Apr6 April 10:58

  This is the problem with relying on these types of insurance policies. It is not the same as buying a bespoke policy even though people commonly compare the two. Most travel insurance will have some form of pre-ex exclusion and this can be easily sorted in most cases by a quick call to your insurer (an additional premium may be charged). However, in this case you are relying on a basic product with lotta of conditions. Additionally there is no transparency in regard to the premium you are being charged here other than it is part of the annual fee.

• Waddle says:

  6 Apr6 April 11:29

  Have a family trip at the beginning of May coming up. Most of the bookings were done in December/January. Flights & car via BA holidays were booked on BAPP + HSBC WE, one hotel was on WE, one hotel was on Revolut and airport transfers booked on Revolut. Didn’t apply for Plat until last month. It’s less than 30 days until the trip. Am I right in thinking I’m still under the old rules with AXA until notified?

  • Mikeact says:

    6 Apr6 April 11:37

    Why not call them ? All calls are recorded., just make a note of the date and time in any dispute.

    • Lady London says:

      6 Apr6 April 12:10

      I wouldn’t call if I am still on the old conditions. I’d wait till I receive notice of any new conditions and then consider my options/reaction. After all, is it in the interests of any turkey to open any discussion about Christmas?

      FWIW my motorbike insurer sent out a mass email partway through my last policy saying they were changing terms forthwith. That didn’t suit me so I emailed them to say I rejected their proposed revised terms and expected my existing terms to continue until the end of my policy year. They claimed the change was not significant I said it doesn’t matter I am not agreeing to any revised terms. After a while and some kind of internal escalation they ‘graciously’ said they would honour existing terms till end of current policy year. Cheeky b*st*rds.

  • Rob says:

    6 Apr6 April 12:13

    Yes – if the document you were sent has the old wording.

• Hugo says:

  6 Apr6 April 11:32

  Getting ready for a refresh with a price hike and metal card…. writings on the wall!!

  • Peter 64K says:

    6 Apr6 April 11:57

    Is that based on inside knowledge or just gut feeling?

• Dave Pearson says:

  6 Apr6 April 11:57

  I might be missing something here, but how would I go about making a claim on this travel insurance? This article has just made be realise the cancellation of my most recent trip due to health reasons may give rise to a claim, which I had not thought about previously. If anyone could point me towards a link or contact point, that would be fantastic – thank you!

  • Peter 64K says:

    6 Apr6 April 11:59

    Have a look on the Amex website under your platinum account. There should be contact details there. I think in the “contact us” section IIRC.

  • Rob says:

    6 Apr6 April 12:11

    Ring and they send you a form. Need to claim within 30 days though.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.