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American Express says their travel insurance will cover Platinum cardholders for coronavirus

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There was some discussion in our comments yesterday about insurance coverage for the coronavirus outbreak.

A reader had contacted American Express Platinum and been told that, basically, he was stuffed.  Amex said that they would refuse to pay out if he travelled and fell ill but would also refuse to pay out if he cancelled.

I took a look at a different insurance policy I hold.  It includes this line, which I thought was standard across all travel insurance policies:

American Express Platinum insurance for coronavirus

Cancellation and curtailment/loss of holiday

If beneficiaries are forced to:

a)  cancel their trip as a direct and necessary result of any cause listed below: [snip]

(vi)  The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office or the equivalent government authority in the beneficiary’s country of residence advising against ‘all travel’ or ‘all but essential travel’ to the beneficiary’s intended destination. 

(vi) is, of course, where we are now with coronavirus, with the Foreign Office advising against all but essential travel.

I had a look at the Amex Platinum insurance document (download it here) and in theory it backs up what the reader was told by the call centre.  I also asked a barrister friend to take a look and he confirmed my interpretation.  With Amex Platinum insurance there appears to be no option which allows you to cancel if the Foreign Office says you should not go.  You need to look at Section 1.2.

However …..

The clause below, from Section 1.9, is from the list of reasons why American Express Platinum will not pay out:

14) Trips in, or booked to, countries where a government agency has advised against travelling or which are officially under embargo by the United Nations.

You can see why the call centre told our reader that he was not covered.  On a strict reading of the document, my interpretation is the same – Amex won’t pay up if you don’t go (see Section 1.2) and they won’t pay up if you do go and fall ill (see Section 1.9).

However, I spoke to Amex yesterday about this case.  It told me, in writing, that they would settle claims for anyone who has to cancel a trip to China due to coronavirus.  Confusingly it pointed to Section 1.2 as proof, but under Section 1.2 the ONLY acceptable reasons for cancellation are:

a) You, or a person travelling with You, or a person You are visiting for the main purpose of Your Trip, having an accident, suffering an unforeseen illness or dying before or during Your Trip;
b) Your Close Relative, or a Close Relative of a person travelling with You, or a Close Relative of a person You are visiting for the main purpose of Your Trip, having an accident, suffering an unforeseen illness or dying before or during Your Trip;
c) Your redundancy which qualifies for redundancy payments under current legislation;
d) You being called for jury service or being subpoenaed as a witness other than in a professional or advisory capacity;
e) Unforeseen severe damage to Your home or Your business premises if the damage caused is likely to be more than £25,000;
f) Theft at Your home or Your business premises that requires Your presence by the police;
g) A delay of more than 12 hours on the outward leg of Your Trip as a result of industrial action, adverse weather, mechanical breakdown of public transport, or a transportation accident which means You no longer want to go on Your Trip

….. which makes no sense as Section 1.2 clearly does not list ‘Foreign Office guidance’ as an acceptable reason to cancel – but I will take their word for it.  Any other readers who are being fobbed off by the call centre may want to call back.

This is not the first time that we have had issues with Amex and the wording of its insurance documents.  Anyone with raised cholesterol, for example, is not covered for any medical conditions which can be linked to it. 

That said, I can honestly say that – in numerous claims I have made over the years – it has paid out even when I had not acted strictly in accordance with the rules.

PS.  If you missed it, take a look at our recent article on 10 reasons why you should get the American Express Platinum card.

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Comments (215)

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

  • BP says:
    30 Jan30 January 04:20

    Regarding Amex Plat insurance, how long does it take them to confirm cover? My wife slipped a disc in Thailand a week ago and they still haven’t confirmed they will cover the costs.

    No previous history of back issues so I’m not expecting any problems.

    • Polly says:
      30 Jan30 January 04:52

      With my oh on Bali 4 yrs ago, it was confirmed when we were on the phone to them, even before we went to the hospital. A spanish call centre took the call.
      We then phoned after the con sultant had reviewed xrays etc.and had cover absolutely confirmed. They did take nearly 6 months to pay out tho due, to the wording on the medical report. We had to ask the consultant to reword the report 3 times before they were satisfied. So check everything is absolutely clear before leaving the country.

      • Cat says:
        30 Jan30 January 11:58

        Polly, how’s your trip so far? I’ve been keeping an eye out (intermittently) for an update!

        • Polly says:
          31 Jan31 January 04:59

          Hi Cat,
          Tnx, good so far. Got masks in Doha for what they are worth, but all calm here in Bali. Never know a crisis was unfolding in the outer world! But many coughing Chinese near us on the flight from kul to dps, so hoping none of them were incubating…everyone on the plane wore masks! Vigilant med teams on duty at kul of course. Massive long queues at immigration, if ever there was a breeding ground for spreading it, it was right there in those queues, seriously.
          So far, so good, debating whether to move onto hkt mid February or not. Monitoring who and foc reports daily. At least it’s warm here…books to read.

          In fact, suggest reading The Second Sleep, Robert Harris, life after the apocalypse around 2025! Quite realistic, amazing book. Very believable, unfortunately!

          • Cat says:
            31 Jan31 January 06:56

            See how things develop in Thailand.
            Failing all else, if you can rearrange your flights, stay in Indonesia (where there are no cases so far), and head East into the far more sparsely populated islands of Nusa Tenggara (all of my games of pandemic, books set in a post-epidemic dystopian future and zombie apocalypse films have led me to believe that low population density is a good thing in this sort of situation, not to mention the greater distance from an international airport and lower turnover of international travellers – kidding, mostly). Take a slow boat to Flores – Flores and Komodo NP are supposed to be amazing. Or there’s the Gili islands, if you don’t want to go quite that remote!

    • Paul says:
      30 Jan30 January 07:00

      In my experience they have always paid out in less than a week. I have been astounded at times at just how quickly they operate.
      They do insist on paperwork being correct and provided in full. This includes e tickets, not boarding passes, receipts etc etc.
      My overseas medical claims were minor and for children and in every case I sought and paid for care and claimed on my return. That was fine in Malaysia, and Bali but I would never do that again in the USA. A relatively minor in-growing toenail Cost $900 in Hawaii and we returned to a further $600 hospital bill! It was insane for 15 minutes of ineffective treatment but amex settled in a week. In future I would always call them if in the US and let them deal with things.
      Baggage delays, volcanic stranding in SFO for 4 days and £1400 bill to get home from Germany following major snow fall all paid without quibble. The claims have more than made up for the annual fee.

    • James says:
      30 Jan30 January 07:05

      This seems odd, call again.

  • Riccatti says:
    30 Jan30 January 05:13

    Hyatt award bookings over busy periods — be careful as Hyatt hotels have NONREFUNDABLE award bookings.

    It might/might not be clear, but in case of no show the hotel will return you the points, and then CHARGES YOUR CREDIT CARD for each day of cancellation at BAR rate, which is safely double the usual for the property.

    Apparently this is because if you are not present at hotel, Hyatt rewards scheme will not pay the hotel…

    • Sandgrounder says:
      30 Jan30 January 06:10

      This is not unique, IHG rewards bookings can be non-refundable with cash charged in the event of a no-show too. I managed to bag a HI Express for Madrid after Liverpool qualified for the CL Final last year, 15k points per night but a crazy cash price if I didn’t turn up and no free cancellation. Of course I did go, and the rest is history 🙂

      • Riccatti says:
        30 Jan30 January 06:30

        I bet (and now seen) that places such as Hyatts in Maldives printing a nice chunk of revenue.

        They are charging a customer much more than would receive from Hyatt Rewards. Apparently, there are ways to punish those point-redeeming freeloaders.

        One thing is a room in Europe, another is such 5-7 days reservation in Maldives/Oceania/Costa Rica (apparently infamous Andaz there).

        • meta says:
          30 Jan30 January 06:40

          The cancellation policy for award booking is very clearly marked. Each hotel has a different one. For my upcoming stay at Park Hyatt Kyoto, it’s 14 days. Park Hyatt Maldives has 30 day rule….

        • Riccatti says:
          30 Jan30 January 06:58

          Each Hyatt hotel is allowed to have 2 periods per year for completely nonrefundable award rates. Once you book — you are on the hook to pay their BAR cash rate at peak level. You will not know this penalty rate in advance and it can easily be > $1,000/day.

          Eg, if you want to book New Year — you won’t even get 30-day cancellation term with some Hyatts. A lot can happen between now and December.

        • Riccatti says:
          30 Jan30 January 07:00

          Cancellation polity is “clearly marked” only if you used to deal with Hyatt award bookings before.

          If you never had their nonrefundable award — can be a nasty surprise.

          • TGLoyalty says:
            30 Jan30 January 08:23

            If the cancellation policy wasn’t clear when you booked then always take screenshots to say it’s fully refundable.

            I’ve never booked a single hotel stay with any company that hasn’t been clear about their cancellation policy.

            However, what you may mean is that its not clear that is you no show you will be charged a cancellation fee equivalent to the rack rate. This can also be the case with others. If you don’t intend to turn up then you should always cancel the reservation as this will lose you your points and you won’t get a no show fee.

            Someone mentions the Maldives but I’m surprised people are making points bookings for anywhere like this then just not turning up.

          • meta says:
            30 Jan30 January 08:25

            I am sorry, but I disagree. The basic cancellation terms are very evident like refundable/non-refundable, etc. It is shown just before the submit/confirm button! And you even need to tick a box to confirm that you agree! This clear even for a newbie. Hilton on the other hand…

          • Riccatti says:
            30 Jan30 January 12:57

            @meta Hyatt was known for cryptic rate description terms — I saw those examples.

            That line on top of final confirmation button — doesn’t say the important part — that points will be refunded and you get charged the unspecified BAR rate (rack rate).
            (Yes Hyatt reservation systems are old and ca’t handle long sentences.)

            Some Hyatt hotels still do not describe — not only — the fact they refund points on nonrefundable award and charge BAR but whether the no show charge is 1 night (as it was on SPG and and still customary in the industry or ALL NIGHTS which is Hyatt on nonrefundable awards.

            Hotels are making “deposit policy” to be separate from “cancellation policy” which is worrying. Hyatt is example of it with two separate lines.

            Marriott is doing that in a more confusing way now, combining: “you can cancel free of charge before 11:59 [-2] days” and “your prepayment is not refundable”. It is completely unclear whether ‘free of charge’ refers to the extra no show fee, or the entire booking amount.

          • Riccatti says:
            30 Jan30 January 13:04

            @TGLoyalty Cancellation policy is unclear because it does not describe what actually happens: on nonrefundable award reservation you get points refunded and high cash rate charged for each night.

      • BJ says:
        30 Jan30 January 07:14

        Hilton also have stricter cancellation or nonrefundable terms for some award bookings, usually around the time of major events. The danger is that we get so used to them being flexible, we sonetimes forget to look at the rate rules before confirming a booking.

  • Holger S. says:
    30 Jan30 January 05:59

    Would be interested to check how HSBC’s Premier policy stands up against the Platinum travel insurance. I am thinking of cancelling my Amex platinum as I feel if I really need cover I won’t be covered anyways.

    • Axel says:
      30 Jan30 January 06:18

      I have found HSBC to be very reasonable and fair when including all our families preconditions. Including high blood pressure, nut allergies, previous episodes of dengue etc etc.

      Even got them to confirm this in writing which I wasnt able to do with Amex.

      • Lady London says:
        30 Jan30 January 11:17

        Would you happen to know the name of the underwriter? Always worth checking because that’s who decides if your claim gets paid.

        • Tony says:
          30 Jan30 January 12:02

          HSBC Premier travel insurance is provided and managed by Aviva which in my experience is the gold standard. They explicitly include FCO advice as a reason for cancellation in the policy wording. They also have a clear list of pre existing conditions which are automatically covered (example blood pressure) while Amex Plat covers no pre existing conditions whatsoever. I have high blood pressure and will not risk Amex Plat refusing an expensive claim because of a pre exisiting condition.

          • Lady London says:
            30 Jan30 January 12:06

            Thanks for the info. I will add Aviva as underwriters that should be OK, to my very short list. IIRC the other underwriter that seems ok is MAPFRE. As I mentioned yesterday I just won’t ever take a policy where the underwriter is Axa.

          • Riccatti says:
            30 Jan30 January 13:23

            Thank you Tony too.

            On AXA various insurances, I seemed to have payouts but not FOS correction, all my claims were long ago > 7 years or so. But AXA administration always had quirks, including different departments reviewing and having own mind, double interviews, had to write letters — I realise it was a hassle now, in prospective.

          • Polly says:
            31 Jan31 January 05:07

            AXA are appalling. We have actually changed insurance policies to avoid AXA. Saying that, Plat were ok for us, but found HSBCClaims elite very very good. And now we have even moved our health ins directly to Aviva. So not really worried when we drop plat this summer.

    • Riccatti says:
      30 Jan30 January 06:32

      On Nationwide current account packaged insurance — any experience?

      • BJ says:
        30 Jan30 January 07:32

        @Liz can share a horror story but there have been some positive comments too.

        • Liz says:
          30 Jan30 January 07:55

          My friend broke her hip in Ecuador 2 yrs ago and had the Nationwide Insurance -she had paid extra for pre existing conditions. The issue was with some local agent that Nationwide used. They had not been paid by a previous claim and would’t pay the hospital for her op. She had to put £10k on her credit card plus had lots of additional costs as she had to stay for 2 more wks as she couldn’t fly etc. She eventually got the £10k back but didn’t get all her costs back and lost out on the cost of her onward trip to the Galapagos Islands. She travels the world all the time and has several pre existing conditions. She took her business elsewhere after that experience.

          • Lady London says:
            30 Jan30 January 11:19

            Ummm surely she could have pursued the claim and got paid out?

          • Riccatti says:
            30 Jan30 January 13:29

            @Liz That is a scary story. If these are facts, clearly it was inadequate provision and FOS would come down on Nationwide mightily.

          • Liz says:
            30 Jan30 January 13:52

            It took her months of back and forth to get what she did. She now pays out several hundreds of £££’s elsewhere (i can’t remember) every year. She got a fantastic hip replacement. She had to pay for interpreters as well. Her husband doesn’t travel. She insisted her friend continue with the trip so she was on her own. She was not tech savvy and only had an old flip phone. Fortunately it hasn’t stopped her travelling and she now has a smartphone! She is in her mid 70’s.

          • Lady London says:
            30 Jan30 January 17:19

            Staysure is apparently quite good with pre-existing conditions provided they are declared. Also the policies sold by AGE UK get good reviews for peripatetic seniors.

      • @mkcol says:
        30 Jan30 January 09:03

        I have that insurance.
        I was an altruistic living kidney donor in July 2019, phoned them to check all would be ok to travel to Washington in October.
        Despite being perfectly fit & healthy prior to and after the operation they wanted a chunky ~£180 extra to fully cover me.
        Knowing I was fine, I didn’t cough up.

        • Peter K says:
          30 Jan30 January 09:27

          Sorry for the vagueness of this post:
          My sister once had to see a doctor in Europe (either Spain or Greece) who refused to see her with Halifax Holiday Insurance as they never pay or insisting she paid herself. She coincidently had a second insurance which they accepted.
          No all insurances are made equal!

          • Shoestring says:
            30 Jan30 January 09:31

            I hope Govt & EU find a way to continue with EHIC after Dec 31st as it is very useful backup

          • Rob says:
            30 Jan30 January 09:50

            Won’t be happening.

          • Anna says:
            30 Jan30 January 10:15

            Why did she not use EHIC?

            Rob – isn’t EHIC accepted in Switzerland etc? Is there any reason the UK can’t have that agreement as well (apart from sheer spite on the part of the EU)?

          • Lady London says:
            30 Jan30 January 11:21

            EHIC works till at least 31dec2020.Might work longer but not if Boris has his way.

          • BJ says:
            30 Jan30 January 11:52

            So we can probanly read into that Lloyds and BoS too I guess.

          • Lady London says:
            30 Jan30 January 12:04

            Not necessarily @BJ. Even though all those are now in one group under HBOS, it’s possible that previously existing arrangements made by each differently, might not yet have been consolidated into one single HBOS offering. I’d see if the underwriter is the same across those selling names and be cautious only if so.

          • BJ says:
            30 Jan30 January 13:21

            @Anna, IIRC Liz’s friend had her accident in South or Central America, not Europe.
            @LadyLondon, thanks. I think we will e using LV when our year is up and I downgrade Nationwide FlexPlus. I did a dummy quote with ny pre-ecisting condition and it cane back at a very reasonable £164 for both of us on their premium policy covering up to 90 days per trip.

          • Anna says:
            30 Jan30 January 14:09

            BJ – my query was to Peter Kay whose sister was treated in Europe.

          • Lady London says:
            30 Jan30 January 17:24

            That looks a very reasonable price @BJ. LV is getting good feedback in lots of places for paying out on travel insurance. Have also seen some good feedback on them for motor insurance too.

            However some years back they quoted my partner about £534 for a motor insurance renewal for no deteriorated profile nor reported incidents. As he was retired and not full of money he luckily asked me to help. Got him renewed via Voldesite for £200. Exact same policy. He even called LV and asked what was the difference in the £534 policy as compared to the £200 and he was told “None”.

            If you let an insurer renew you at an unexpectedly high rate – perhaps because you were late in getting better quotes for renewal or if you let it just renew automatically – then it’s not just that year you will be charged higher. What will happen is that all your future renewal quotes will be renewed off that one-off higher base and you will have to go elsewhere/ possibly Voldechannel, to start again getting a reasonable quote as a base.

      • Sanya says:
        30 Jan30 January 09:35

        We actually had a very good experience with them December 2019. My husband fell and hurt his ankle while in New Zealand. We got free treatment as NZ has an agreement for tourists that have any incidents.

        While nationwide took 2 days to confirm our cover (the incident did happen on Christmas Eve to be fair to them) they paid for extra hotels (our original Airbnb wasn’t suitable) and ADI upgraded his return flight to business class to help elevate his ankle.

        • Riccatti says:
          30 Jan30 January 13:33

          But that experience was likely because Nationwide insurers didn’t have to pay (much) for medical care — since NZ gives that free treatment to tourists.

          • Peter K says:
            30 Jan30 January 14:40

            @Anna. Not sure why she didn’t use EHIC. It was a couple of years ago and the exact details are a little hazy. It wouldn’t surprise me if she just forgot about it… She did have 2 insurances on the go as well don’t forget 😁

            The thing that stuck was that Halifax (or their underwriter) were so notorious for not paying that the insurance was refused as being acceptable… but a different insurance was accepted.

  • BJ says:
    30 Jan30 January 06:02

    OT: A more generous £75 credit on £250 spend variant of the amex Hilton offer has appeared this morning.

    • Anna says:
      30 Jan30 January 06:05

      On mine as well, and I’ll actually be able to use this one!

    • Anup says:
      30 Jan30 January 06:46

      Amazing – thanks for sharing, checked and I have it too. I don’t feel quite so left out of the previous one now 😀

    • Sal says:
      30 Jan30 January 14:13

      I have this. Annoyingly I booked a non refundable room on Monday and used a different card. I guess I won’t be able to get the charge cancelled and put to gold card.

      • Froggee says:
        30 Jan30 January 15:12

        phone the hotel and nicely ask them to change cards (and charge the gold card). If they haven’t charged it yet they won’t bat an eyelid.

  • Michael C says:
    30 Jan30 January 06:04

    Right round the corner from the new Kimpon is one of the best menús del día in Barcelona, at the ATN (Ateneu). €13, 3 courses of mainly Catalan dishes + a glass of wine. All v tasty & of course great value!

  • Anna says:
    30 Jan30 January 06:38

    Re the medical element of the Plat insurance – what counts as “raised cholesterol”? Mine is technically raised, however I have been told by my GP that it’s genetic and doesn’t indicate any health problems as there is no history of heart disease in my family. Apparently it’s not the baddie we’ve been taught to believe so far.

    • Shoestring says:
      30 Jan30 January 06:58

      Cholesterol is carried around your bloodstream by proteins. These proteins are called lipoproteins.
      There are two main types of lipoprotein:
      High-density ‘good’ lipoprotein (HDL cholesterol) – this type carries cholesterol away from the cells and back to the liver to be broken down or passed away as a waste product.
      w-density ‘bad’ lipoprotein (LDL cholesterol) – takes cholesterol to the cells where it’s needed. If there is more LDL than needed, it can build up in the artery walls.
      What are normal cholesterol levels?
      Blood cholesterol is measured in units called millimoles per litre of blood, or mmol/L.
      As a rough guide, the total levels should be:
      5 mmol/L or less for healthy adults
      4 mmol/L or less for those at high risk
      LDL levels should be:
      3 mmol/L or less for healthy adults
      2 mmol/L or less for those at high risk
      An ideal level of HDL is above 1 mmol/L, because a lower level of HDL may increase your risk of heart disease.
      When you have a blood cholesterol test, you might have your total cholesterol to HDL ratio calculated, too. Ideally, the ratio of total cholesterol to HDL should be below 4:1 as a higher ratio increases your risk of heart disease.
      Back to top
      What are high cholesterol levels?
      It’s normal for cholesterol levels to rise slightly as you get older and women tend to have higher HDL than men. In the UK, the average total cholesterol level is 5.7mmol/l.
      High cholesterol levels are considered:
      too high: between 5 and 6.4mmol/l
      very high: between 6.5 and 7.8mmol/l
      extremely high: above 7.8mmol/l
      Doctors will also look at the ratio between your good and bad cholesterol, and whether you have any other risk factors like high blood pressure, being a smoker or having diabetes when they are deciding whether you’re at risk from cardiovascular disease. You might have high cholesterol but still be considered as at a low risk for heart disease because you have no family history or any other factors that put you at risk.

      • Anna says:
        30 Jan30 January 07:31

        Yes, but does the Plat insurance take all this into account?!

        • Shoestring says:
          30 Jan30 January 07:38

          I’d assume that anything that isn’t within ‘normal’ parameters will be seen as high & a pre-existing condition. Your only hope might be to contact the insurers with your last reading/s and ask if you are covered or not.

          • BJ says:
            30 Jan30 January 08:09

            They wouldn’t want to get it in front of a court. These are spot ckecks and even a whole string of them in medical files could be easily ripped apart. People should not jump to rash conclusions regarding their own cholesterol levels based on their diet and weight, it is much more complex than that.

        • Qwertyknowsbest says:
          30 Jan30 January 07:47

          I persisted with Amex Plat to seek clarity on pre existing conditions including slightly raised Cholesterol. They would only refer back to the less than clear policy wording and suggest they could transfer me to AXA to take out a paid policy with which they accept declared conditions. I then lodged a formal complaint spelling out exactly what I required clarification on. They wrote back refering me to the terms and conditions.

          I then asked a lawyer friend to review the T&C’s. The conclusion was that Amex’s definition on any medical emergency that might be vaguely connected to pre existing conditions could, if Amex choose to, be used to decline a claim.

          I took out a separate policy just to be sure, do I need it in ? I cannot know unless I claim on Amex and they declined.

          Amex need to clarify T&C’s and allow pre-existing conditions to be declared.

          • joe bloggs says:
            30 Jan30 January 11:37

            you might like them to, but they certainly don’t need to. In fact, in the insurance world, having vague T&C which might result in claims being denied is good for the insurers.

          • TGLoyalty says:
            30 Jan30 January 18:20

            @Joe Bloggs does the insurance being bundled in with a financial product mean they have to adhere to higher standards? would the FOS be interested?

    • BJ says:
      30 Jan30 January 07:01

      Anything they like, probably the same with hypertension. Such are effectively ‘get out of jail free’ cards for medical insurance. However, best we keep a sense of perspective here; while we hear some insurance horror stories, I think these are a tiny proportion of total cases because most of the time most insurers must pay out or we would hear many more stories. According to MSE the best travel insurers are LV and Direct Travel Insurance unless that has changed since the last time I read their article on the subject.

      • Anna says:
        30 Jan30 January 07:34

        I am extremely lucky in that I get travel insurance included with my professional subscription covering me and my family for any pre-existing conditions and will be able to keep this into retirement, however schemes like this are quite rare and I am interested to know how other providers compare.

        • Polly says:
          31 Jan31 January 05:17

          Anna,
          Usually it’s only considered raised, if you are actually on meds for it, ie. statins. I had that discussion with Aviva. Apparently mine was slightly above norm, usually being low. GP and l couldn’t understand it until, l said l had been eating a lot of prawns in Asia lately. That explained it! Dietary, then.
          But Aviva were very clear when l mentioned it, and clarified it for us, that without treatment, it was not a concern.
          V lucky with your prof cover then, and. Esp that you can also keep it.

    • Liz says:
      30 Jan30 January 07:41

      I Am the same as Anna, i have mine checked annually and my results from last week were 6.4. I don’t smoke, drink very little, good diet, moderate exercise, not overweight ( carrying a few extra pounds) no family history, been told just part of my make up, i haven’t declared that to our insurance provided via Barclays. Should I declare this?

      • BJ says:
        30 Jan30 January 08:16

        I wouldn’t…never asked, never told, forgot about it, didn’t know what it meant etc. But you got to do what you think is right and makes you comfortable.

      • Anna says:
        30 Jan30 January 10:20

        Liz, we sound very similar! I would seem to be covered on my policy, however my cholesterol was definitely flagged as “high” by my GP until I had a further assessment and all the other stuff was normal – I could see other providers seizing on this to refuse a claim as it will be recorded on my medical file.

        • Anna says:
          30 Jan30 January 10:37

          Also – my uncle’s cholesterol is 7 and he’s a marathon running vegetarian. My grandpa (his dad) is still with us at the age of 94, a life-long pipe smoker!

          • BJ says:
            30 Jan30 January 12:03

            Exactly, hence my point above. Insurers might use this to do a number on Joe Public when vlaiming but it will have little traction if pursued further.

        • Russ says:
          30 Jan30 January 11:33

          Go private for health checks.

          • BJ says:
            30 Jan30 January 12:09

            This is a good point. In many parts of the world where HFP readers are often found it is possible to get very comprehensive private health checks at reasonable costs in hospitals that would put our best to shame.

          • NigelthePensioner says:
            30 Jan30 January 19:50

            …and say you are not registered with a GP in the UK wherever you go for your private medical – even Watford!! Also you wont know your NHS number….or NI number if asked. Big brother can link all these things and will do…..even with the NHS IT. So it can get back to your GP who has to produce a pre morbid medical report.

        • BJ says:
          30 Jan30 January 12:17

          And he worried then have porridge made with water or skimmed milk for breakfast, that’ll get it down a bit.

          • Liz says:
            30 Jan30 January 13:58

            I switched to soya milk 2 years ago. The only thing i changed in my diet that year and my cholesterol came down from 7.1 to 6.4 that year. Actually my result was 6.2 this year not 6.4.

          • BJ says:
            30 Jan30 January 15:37

            Yes, soya is rich in soluble fibre too which is what lowers the cholesterol. Making porridge with that would really get results for anybody wanting to get their levels down.

  • James says:
    30 Jan30 January 07:04

    It is good news that Amex have said they will cover you in both those scenarios BUT it seems very poor that it isn’t in the schedule or any documentation.

    What about the next occurance ? How will Amex (or AXA is it behind the scenes of the policy) react / behave then ?

    I am very surprised they do not include insurance for cancellation when the Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel.

  • Phil Gollings says:
    30 Jan30 January 07:07

    From previous experience I would never rely on Amex insurance

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