Travel Insurance

Brandy5cat said:

This time they are asking is my adult daughter 'Fully Independent'.  Computer says yes or no

It does seem to be a binary question - are there situations you can realistically anticipate where your daughter could not function on her own.

The would exclude factors that affect "normal" people such as language barriers.

If your daughter has a history of meltdowns in unfamiliar situations then clearly she is not able to be fully independent.

Are there any situations when she would end up puting her self into harms way or where she would be willing to follow strangers, accept drinks from them etc.

This seems to be what they are getting at - is she capable of functioning as an adult in all situations and remain in control of herself.

Thank you all for your replies.  My worry is that the question is open to interpretation.  My interpretation might not match theirs!  For instance, someone at university might be classed as 'fully independent' but they may require classroom support.

I'm being cynical I know but is this just another way to avoid paying?  I have spoken to someone at Zurich Insurance and I will update you all when I get a reply.

Brandy5cat said:

My interpretation might not match theirs!  For instance, someone at university might be classed as 'fully independent' but they may require classroom support.

You need to look at it from the insurance companies risk perspective. They essentially want to know if there are forseeable situaitions (stemming from her autism) which could lead to a claim.

That is the binary aspect I was suggesting. If it is reasonably forseeable then you would not be covered if it happened. However if it is a bizzare combination of events never seen before then it is not reasonable to think it should be excluded.

Insurance companies are all about calculating risk so if they think it is possible to forsee then they will exclude it from the coverage. It is the same for all types of insurance - a known risk will not be covered unless explicitly stated when there is a pre-existing risk like this.

Do you think that there is a reasonable risk that you may have to use the insurance cover for an autism reated incident? If you can think of a reason that you could then you would need to declare it. The insurance company will either then exclude this from coverage or charge you extra to include it.

For them it is just a business risk calculation so it helps to look at it as such.

Hello everyone, as promised I am giving you the response from the travel insurance company which has just arrived in my inbox.  The good news is that my complaint has been upheld. Below is some of the response-

"After speaking with Verisk, the team responsible for developing medical warranty questions, they were able to provide further clarity regarding the question asked in relation to autism. Verisk clarified that 'daily living' refers to essential activities such as getting dressed, personal hygiene, bathing and eating.  While there may be additional elements that some individuals consider part of their daily routine, for the purpose of this question, the focus is on the key functions listed above.  The answer must reflect the customer's ability to carry out these core tasks"

The letter contains much more detail but I have chosen what I think is the important part.  I have responded to the letter and have just received a response stating that all call handlers will now be given clearer instructions.  Hope that helps everyone in some way. 

Hello everyone, as promised I am giving you the response from the travel insurance company which has just arrived in my inbox.  The good news is that my complaint has been upheld. Below is some of the response-

"After speaking with Verisk, the team responsible for developing medical warranty questions, they were able to provide further clarity regarding the question asked in relation to autism. Verisk clarified that 'daily living' refers to essential activities such as getting dressed, personal hygiene, bathing and eating.  While there may be additional elements that some individuals consider part of their daily routine, for the purpose of this question, the focus is on the key functions listed above.  The answer must reflect the customer's ability to carry out these core tasks"

The letter contains much more detail but I have chosen what I think is the important part.  I have responded to the letter and have just received a response stating that all call handlers will now be given clearer instructions.  Hope that helps everyone in some way.