Does self medicating invalidate life/travel insurance?

[Smash49]

Morning everyone. Was participating in someone's interesting post last night on a different topic and I remembered that I've been wondering if self medicating invalidates life/travel insurance. Do any of you knowledgeable people out there know the answer please?

[StitchFairy]

Good question, especially about travel insurance. Though gallivanting off on our travels isn't something many of us can be doing right now of course. I don't know the answer so hopefully someone else will be able to enlighten us.

[Annacat69]

Does anyone know you are self medicating? If not, why tell?

[Smash49 in reply to Annacat69]

Hi. I'm not self medicating but would consider it in future if had to. Was more concerned for everyone who is really. Even if it's not mentioned in your medical notes surely the fact that your not regularly having prescriptions for thyroid meds but your thyroid levels have become and remain normal would raise suspicion. Probably wouldn't come up for a small travel insurance claim but if it was a really big travel insurance claim or a life insurance claim for your death then I would have thought the insurance companies would go through everything with a fine tooth comb because if they can get away with not paying out they will won't they

[Annacat69 in reply to Smash49]

It depends on the situation. If there is no record of you having thyroid disease, and you maintain normal levels of FT3 and FT4 by taking meds, I see no reason to tell anyone you are self medicating. I am pretty sure self medicating that would disqualify you. Yes, insurance companies are always looking for excuses not to pay.

The thing about thyroid hormone is that it´s not a drug per se; it simply replaces your own hormone production. So it´s not likely to have any side effects if used correctly. That is another reason I don´t see why you´d have to mention it. Apparently, being on HRT won´t disqualify you, and I don´t see any difference between thyroid meds and HRT (except that the latter is usually only taken for a a few years). But they both replace hormones you are no longer making enough of.

[Smash49 in reply to Annacat69]

Good point. I think the majority will have mention of thyroid problems on their medical records because we would have all originally sought help via our GPs in the first instance not anticipating that the NHS would fail us so badly to require self medicating further down the line.

With regard to HRT is that HRT sourced via the Internet with no prescription?

I've tried googling but can't find anything really. It's worth thinking about though in my view

[Annacat69 in reply to Smash49]

No, I mean prescription HRT.

[asiatic]

Possible scenario - you are on holiday - heart rate increases - taken to hospital - you tell doc what meds you take - return home and make insurance claim - insurance company will get report from hospital and would be able to refuse claim on grounds of non disclosure. It would be safer telling them. It probably wouldn't increase your premium or only by a few punds

[Smash49 in reply to asiatic]

You would have to speak to a person to discuss it when taking out the policy wouldn't you as this scenario isn't catered for when taking out a policy online. I don't know but I would have thought self medicating would significantly increase the premium because the dose and where you've purchased the meds from have all been your own decision and whilst we all on here know more about these things than many docs the insurance company won't see it like that because it's all to do with risk. Their underwriters will look at this as a greatly increased risk to your health even though we know its not

[asiatic in reply to Smash49]

After many years of dealing with different holiday insurance companies what I have learned is it is best to do it over the phone and only answer what you are asked. I have to declare Graves. When they put this into their computer no other questions arise from this and I am covered at no extra charge. It wouldn' t matter what drugs I am on or where I got them from. I imagine it would be the same with hypo. This is one of the few scenarios where general ignorance of AITD works in our favour ! My husband on the other hand has had a heart attack. Declaring this leads into all sorts of questions about drugs and doses before they slap on a heafty premium. They record the call so you have evidence you have answered all their required questions.

[Smash49 in reply to asiatic]

Even though you answer all their questions you still haven't disclosed something that affects your health. For example if someone was taking illegal drugs like cocaine etc then if they did not disclose it at the time they took out the travel policy then it invalidates the policy. You may say well how would an insurance company know someone was taking illegal drugs like cocaine. The answer is for a large claim medical records aren't the only thing they look at. They would potentially speak to friends and relatives etc. There's plenty of ways that insurance companies can weadle their way out of paying up.

Insurance companies would see your omission to volunteer the information regarding your self treatment as invalidating the policy even if you have answered any questions they originally asked you. You are still fundamentally withholding medical information unfortunately

[asiatic in reply to Smash49]

Yes I do agree they will try to evade paying up. However I think there are 2 different things here. First what medical conditions you have and second what meds. you take. You do not have to declare the odd aspirin for a headache whereas taking illegal drugs would negate any claims as you are breaking the law. By honestly declaring a medical condition and answering any questions relating to it ( there won't be any in the case of thyroid disease ) you have fulfilled your obligations. It is easy to check. Anonymously phone up and ask and let us know the answer !

[Smash49 in reply to asiatic]

I think I will cos we could do with knowing for sure either way couldn't we 😊

[SilverAvocado in reply to asiatic]

I think this is a good point that their general ignorance seems to benefit us on this point. I've travelled when I was so undermedicated I could barely stand and was collapsing in my plane seat, and also when my condition was fairly well managed. But it's the same single question on the travel insurance both times.

I think they're making the same assumption our doctors do - that a thyroid condition is so trivial it makes no difference.

[Annacat69 in reply to Smash49]

I would even think that self medicating would disqualify you from insurance since it´s not accepted anywhere as far as I know...

[Smash49 in reply to Annacat69]

Unfortunately that's exactly how I feel Annacat69. You never know we might be pleasantly surprised by the response as and when I get one

[Alanna012]

It's a good question.

I was on a body building site (clicked through from a pharmaceuticals page) and I became aware that some extreme body builders use T3 to lose weight and help build muscle and stamina (apparently) there was some question over whether it would invalidate their sports insurance. I take it some take sports people take out insurance to cover themselves in a situation where they might have a sports injury while training.

I wouldn't put it past an insurance firm to refuse to cover a person taking an 'unlicensed' medicine. Even though it isn't given the same status as a pharmaceutical drug.

[Smash49 in reply to Alanna012]

Yes liothyronine use can be abused for weight loss purposes as a prime example.

[Jazzw]

I went through this same dilemma when arranging travel insurance as I don’t officially have hypothyroidism. In the end, I declared that I do have hypothyroidism. If I was to be admitted to hospital for any length of time while abroad I’d want the hospital to let me have thyroid hormone replacement once I ran out. My blood test results would soon back it up!

On the plus side, declaring it didn’t seem to have a detrimental effect on how much I was charged for insurance. Sometimes, the fact that hypothyroidism is viewed as common and easy to treat works in our favour... it’s not considered to be serious.

[Smash49 in reply to Jazzw]

I suppose the point is did you declare that you take thyroid medication that is not prescribed by a doctor? If you put that you have an underactive thyroid the insurance company will take that to mean that you have a doctor diagnosed underactive thyroid for which you are taking prescribed medication. That would invalidate your insurance. You know you have that condition but it's not been diagnosed by a qualified doctor. If that's the case you might as well not bother paying for the policy.

That's precisely my point - we are all just assuming it's fine

[Jazzw in reply to Smash49]

Given that most people’s GP records are alarmingly incomplete and often inaccurate, I’d say that I started taking thyroid hormone years ago and switched to NDT at some intervening period which is why I’m no longer prescribed Levo and if that isn’t on my notes, then it isn’t my fault.

Might have thought about this a bit.

[Smash49 in reply to Jazzw]

Yes I see your point. But then you've got the problem that you've got a diagnosed condition for which levo was prescribed but your now self medicating with NDT which takes us back to the point of whether insurance companies will pay out if your taking an unprescribed medication for a health problem which in this case now has been diagnosed.

As I said to Asiatic a few mins ago I am going to ask the question to a travel insurance provider so we will know for sure. Sagas Web page has an online chat facility but it's only open Monday to Friday so I will contact them tomorrow and put the reply on here

[Alanna012 in reply to Smash49]

It will be great to have some clarity!

[Smash49]

Morning everyone. I have spoken to Saga insurance this morning. I said that I had been diagnosed Hypothyroid and the medication prescribed by NHS by my doctor is Levo thyroxine. However I don't feel well on that medication and because I have been refused Liothyronine as a treatment on NHS I now source it myself from abroad without prescription and I determine the dose myself, can I still take out a travel insurance policy and would it invalidate any travel insurance policy I have. The customer service agent didn't know the answer so he spoke with their underwriters who confirmed that it doesn't matter what medication you are taking for hypothyroidism or where you sourced it and that it isn't prescribed by a doctor. The only things that matter are that you have been diagnosed as Hypothyroid by a doctor, that you are taking medication for it however that is sourced and whatever the medication, and that you have not had hospital treatment for it in the last 12 months. Which is fantastic news. However this only applies to Saga insurance and other companies may have different regulations so everyone must disclose that they are self medicating but if the insurance company has the same policy as SAGA then you should be fine and should not attract an increase in premium because of it.

Unfortunately for those who do not have a diagnosis of hypothyroidism then this does not apply. If you declare you are Hypothyroid to an insurance company and you haven't been officially diagnosed as such you have invalidated your travel insurance.

If you do not mention you have a diagnosis of hypothyroidism when you have been officially diagnosed as such then you invalidate your policy.

Great news for anyone out there who has a diagnosis and is self medicating. Maybe you had not even considered this but at least now you know you should mention it. He did say that if you are completing an online application then it is suffice to answer the question to are you on medication as,'yes'. You don't need to phone them.

The main thing to take away from this is to disclose everything to insurance companies every time you take out a policy to be sure you are not invalidating any application otherwise you are just wasting your money.

I would add that I don't self medicate at the moment but if I ever have to in the future I now know where I stand.