What is 1-2-1 medical screening?
If you have taken out an Insurancewith policy for cancer travel insurance this year you may have come across the term 1-2-1 medical screening and wondered what exactly this is. Like most products on the market which offer travel insurance for those with pre-existing medical conditions, we use a bespoke medical screening programme driven by a computer but experience tells us that many of our customers do not fit neatly into little tick boxes and so the outcome may not always be a fair reflection of the risk presented for cover.
We have given this careful thought and set up a new method of assessing the risks related to travelling for those who are living with a life limiting medical condition. There will always be some combinations of duration, destination and medical risk which are regrettably unacceptable to our underwriting team, but there are also those who are currently stable despite a serious illness and who are finding it difficult or very expensive to obtain travel insurance for that all important holiday.
Now when they are screened certain questions instead of just saying “No” to cover, will suggest a 1-2-1 referral to a medical underwriter instead.
Also if you feel that the questions you have been asked are not apt for your particular condition then you can ask if you can speak to a medical underwriter.
How does this work? well whether you have asked for a quote online or via a call centre, if your situation does not quite fit the tick-boxes you may be advised that you need a 1-2-1 screening. All you need to do is give us a contact telephone number and some preferred dates and times so that a medical underwriter can call you to discuss your medical history with a view to offering a quote.
There is no obligation to take up this offer of an individual quote if you would prefer not to talk about your medical history, we understand that some may find it distressing but often with a little more detail about what treatment you have had recently, any test or scan results and your lifestyle, underwriters will be reassured about your health during the planned trip and will be happy to cover you. We do not charge you an additional fee for this unique individual service and so far most of our clients have been positive about the process and pleased with the outcome.
Thank you to Tricia Pearson-Tietema our Head of Medical Underwriting for this blog.
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