Hi - does anyone have any experience of travel claims who can tell me if this is ok please?
The story, due to go on holiday on 28th August
I came down with flu symptoms on the 17th August - phoned GP and was told over the phone likely to be swine flu & to self medicate & isolate for 5 days. No tamiflu as not a high risk patient.
On the 21st August I was very poorly and phoned again and was asked to come to the doctors where i was seen in the car park nad told i had a bad chest infection and given antibiotics.
I explained about my holiday on the 28th and doctor said to wait & see over the weekend and decide then whether I felt well enough to go.
On the 23rd my daughter started suffering from high temp & flu symptoms so rang GP again, this time explaining situation to the receptionist and that I was happy to follow the same advice given to me the week earlier.
I was also still very rough so on the 24th we decided to cancel the holiday.
Rang insurance co & I had the form sent out.
Had an appt today & gave the form into the doctors to fill in and another doctor from the practice has filled it in - not mentioing the initial swine flu diagnosis at all - only the chest infection. Where the form asks 'when did you advise cancellation of the holiday' she has written that this is not in my records.
The problem is that when I rang to inform the doctors that my daughter was ill and that we would be cancelling the holiday I only spoke to the receptionist who said to put a covering note with the form for the doctors attention. So there is nothing on my record to say that the doctor advised us not to travel. Also, theres nothing on my daughters record to say she had symptoms.
My doctor said in my appt today that my chest infection would be enough to cover me but as there is nothing in my records to say the doctor ADVISED me not to travel at the time I'm wondering if this will cause a problem.
Easy £45 for the doctor.......I could bloomin scream
I haven't had any dealings with claims myself, however I would have thought that they would want to know when and who advised you not to fly Could you not make an appointment to speak with the initial doctor?
Yes I will have to - she just said 'see how you feel after the weekend' and I didn't think I'd have to go back to her for her to tell me I wasn't fit to travel. I knew myself I was still poorly & my antibiotics didnt finish till the day I was supposed to fly.
I would have thought that after explaining to your GP that you need written proof of your illness for your insurers that he/she would put it in writing that you and your daughter had suspected Swineflu and were advised against travel.
Thats the frustrating thing - the GP hasnt put any information regarding the swine flu on the form - only the subsequent chest infection. Also, she wrote that I said my daughter had the high temp & flu symptoms but also that there was nothing on her record either - I'm sure she's trying to mess it up for me!
I think the main problem is you spoke to Receptionist ref your daughter. Personally I'd make an appointment with the doc, if you spoke to the doc and was told over the phone it was likely you had swine flu and there is NOTHING in your notes to that effect I'd be slightly worried. Talking to doc face to face is probably the only way you'll get this sorted but if you are the one who's made the decision not to travel without having the doc say "Don't travel" you may find insurance won't pay out.
What should I do when I contact the surgery?
The first point of contact will be our receptionist who will have been trained to deal with your call effectively. The receptionist will need the following information:
Whether the patient has symptoms of swine flu. In particular, they will want to know if the patient has a fever greater than 38 degrees.
Whether the patient is seriously ill and in need urgent medical attention (irrespective of whether they have symptoms of the flu)
Do they belong to one of the high risk groups:
High risk groups:
<5yrs old
>65 yrs old
Chronic lung, heart, kidney or neurological disease
Chemotherapy, or drugs affecting immune system (steroids, Methotrexate, azathioprine etc)
Pregnant women
Patients who've been treated for asthma within past 3 years
"Morbidly obese" patients (BMI > 40). i.e. patients who are exceptionally overweight
If necessary, you may be called back by a doctor or nurse for further assessment, but the receptionist will make this clear to you when you call.
I was told that as she wasn't in the high risk group and was responding well to paracetamol & fluids I wouldnt expect a call back. I didn't question this, not expecting it to cause a problem with the travel insurance.
Would it be worth telling the insurance company this?
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