A spokesman for Axa, one of the country's largest travel insurers, says: 'If a policyholder has fallen ill with a disease or illness which they should have been inoculated against, then they would not be covered under their policy for any medication, treatment or repatriation.'
And a spokesman for Aviva, another major insurance provider, says: 'Where inoculations are needed, and you have not fol lowed advice, we would question why and if there was no medical reason for not complying, then this could mean your medical claim is not paid.' If you have been sensible and followed advice on the correct inoculations and medicines, what should you do if you fall ill? If possible, phone your insurer before you receive treatment.
They use medical assistance companies with 24-hour helplines who will deal with your call. While the assistance company will usually deal with the hospital direct, hang on to any receipts in case you need them to support your claim.
Travellers to Europe should make sure they have an up-to-date European Health Insurance Card (EHIC); they last for five years. This should cover basic hospital bills in many European countries.
But the card doesn't cover you for repatriation: that is covered by insurance. For a full guide on how the EHIC works visit: thisis money.co.uk/ehic. A spokesman for insurer Esure says: 'A valid EHIC may well pick up hospital cover, but not necessarily an emergency doctor, so you should keep as much evidence of everything as you can.
'It is best not to wait until you are back in the UK, as the insurer can get good local help to you via their existing contacts.
'The only time when you don't have to do this is if the total cost of treatment is likely to be under £500, but here, keep receipts, letters and prescriptions to support your claim.'
If you are ill before you go on holiday, you might also need to let your travel insurer know.
For example, i f you are diagnosed with an illness or suffer an injury which means your doctor tells you not to travel, you should be able to claim under the cancellation clause of your policy - although if there is an excess on the policy, it means you won't get all your money back.
If you are ill - but not so bad that a doctor says you are unfit to travel - you can't claim under the cancellation clause. However, if your illness worsens while you are away, you should be covered for medical expenses incurred.
If you have a condition which means you are on a waiting list for treatment when you buy your policy, you won't be covered for that condition while away.
But if you are put on the waiting list after you have bought the policy, you should be covered.
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