CALGARY- Travel insurance is supposed to protect you if you get sick and have to cancel your trip, but a Calgary man has been left in the cold by his provider after being diagnosed with cancer.
Last September, Neil Steenveld booked a family vacation to Mexico, but found out he had throat cancer just two months later and had to cancel. However, when he made a claim through Manulife Global Travel, they would only refund half of the cost—equaling $1,500.
The reason? Manulife says that because Steenveld saw his family doctor for a sore throat last April and was referred to a specialist, it fit the definition of a pre-existing condition.
“I’m under the impression that they said, ‘Well, you should have known better than to book a trip if you’re going to see a specialist,’” Steeveld says, adding that his doctor says there was no sign of cancer when he booked the vacation, and wrote a letter to back it up.
“I had no full knowledge of my medical condition, because if I knew that I wouldn’t book a trip.”
He is now going after Manulife in small claims court, and appealing to the insurance industry ombudsman.
A Calgary lawyer who has filed class-action lawsuits against travel insurance companies warn that policies can be tricky.
“One has to be very careful with these travel insurance policies, because there are a number of exclusions for coverage, and one of them is a pre-existing condition,” explains Clint Docken from Docken Klym. “The difficulty is someone can have a pre-existing condition and not know about it and may not have it properly or completely diagnosed before they’re taking out the coverage, and yet the insurers very often will be quick to deny on that particular exclusion.”
Manulife won’t comment on Steeveld’s case citing privacy concerns, but said in a statement:
“Manulife Financial reviews each individual travel insurance claim in great detail, taking into consideration all of the information we have. In this case, we can confirm that a payment was made as per the terms and conditions set out within the travel insurance policy.”
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