Reminder of recommended travel insura... - Lung Conditions C...

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Reminder of recommended travel insurance, please!

Blackcat99 profile image
11 Replies

Unfortunately, we had a dreadful experience with Staysure when we got marooned in Thailand at the start of the pandemic, and all flights home were stopped - so don't want to use them again.

I thought I'd seen another company suggested on this forum very recently, but forgot to note it down at the time 🙄 and now I can't find it. Can anyone remind me, please?

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Blackcat99 profile image
Blackcat99
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11 Replies
SORRELHIPPO profile image
SORRELHIPPO

I used Avanti Travel Insurance, when going to South Pacific across USofA, said would cover all existing conditions with no upper age limit. Cannot recall if they then passed me to a more specialist company once I started listing all my conditions!! Did not need to claim, so cannot tell how good they are at this bit of their process🤔

SAGA are not cheap but covered all my conditions in US and paid out $560 with no quibbling when I slipped in The Rockies and broke my little toe.

Jaybird19 profile image
Jaybird19 in reply to

i agree about saga . not cheap but no quibbles

MMaud profile image
MMaud

I haven't used them yet, but have heard very good things about this bunch:

medicaltravelcompared.co.uk/

Blackcat99 - we came home from Thailand just in time 2 years ago. We had to cut our trip a month short due to a family bereavement, but in reality we were fortunate we arrived home in time to restock the larder, fridges and freezers before the mad scramble that took place. Silver lining and all that.

I'm sorry you were reluctantly stuck there, but at least your climate would have been excellent.

Blackcat99 profile image
Blackcat99 in reply to MMaud

Hi! I'm so sorry that you had to cut your trip short because of bereavement - although, as you say, you did get home in time to batten down the hatches, so to speak. Certainly not a bad place for us to get stuck (just a little bit too hot for me) The flight home, when we finally managed to get one, was truly bizarre and very much like one of those aeroplane disaster films which were so popular a couple of decades ago - kept expecting Sandra Bullock to appear from the flight deck! 😱

MMaud profile image
MMaud in reply to Blackcat99

Our bereavement wasn't someone very close to us, which clearly softens things a little, but my OH is the senior male in the family these days and wanted to be there for all of those who couldn't be for one reason or another. He's a fine man, my OH. :)

I love SE Asia, and I'm assured we'll go back as soon as the golf season ends. We're fortunate to have family with properties in a few places in that part of the world, so we have a sort of near-home -from-home.

For me? The hotter the better. I adore the sun on my bones.

I hope you'll be back there soon too.

Blackcat99 profile image
Blackcat99 in reply to MMaud

We love SE Asia too (the excessive heat is my only grumble!) and have visited a lot of different countries and cultures there. Not unlike yourself, our son moves around with work, has had several postings in that region, which usually offers a nice (free) base to tour from! Here's to all our next trips abroad, everyone!

teenieleek profile image
teenieleek

That’s the rub with insurance companies. People recommend different ones without ever having claimed. There is a website where you can see how they compare on claim handling. Can’t remember the name. Try a search using key words. Direct line paid up with no fuss for us once but they, like Saga, are expensive and I think they’re picky about who they cover.

Alberta56 profile image
Alberta56

I have claimed twice from Saga, once for a whole holiday not taken after a heart attack, once for a day lost because of a traffic accident. They wanted proof, but paid up promptly without any quibbles.

Alberta56 profile image
Alberta56

PS. they did add my daughter on to the policy for a very small amount .

Blackcat99 profile image
Blackcat99

Thanks for all the helpful advice, folks - much appreciated! I'll have a good look at SAGA and Avanti, also the comparison site.

I should point out that in the episode I mentioned, we didn't actually try to claim for anything at all - the problem arose at the start of the pandemic, when all flights were cancelled very suddenly and we couldn't get home from Thailand to Scotland. At that point, we were with son and his now-wife, so we all rented an apartment in a deserted beach resort, and they worked from there, while we all hunkered down quite happily. Seriously not a major hardship! We paid all our own expenses, didn't ask Staysure for a penny, although we'd already paid the original premium of almost £900 for two of us.

Daughter, back in UK, had to spent many hours trying to get hold of them to try to extend our cover for any health issues, plus our eventual journey home. This was on top of her own job plus home schooling two children, and she had to go through the same performance every few days, to keep our cover valid. She wouldn't tell us how much she had paid out on our behalf, but I gather that it was about another £900 - for which they gave us no help whatsoever. That may explain my reluctance to use that company ever again?

Let's hope we all get a nice little bit of holiday time this year! x

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