Travel Insurance - medical questions

[Silversurfers]

My husband had a heart attack 13 years ago. He didn’t need stents as it was caused by a narrowing of an artery. His BP and cholesterol were both completely normal but as a precaution he was prescribed one tablet per day for both cholesterol and BP. He has never looked back thank goodness. When we are completing medical questions on travel insurance forms I feel we are forced to say he suffers from High Cholesterol and BP even though this is not the case. Our European insurance has been reasonable but now we are planning a 10 day trip to Florida and the cost of insurance is approx £1200. He is 71 now so I assume his age is a factor. Does anyone know any way around these medical questions? Thank you for reading my post

[sue2002]

We get our insurance from Insurancewith. My husband has health conditions as well as me. They are very good at listening to what you say unlike other companies who insist on a yes/no answer which doesn't always apply .

[MichaelJH Heart Star]

As your husband did not require intervention like stents or a bypass it suggests the narrowing was less than 50%. You have to be honest about the medication and don't be tempted to stop it even temporarily as his BP and cholesterol levels could go out of range.

The perils of not getting appropriate insurance was in the papers earlier this year. A family went to Florida and the grandmother (about 60) was hospitalised (heart?) and got a huge bill. There was no insurance in place and the family attempted crowd funding but as I recall got little sympathy as they had found the money for a very expensive holiday and skimped on insurance.

I suggest trying StaySure.

[Kristicats in reply to MichaelJH]

It’s worth comparing because I moved from staysure to all clear last year as it was much cheaper for the same cover and staysure only wanted to give me European cover

[Lezzers]

All Clear are very reasonable for people with heart conditions, however, America & the carribean is always gonna be expensive due to the high costs of health care out there.

[bludnut in reply to Lezzers]

All Clear quoted us over £ 4,000 because of my Angina and osteoarthritis, so we used our bank Nationwide and got worldwide cover for £ 240 up front and £ 13 / month.

bludnut

[sturon]

Hi.

The best thing is to ask your GP what they would say in the very unlikely event of you having to make a claim. Having had a recent claim I am just glad we asked our GP. He told us what he would put on the medical declaration and when we made the claim they paid out no problem.

Your husband could do this over the telephone with his GP or book a short appointment.

Happy holiday.

[Plum53]

Hi you could try Boots I have Boots silver and it covered us annually with a cruise to the Carabean included . Found it to be reasonable .

[Kristicats]

Not really because I’m prescribed statins after a heart attack nearly 4 years ago I have to declare cholesterol. I use all clear insurance as it’s much better with age and ‘conditions’

[Silversurfers]

Thanks everyone. I think best option is to chat to GP and agree on what needs to go travel insurance application. Incidentally I was speaking to lady from Staysure who said that if a perfectly healthy person takes travel insurance with no medical cover, they would not be covered in the event of something happening on holiday if it transpired they had visited their GP in the past two years - for even a flu!

[Kristicats in reply to Silversurfers]

There was something on the tv a while ago re a person who died on holiday far away from home. Didn’t have any insurance . The family had to sell the house to get the person home to be buried! Scary. I think it’s best to declare everything esp if had any major illness.

[clarehealsworldwide]

Hi. I wa turned down by 42 companies when i tried to get travel insurance in February. Then I asked for advice on this forum & was informed about the

Women's Institute group travel insurance policy with Open Travel. Next day i went to a meeting of my local WI group, & joined the group. The day after i downloaded the Open Travel application form & completed it. They charge £195 by annual direct debit for annual multi trip worldwide policy which can include spouse & children living at same address. No medical questions asked. Good luck. Clare

[Margah in reply to clarehealsworldwide]

Clare I'm thinking of taking out the W.I. travel insurance for next year. I am a member. I read about the insurance on this forum. Most members I've spoken to have never heard of it! I wonder how easy it is to get support for a medical emergency abroad? Do you have any knowledge of making a claim?

[clarehealsworldwide in reply to Margah]

Hi, no I haven't had to make a medical claim yet. You could look at the Open Travel website online, then phone & ask them. In their policy booklet are phone numbers to call in emergency. I decided to just visit EU countries since having several heart conditions diagnosed, & can use EHIC card for medical emergencies.

[Margah in reply to clarehealsworldwide]

Thanks Clare appreciate your prompt reply.

[MichaelJH Heart Star in reply to clarehealsworldwide]

I am concerned that EHIC might disappear on Brexit, in particular the hard version favoured by MPs living in the Victorian era!

[clarehealsworldwide in reply to MichaelJH]

Hi Michael. I agree. I believe it's "under consideration". A good travel insurance will be even more important after brexit. I feel very fortunate I've already been everywhere I wanted to go. Clare

[saxondaisy in reply to clarehealsworldwide]

Hi Clare, I have just looked at a similar site with the civil service, it does not ask any medical questions but when I looked at the policy details it says if you have a medical condition you need to ring a telephone number they give you to disclose any medical conditions

[clarehealsworldwide in reply to saxondaisy]

Thanks. I will read the brochure more carefully now. Happy Christmas. Clare

[saxondaisy in reply to clarehealsworldwide]

You too

[clarehealsworldwide]

I really enjoy going to the WI meetings & outings too! Clare

[Judithduckworth]

We are with Staysure. They're strict and expensive, but a lot cheaper than most. Plus you need that cover, just in case. Good luck

[walktheboston]

Hi ,

My husband is on preventative medication and the same thing happened to us . It is worth ringing the insurance company up as doing on line resulted in an impass. Following advice on the forum we also went to see the GP which was really helpful.We were quoted £989 for one 10 day trip to Canada with winter sports. Staysure offered £500 for a years cover . Each case is different and seems to be wholly dependent on the individual.

[Yildez]

hi.I have the same issue.went to the drs as was feeling dizzy.had ecg.was told I had heart failure? The same week.four days later sent me for a stress test.and nothing there? .4 months later was sent for a mri.that also showed it was normal.but it is on my records.so I can not win.if I tell the truth I have nothing.and god forbid I have a heart problem my insurance will not cover me.so I put I have it on insurance.and my policy doubles.🤦🏻‍♀️