Travel insurance

[IanMK]

I've booked a couple of holidays for my wife and myself this week; the first time ever as we usually have only one (at most). Both holidays are on Greek islands and I thought it may be cheaper to buy an annual 'Multi-Trip' policy this year. I've spent all today looking for quotes - you probably know what an 'existing medical conditions' is like (actually it's interesting to note that all companies use the same one) - and I have concluded the the quotations are the outputs from a random number generator. The 'single trip' pricing is even different between the two islands. Prices seem to have doubled in the last 6 months or so. Perhaps I wouldn't mind so much if I considered myself to be ill, but my heart failure was treated by an ablation and pacemaker and I don't feel at all restricted in my day-to-day life. At 69, I consider myself to be very fit and well preserved compared to many people younger than me and with no 'diagnosed' conditions. It's the consequence of the 'one size fits all' health questionnaire.

[Lowerfield_no_more]

In my limited personal experience, and reading on here, I am afraid that is just how it is. Quotes for one individual for the same trip with the same medical conditions can generate quotes within a wide range, assuming of course they don't decline in the first place or they only want to take on board some of the conditions, excluding the others. I don't normally bother making recommendations since we are all different, but have you tried Puffin Insurance , who seem less risk averse than others and seem to be competitive.

[Hanibil]

Try Avanti

[IanMK in reply to Hanibil]

Thanks, but I’ve already tried.

The worst thing is that the quotes don’t appear to be consistent. If I try to generate a quote again I get a different result. It doesn’t create confidence in the process.

[Happyrosie]

that’s really strange “between islands” as most companies restrict to three variables geographically: Europe, rest of world excluding US etc, and US etc.

Try the website of Moneyhelper

[IanMK in reply to Happyrosie]

Maybe it was the dates. One in June, one in September.

[Rache]

I had been refused by Avanti due to the fact I was waiting for an MRI of my back due to back pain. I have a number of other conditions which they had covered in my annual policy but when I mentioned this, they collapsed the whole cover and wouldn’t cover me for any conditions! Someone suggested Moneyhelper website. They list many travel insurers and indicate which system each uses to assess risk. I chose one which uses ‘in house’ assessment - All Clear. They were very helpful and covered all my existing conditions, only excluding my back MRI as I did not yet have a diagnosis.

[Traveldreams]

Do you mind giving the range of quotes? Not personal details obviously. Would be useful to have an idea. Hoping to be able to fly soon 🤞

[IanMK in reply to Traveldreams]

Too many variables, I think, to be useful. The questionnaire is leading, clearly trying to root-out their risk but I believe it may lead to a grossly pessimistic assessment in many cases as it makes many assumptions.

Price increased by around 50% in 6 months for a single trip. You can double the price for multi-trip.

[Traveldreams in reply to IanMK]

Thank you.

[Thanksnhs]

Hi I am also going to a Greek island, Crete next month and I am dreading starting the hunt for insurance. I usually use insurancewith.com and I had good quotes for my existing conditions, heart transplant, osteoporosis, arthritis and a few more. Unfortunately last December I was diagnosed with bowel cancer, my surgery was booked for January and we had a holiday in Spain booked for December, my surgeon gave me a fit to fly and told me nothing cancer related would happen and the break would do me good, my insurance didn't agree and cancelled my whole policy I asked just for cover for heart etc they wouldn't do it. The surgery went well no further treatment is required but I am waiting on a follow up colonoscopy they don't suspect anything untoward but I think insurance companies might not be too happy about it. The holiday was booked before diagnosis, Char

[junik53]

I don’t know about Greek islands , thought they would come under Europe, but I know there are som exclusions. I have many conditions and my prices have ranged from £262 to over &1000 , there was only £ 1 difference between a single trip and a multi trip ( crazy)cheapest was for a single trip with Insurance4medical , a multi trip with them was £365. Last year I had multi trip with Staysure and was £378 but I hadn’t read policy properly and I had booked Europe excluding Spain , so wasn’t insured at all. A few years ago I was taken to hospital in France seriously ill and was in for over 3 weeks had an op on kidney and had antibiotics, I was insure with Insurance 4 medical and they paid for everything and were very good on phone from abroad with my husband who didn’t have a clue and was panicking as he was told I may not recover as I had sepsis. So I would always recommend them for an excellent service. This year I will probably go with them as Staysure quote was £420 . I am beginning to wonder if it may be better to not have insurance ( I have minimal insurance with husbands bank account for things like accidents or any illness that has nothing to do with my declared conditions as the won’t insure for those ) plus I have the GHIC card, and just pay from my savings for anything that does arise, if I had done this for the past 7 years I would have saved a bucketful of money by now . I know it’s a risk , does anyone else do thi and not have medical insurance?

[IanMK]

I suspect that the significant difference for me this year is that I had a routine CT angiogram as my cardiologist wanted to identify the cause of my heart failure 5 years ago. He reported "non-obstructed coronary arteries" but with "mild luminal stenosis seen only in the LAD and D1 branch". This last part means that I now have to answer 'Yes' to the question "Have you ever had angina or a heart attack, or been told that your coronary arteries are narrowed?" Although my cardiologist concluded that his findings would not explain my previous diagnosis of heart failure, it doesn't help me now. My ejection fraction is now more or less back into the 'normal' range.

[Happyrosie]

another point on travel insurance which has occurred to me. Martin Lewis, Moneysavingexpert, often mentions the best time to get quotes for MOTOR insurance is about 21 days before renewal - if you wait, the insurer knows that you are in a rush so increases premiums close to renewal. I really don’t know if this is the same with travel insurance.

[Lowerfield_no_more in reply to Happyrosie]

The Moneysavingsexpert site recommends 'buying your travel insurance ASAB (As Soon As you've Booked a holiday).'

[Happyrosie in reply to Lowerfield_no_more]

Absolutely. It looks though as if some posters haven’t, and what I’m saying is that maybe the price is high because the or ey is so near. I always ASAB.

[Choccie55]

Have you tried InsuranceWith.com

[IanMK]

I finally bit the bullet with Virgin Money via Comparethemarket. I was finding that despite answering the same questions, but in a different order (by entering my conditions in a different order) the quoted price could vary by almost 10%. Ludicrous, and presumably attributable to the automated decision tree. I'm probably in a better condition than people working in their offices (or working at home!). It is what it is, sadly 😐