ILR and travel insurance

[Fministry]

has anyone who is a UK resident managed to get travel insurance when they have an implantable loop recorder in place AND no diagnosis? Please let me know if you have. It appears to be the lack of diagnosis that causes the problem even though the person is well and has no symptoms.

[Happyrosie]

If someone has had some medical intervention (in your case the recorder) but there is no diagnosis, then an insurer has insufficient information on which it can price the risk.

An insurer offering cover when it does not know the risk will soon go out of business as it will have to pay out the costs when a claim is made without sufficient income from premiums.

[Fministry in reply to Happyrosie]

But there might not be anything wrong with his heart! He might have a feeling faint episode once a year. So far nothing found wrong with him via 24 hr ecg. He wishes he hadn’t had it put in. He’s well. Yet this is restricting travel. Just want a normal life. Insurers insure people who’ve had stents; heart attacks etc. He’s not had either of those.

[Happyrosie in reply to Fministry]

Indeed there might not. But there might. Remember the person a couple of weeks ago who went on holiday to turkey without any travel insurance? He got ill and the hospital refuses to let him go unless his family pays at least half the £80,000 owing. It’s possible an insurer might take on the risk so the person concerned could try various insurers (moneysavingexpert and Moneyhelper websites both have information).

An insurer will cover someone with stents, at a price - but they have statistics to tell them the risk. If there is no diagnosis then how can they price the risk?

[Stentsandrun]

What is the travel required for, if I might ask?

[Fministry]

just a short trip to EU country . He does have travel insurance but they won’t cover this. Have a GHIC too

[Hidden]

Hi, I too have an implant loop recorder which was fitted back in September 2022 due to an irregular heartbeat, ectopics etc. Unfortunately I'm symptomatic with bouts of bradycardia low hr average of 40bpm at times but i also go tachy too. I can be ok for weeks or months but then have episodes which can last days. I'm currently waiting for my results back from an exercise stress test to see if I need a pacemaker but this was 6 wks ago and still no results. Your question makes me think if I will get travel insurance too as I'm looking at going on holiday in September but I'm now worried I might not get insurance. Like you mentioned other people with stents or who have had heart attacks gets insurance so why not us? I think the reason is they have been diagnosed and have had the appropriate treatment or surgery with medication etc so are not a high risk but when it's undiagnosed like your friend and myself they don't know what the problem is so they can't get insurance as it can cover a wide variety of heart/health issues which may run into thousands of pounds to treat if they get ill on holiday. The quicker a diagnosis is confirmed the better as you will then get someone willing to insure you without paying a higher premium if they do. Keep us updated on how your friend gets on with his health and lf you manage to get someone to give them insurance. Best wishes

Taz.

[Fministry in reply to Hidden]

Not easy is it? Best wishes with your health and search for travel insurance. As you have an irregular heartbeat maybe you will be able to get insurance. My partner has had nothing at all show up.

[Horse6]

I’ve got an implanted loop recorder and I have used both Avanti and staysure. I haven’t got a proper diagnosis either. Depends which country you are going to as well. I fainted in Malta last year and was in hospital for 2 days and they treated me and didn’t ask for the insurance it was all free even the trip in the ambulance!

[Fministry in reply to Horse6]

You were very lucky. Glad you are ok

[Gymlover1979]

Are they still under investigation? If yes, agree probably impossible. If all investigations have concluded, can the reason for the recorder not be considered the diagnosis? You may not know the cause, but if investigations are complete then I wonder if this is enough.

[Fministry in reply to Gymlover1979]

No other investigations. Everything has been negative. Only has the loop recorder recently implanted. He is well and active. No further investigations are planned because he is asymptomatic.

[Blueberryjasmin]

I had the same problem. I asked my doctor to write to the hospital as I no longer had any problems and wanted a conclusion. Consultant wrote a letter to state aI was ok to travel and heart fine but would k eep lope n for a year. We told insurance company and they said that was ok.

[Fministry in reply to Blueberryjasmin]

Thank you. This might be helpful. Are you a UK resident too? Glad you got the ok to travel.

[Blueberryjasmin in reply to Fministry]

Yes I am. I too wish I’d never had it done but at the time it was all they had on offer. Had it 8 months now and never had another episode. At least it put my mind at rest. So difficult where I live to get the hospital to answer the phone and kept going round in circles which is why I appealed to my doctor.

[Fministry in reply to Blueberryjasmin]

I hope the docs don’t find anything then maybe they will say you can have it removed. That’s what we are hoping.

[Blueberryjasmin in reply to Fministry]

Yes they told me to keep it in a year in case.

[Hidden]

That's good to know! hopefully a letter from the consultant is all that's needed to get travel insurance providing you get the all clear.👍

[Happyrosie]

adding to what I wrote yesterday.

With my husband’s and my conditions, I found the best travel insurance (1500£ ish) BEFORE I booked the holiday. Then you know what the holiday is going to cost.

a european travel card is a necessity of course but it only pays what a local would pay. From memory, for example, Portuguese people pay quite a lot if they are ill. And it doesn’t cover repatriation of course. But better than nothing.

[Fministry in reply to Happyrosie]

It certainly bumps up the cost as you get older. Thank you Happyrosie

[jerry12953]

Hope I don't sound unsympathetic, but why not go on holiday in the UK?

[Stentsandrun in reply to jerry12953]

A sensible reply at last, why do people with heart conditions (or undiagnosed one's) seem to have a burning desire to go abroad? £1500 for insurance??? Think of what that could buy here while on holiday, just for the sake of a bit of guaranteed sun, don't get it. Just come back from the lake district myself, absolutely lovely.

[Fministry in reply to Stentsandrun]

I’m with you on that. Lots of lovely places here in the UK

[Arnika in reply to jerry12953]

Hi Jerry,

For some of us, it is vital to travel abroad if we need to see our family, or childhood friends who, for whatever reason are unable to travel.

At the moment I am in such situation. In fact I would dearly like to live abroad for months on end, as I did in the past, because I would receive much better emotional, and practical, support with my daily life but because of my health issues and high travel insurance costs, this is no longer possible. It breaks my heart.

I absolutely love UK and explored it endlessly in the past when I was able to, but now my health is so unpredictable, NHS is falling apart, and I feel isolated and unsupported, so in answer to your question, this is the reason why I would go on holiday abroad. Also the price of holidays here compares poorly with holidaying in other countries.

At the moment I do not even have energy to seek travel insurance,. since it stresses me too much. I have multiple conditions and find that cannot get right information to resolve it. Just one example: I had to wait two month for my last (and next) GP appointments. and had other urgent matters to discuss, no time for checking matters connected with insurance in 10 min appt alloted!

[Fministry in reply to Arnika]

Hi Arnika, yes my partner has family overseas so this is now bothering us as we want to see his sister next year. She is his only surviving sibling and is a woman on her own. He likes to make sure that she’s ok.

[Arnika in reply to Fministry]

Hi, Fministry,

Thank you for your response.

I know exactly how your partner feels since me and my brother are in the same situation. We are very close, and we have much in common so apart from missing his company, I am worrying about him, as he is getting older. He did come to visit me and my family here last year, but I could see that this time it was a great effort for him. So, now I would worry about him travelling alone.

Instead, this year my daughter with my granddaughter are visiting him shortly but can only stay for a long weekend.

I do hope that you will be able to meet his sister, soon.

[Fministry in reply to Arnika]

Thank you Arnika. He feels a sense of responsibility to his younger, and only remaining sibling. And Africa isn’t a short journey. Hoping you get to see your brother. We can’t even face time her as she doesn’t have that facility. We did see her in Feb which was really nice. This was before he had the loop recorder.

[Fministry]

I would rather he did.

[GCWhits]

I got travel insurance from Allclear with an ILR and a "likely " diagnosis of AVNRT. It was for a short trip to Germany and cost about £85. Other insurers had turned me down.

[Fministry in reply to GCWhits]

I think it is the absence of diagnosis that is causing the issue. All clear wouldn’t cover him. He’s had the occasional fainting feeling for many years and he’s still here and active. They would be less likely to have to pay out for him most likely than those with significant diagnosed heart problems. But there it is.

[Happyrosie]

I’ve just got back from Llandudno where it rained most of the time ……..

[Fministry in reply to Happyrosie]

Not been there for many many years At least you had a break.

[HenryBatman]

Going off topic, I am shortly to be fitted with with an ILR. I have been told I am not allowed to drive. Is this standard practice, how long will the ban be in place if the recorder doesn't find anything wrong? Perhaps an impossible question to answer as no one knows my circumstances, but I am just asking for your experiences really. Also, what happens when security want to scan you going into a concert? Thank you to anyone who is willing to share.

[Fministry in reply to HenryBatman]

Hi Henry, it is probably best to ask your doctors as to why in your particular case you have been advised not to drive. My partner recently flew to an EU country and no problems regarding the scanner. There were no restrictions put on him by his doctors re driving. Everyone is different though in terms of their health issues. The ILR can be in place up to 5 years. If you have no diagnosis then you may find travel insurance for cardiovascular conditions impossible to obtain and listed as an exclusion. This is the case with my partner. If he had a diagnosis then it might be different. The procedure to insert the ILR is minor and nothing to worry about. Hope all goes well.