Travel insurance

[Kazeb]

I'm always confused as to what to tick when completing travel insurance. My husband has an ICD due to a cardiac arrest but was caused by an arrhythmia. Otherwise heart is fine. He has been put on Medication as a precaution. Any suggestions as to what to tick or recommendations for companies to use

[happyrosie1]

to get an overview of travel insurance companies, please visit the websites of Moneysavingexpert or MoneyHelper UK.

assuming the question is “do you take tablets?” To which the answer is “yes” then go on to state the condition - arrhythmia- then go on to answer the questions. I think this will cover it. You’ll probably get “have you had a heart attack ?” = yes. And you give date.

Whilst mostly the questions are the same for most companies, their pricing will be different so what’s good for me might not be good for you. And this means that you may have to try several companies.

Personally, I get mine through a packaged bank account but as an experiment I recently got quotes, which ranged from 1900 £ to about £1200 for worldwide annual cover.

Do ensure you answer questions accurately.

I used to be a life assurance underwriter so I’ve a bit of an insight!

[Alicant in reply to happyrosie1]

Yes answer questions exactly but they can be be ambiguous…

A question that I found ..put down I have HF ..discovered at referral to A& E ..by Gp .

Question…”Have you had any unplanned hospital visits due to this…” answer Yes

Also have AF…found when went to And E above.

Question “ Have you had any unplanned hospital visits with this?) ..if you answer Yes ..it deduces you’ve had TWO unplanned ie emergency visits in last year..so problem.

But if you put No …truthful response…you’re ok to go!

[Lowerfield_no_more]

As above. And/or go on a comparison site for travel insurance with pre-existing medical conditions, fill in the questions fully and honestly, and then take it from there by selecting some quotes that appear to be OK then talk to a person. Or talk to a local insurance broker. Unfortunately if you have any form of medical condition, heart or otherwise, irrespective of whether you believe you are fit and healthy, insurance providers don't seem to see it that way and may load the premium accordingly.

[Vanilla88]

I really struggle to even get past the early questions and wonder what I’m doing wrong. I get rejected at “further to your recent gp or hospital appointment are you awaiting a follow up appointment or procedure” at which point the answer yes results in “Cannot offer you a quote” this has been the situation since 2018, using specialist insurance companies.

Others I talk to seem to be able to travel with much more serious health issues.

If I hadn’t insisted on a heart scan in 2018 no one would know I had a problem.

Don’t mean to hijack your post, but interested to see / read how others get on.

[Kaysarasara in reply to Vanilla88]

morning Vanilla88. They will not give you travel insurance whilst you are still undergoing tests, the best they seem to offer is insurance excluding the any heart related problems, which is as good as no insurance.

[Vanilla88 in reply to Kaysarasara]

Yes, the frustration comes from the fact with seemingly minor issues I’m always undergoing tests, even meds changes are a problem for the insurance.

[Kaysarasara]

did they never figure out why he had the arrhythmia? From what I remember insurers let you select icd from the drop-down.

[Thaifan]

hi I have had a pacemaker since July 2022. I regularly travel to Thailand to visit family. I use Saga Travel insurance. Answer all the questions honestly otherwise you can nullify your cover. Saga a bit more expensive but I feel I have peace of mind with them. Hope this helps.

[Thanksnhs]

Hi I use insurancewith.com , I was using them when I had my ICD which was because I had cardiomyopathy, they ask what meds you are taking and there is a drop-down for the reason why and a box at the end to declare anything you have been diagnosed with but are not receiving treatment. Char

[OK10]

I don't like filling forms. Half the time you don't how much and what to in the form.I rather ring and speak to a real person and fill the form with hm/her.

[Eagleswing]

hi, it’s really good to check and actually I’d highly recommend ringing the insurer and asking them. I did our travel insurance online and answered the questions as best I could. A few months later I phoned the insurer to add a condition and I found I’d filled it out completely incorrectly. They corrected my errors with no issues and actually it reduced the cost because post heart attack my husband hasn’t had any issues.

If in doubt, call and ask them directly.