I have recently been diagnosed with Copd, I have been with my current insurer for travel health insurance for about 12 years with asthma quoted on it as existing medical condition, I have never had to make a claim in all that time. As my insurance is up for renewal on 31 August I decided to give them a call and declare the copd and ask for a revised quotation, what a saga it was, I was told that I had to pay £16 just to have copd put on my existing policy (the one that only has 2 weeks to run) before they could give me another renewal quotation with copd as existing medical condition.
After a stand off I spoke to a supervisor and eventually got the new quotation, it had gone up by 150%, needless to say I will not be insuring with them for the coming year. I have just taken out a multi-trip policy for a year with a company called Staysure, who gave me a very reasonable price and were extremely helpful.
I thought I would share this experience with you so if you are after health travel insurance shop around.
Pat
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patsymac
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you seem to be sorted out alright but I would like to add a word of warning to everyone else. If you have a close relative with COPD whose condition worsens and you have to cancel your holiday, most insurance companies will not pay out. Always ask your insurer to add this risk to your policy. You will have to pay a premium but it is well worth it. My wife always insures though Good to Go but other companies and the BLF will offer the same cover if asked. Always be absolutely honest with your insurer.
Hi Bev. I got myself suspended for 10 days for being naughty. I can't say much more really. And they wouldn't give me a sick note either although I was pretty sick.
we were thinking of venturing to France next year for a couple of weeks and I did a call round to get insurance cover and the best one came from Holiday Extras, again. We used them last Christmas for a two week holiday in Canada.
Interesting patsymac, We travel overseas quite often and I am meticulous at declaring
all health conditions. COPD is the latest of a number of ailments that I have declared.
They asked me can I walk 100 metres without stopping and yes I can ( on good days I can do 200+). I am 59 and the cost of my policy remains unchanged from Pre COPD about £120 worldwide for a year. This is with Aviva which I get through my bank, First
Hi Beatles that is strange because the company who I was with for 12 years was Aviva and as soon as I declared my copd my policy went up 150%, mine is only for European cover, maybe doing it through your bank makes a difference.
Curiouser and curiouser said Alice, Yes patsymac I think you are spot on with the bank tie. We were offered this insurance many years ago, as we used to travel to St Lucia each Christmas. But I
realised it was a bargain and convinced Carmen, my wife that it was an excellent deal.
Regrettably I have not yet felt confident enough to fly long haul
I have had so called free insurance with the travel firm we went with, but they then charged a fortune for my pre existing. I used a company on-line and which saved me 80% on what the travel firm wanted.
While we are on insurance when I first was diagnosed with my many ills I looked at mortgage protection insurance which was in fact a higher monthly cost than my mortgage! I did not go with it.
Patsymac, I am really interested in how you managed to get a year round policy when being covered for your COPD.
I have not managed to find ANY company willing to give me a year round, multi-trip policy. I assume it would be very much cheaper than having to arrange insurance cover every time I travel.
Hi Dangirl1 I have always had a multi-trip travel insurance, mine is for European countries only, which suits me as I dont like long flights. As you say it does save money than booking for a single trip everytime. My current policy is with Staysure Tel. No. 0800 033 4156 give them a ring you might be pleasantly surprised.
I thought all of these recommendations sounded good so I have just put all of the information into Staysure website and it came back as £519.75 per annum for both of us for limited European cover, think I will stick to our single cover with Holiday Extras at £77 for both.
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