Travel Insurance - anyone know of any company willing to insure oxygen dependent travellers.....?

[iamu]

I am being optimistic ; especially as my friends have fundraised to buy me a portable oxygen concentrator in that I would love to be able to make it to my nephews wedding in Switzerland.

Can anyone help me re travel insurance - as I am oxygen dependent - any companies known to you?

Thanks x

[Athar]

Hi

The BLF website has lots of information on this subject here

blf.org.uk/Page/Travel-insu...

and for more information you can always ring our helpline on 03000 030 555 it is free from most phones

Happy holidays!

[elian]

Getting travel insurance doesn't seem to be a problem lamu, it's paying for it that's the difficulty. Up to the point where I needed oxygen 16/24 my travel insurance was around £60 per trip (to Switzerland, where my daughter lives).

Unfortunately, I was hospitalised quite a few times (because of my COPD) between November 2011 and February of this year and was prescribed oxygen upon discharge. The new travel insurance premium being quoted is now in the region of £2,000 !!!

I guess I'll have to wait for my daughter and her family to visit me in future

Please let me know if you manage to get a cheaper quote.

[iamu]

Thanks Elian,

I think I will be watching via skype....

So far when companies hear my history and medication - they won't even give me a quote - you have to laugh/cry.......

[Easybreather]

Sorry Iamu - agree with elian here. It is easy to get insurance, but can you pay the vast sums they require.

With all due deference to the BLF, their website list of insurance companies is useless .... they all up the ante once you are on oxygen, even if, like me, you have never, ever been hospitalised with COPD and the condition is well managed. Maybe that is something the BLF could negotiate on our behalf - sensible insurance terms.

Just to add that I have phoned all those insurance companies so do know what I am talking about.

[elian in reply to Easybreather]

"Just to add that I have phoned all those insurance companies so do know what I am talking about."

Me too, Easybreather and lots more besides !

[Hidden in reply to elian]

"Just to add that I have phoned all those insurance companies so do know what I am talking about."

Me three. x

[iamu]

Thanks guys - just need to count my blessings ..... Switzerland not financially viable. x

[PollyP]

Hi iamu,

Try this company, they have always been helpful when I have used them for long haul travel.

allcleartravel.co.uk/cgi-bi...

Good luck,

PollyP

[iamu]

Thanks Polly - most competitive so far but need to win lottery. Thanks though, useful link. x

[Breathlesslady]

Hi There

I use a broker-Insurance Choice. They have arranged the insurance for me,for the past few years, it is expensive but I have worldwide cover for the year, I have Asthma, Bronch' problems,

Angina (never been in hosptial for this, just have the spray should I need to use it!) & others things, maybe they can help. Just "Google " them.

Don't give up, the air in Switzerland, will do you good.

Take Care, do let us know how you get on.

[Mulie]

Hi Lamu,

None of the companies listed by the BLF will quote for anything more serious than ingrowing toenails it would appear so I find it abhorrent for these companies to advertise that they cover pre-conditions. Makes you want to scream........................

Like the others I too have been a victim of insurance companies and "telephone" numbers seem to be the prices these sharks can quote. Lately I have been advising that I only need oxygen for ambulatory to keep the costs down to below £100. I did ask one of them why they quoted so highly and was told it was the cost or repatriation!!! I am on 02 16/24 and luckily have not been hospitalised for some years now - says she rapidly touching wood!!!

I really would like to know how many of us have had to be repatriated to warrant the extraordinary prices quoted and would agree with you; why can't BLF help us with this?

Make sure you take double meds; 02 POC/portable nebulisa - just in case. You then have everything you need including your emergency pack of antibiotics and steroids.

A friend of mine has a GP who considers it a waste of time taking out insurance as long as you are in the EU and can use your EHIC. Alternatively - just don't admit you have a condition!

Good luck with it and hope you get to the wedding

M

[Easybreather in reply to Mulie]

Hi Mulie - if you do not admit to your condition, they will still find out. If something happens abroad, one of the first things they do is to contact your doc in the UK and (s)he will tell them - end of insurance cover for you.

I do not bother with insurance for my lungs - I take my antibios and steroids and should I be unlucky enough to get an infection, then take them. Let's face it, if I am too ill to travel, will not go; if I am ill out there, will take antis and steroids; if I am ill on the way home and can make it home, I can contact my doc. I also have my EHIC.

Touching wood, I have never been ill whilst out of the country.

[HuwieHex]

Regarding Mulie's response. If you take out insurance without disclosing your condition then don't expect a claim to be paid. It is fraud. And yes, the insurers will find out: they are not stupid. You can use your EH1C in Switzerland but it wouldn't cover the cost of getting you back home. And I also agree with Mulie that the list of companies quoted by BLF is as useful as a fart in a thunderstorm.

[Easybreather in reply to HuwieHex]

I do agree with your last comment, but it seems that the BLF cocks a deaf 'un when these things are mentioned and keeps referring people to their totally useless list of insurance companies / brokers.

[Edwina47 in reply to Easybreather]

I totally agree,I received this list on Friday,& have been through the list with no luck

[elian]

It's almost two years ago now that I visited my daughter in Zurich (I didn't take out travel insurance) and I was taken seriously ill (in a coma due to CO2 retention). I spent a week in intensive care and a week on a ordinary ward (I can't remember anything at all about being in intensive care). The doctors and staff at the hospital were wonderful but I was told I would receive a bill when I returned home (my daughter had to guarantee that it would be paid).

When I returned home I contacted the Overseas Health Team and was relieved to hear that because of a reciprocal agreement with Switzerland I was only liable to pay the same amount as a Swiss citizen would pay. The bill came to about 35,000 Swiss Francs but I only had to pay around £1300 of that and the Overseas Healthcare Team refunded that money to me minus £90 (my contribution).

If you think you can take the risk of not insuring then by all means go ahead. I was going to do the same this year but decided against it at the last moment. If I were to die out there I would have to be buried/cremated out there as there is no way my family could afford to have me flown home.

Those of you who have had reasonable quotes for insurance are very lucky indeed :). I have tried every, and I mean EVERY insurance company in existence and still haven't managed a quote below £1600.