Travel insurance US/Cruise. - British Liver Trust

British Liver Trust

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Travel insurance US/Cruise.

Hayls48 profile image
16 Replies

Has anyone post transplant managed to obtain fair priced travel insurance for a cruise. So far quotes are £400 and above for 2 weeks when declaring transplant, normal cost for average person is £64. I expect to pay more fair enough ..... but really £300+ is robbery. Not had an issue when holidaying in Europe.

I’m soon to be 50 and have no other medical conditions 4 years post transplant with no complications since. Hence the posh holiday to celebrate mine and hubbys half century 🙈

Any recommendations of companies who may specialise in cruise cover and medical conditions most gratefully received.

I’ve tried the ones I’ve used previously with no joy other than extortionate quotes.

Got everything crossed to make our trip a reality rather than a non starter 😬

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Hayls48 profile image
Hayls48
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16 Replies
nutrimar profile image
nutrimar

Have you tried asking for annual cover instead of single trip? I use Staysure and last August I bought it for £220. However, that was Worldwide excluding USA & Caribbean and cruises.

My frustration with travel insurance companies is that they don't take into account the length of time post transplant without suffering any related issues. I'm 6 years post, and they only look at the last 6 months. Frustrating.

Hayls48 profile image
Hayls48 in reply tonutrimar

Hi

Yes I’ve tried a variety of options annual and single trip, adding my spouse for cover on same policy etc. Having a break from searching tonight as head is somewhat fried after work, plus repeatedly inputting same details for more quotes is likely to push me over the edge 🤦🏻‍♀️

Will try again tomorrow and post update. Thanks 😊

Barnetaccounts profile image
Barnetaccounts

Just to bring a smile to your face. I had an aborted transplant in Nov 16. I wanted cover for a 2 week cruise from Fort Lauderdale and a 5 week stay in Florida. I was quoted £25,000. I searched around and got a much more reasonable quote, I think I ended up paying about £600. I had to get medical clearance to travel but was quite proud of the quote I initially got.

Hayls48 profile image
Hayls48 in reply toBarnetaccounts

😱 OMG 25k what am I moaning about 😂😂 id be proud too !! Going to try some of the recommended companies below. Chuffed you managed to get cover

JimmyJackson profile image
JimmyJackson

Try Nationwide

Hi Hayls48

We do have a list of insurance companies who say they will cover those with a liver condition on our website here: britishlivertrust.org.uk/wp...

Prices and cover do vary from company to company so it is always worth getting a number of quotes - hopefully there are some on the list you haven't already tried.

We would recommend speaking to your transplant team that they are happy for you to travel and if you ask them they may provide a letter confirming your health status which can help with getting cover from some companies.

Best wishes

British Liver Trust admin team

AndyEssex profile image
AndyEssex

I would imagine that holiday insurance to the USA would always be expensive due to the cost of private medical care out there. Do you think that the insurance company see a cruise ship as a bit of a breeding ground for bugs and germs or do you not think they look into it as deep as that? I had a liver transplant in August 2017 and used to travel extensively. I'm completely bored with holidays for now but I'm sure in a couple of years I'll want to go somewhere again.

Radnor profile image
Radnor in reply toAndyEssex

The reason cruise insurance is so high is because if someone is taken seriously ill, they need to be hospitalised. On dry land you send for an ambulance. Out in the middle of the ocean an air ambulance is needed. There are doctors on board but they are not specialists and this method of transport to a hospital is megabucks.

Danisleigh profile image
Danisleigh

We are returning to the USA twice next year with our son who is a year post next week and the prices are eye watering. We have found the best prices are close to the holiday which is fine for covering you for illness but not so good if you need to cancel

Hayls48 profile image
Hayls48 in reply toDanisleigh

Hi Danisleigh

I’ve tried 10+ companies who quote for existing medical conditions. And your spot on, all the usual cover you would expect for cancelled plans, lost luggage, theft etc are all excluded only providing cover for anything illness wise attributed to my transplant. It Doesn’t make sense to me that anyone would consider travelling without the usual basic cover included for the extortionate prices they want.

If I find anything i’ll post an update which may help others. Good luck in your quest also.

Dallo100 profile image
Dallo100

Try this: medicaltravelcompared.co.uk/

Hayls48 profile image
Hayls48 in reply toDallo100

Hi Dallo100

Thank you for the link. Caribbean Cruise is off unfortunately the quotes were out of my budget for cover.

However had a silver lining Mediterranean cruise is on obtained cover for £51.00 14 nights !! 🎉✈️🚢🎉

Jans1953 profile image
Jans1953

I travelled to USA 2 years ago (pre-transplant) and paid £750 I'm going back this year and am very pleased to say my insurance this year is less than £300 (6 months post transplant). I think thats quite good as I now have renal disfuction and diabetes so quite happy to pay that. That's with Premier Cover.

Roy1955 profile image
Roy1955

A friend of mine had to be helicoptered off a cruise ship (heart attack).

Air ambulance, life saving operation, medical team to fly him back to UK etc.

Insurance paid out about £140,000.

Call around but £400 sounds a good deal.

I just did a weeks cruise around canary islands and the insurance was £300ish. (Saga AXA)

I have symptom free compensated cirrhosis, picked up during my 60 year old medical check but have to declare it.

1football profile image
1football

Hi

I went in comparethemarket and found really good prices for Thailand opted for £128 single trip for both of us ( am 8 months post) this after being quoted £918 by staysure😡

Huw

Identity75 profile image
Identity75

I’ve struggled with this. Have imput my details numerous times over and over again into more companies websites than I care to remember. One of two things have always happened. The most common is a message to say we cannot provide a quote at this time, you’ll need to talk to an advisor (which I bothered to do twice with the same result, a quote in the tens of thousands) or the second result is an extortionate quote, some are just a few thousands others in their tens of thousands.

I understand the issue, I really do, but those of us needing medical travel insurance are likely to have been through so much and are probably in the top 10% of people that could really benefit from a break away and yet we are priced out of it. So many of us due to illness are possibly unable to work, so it’s a challenge to find the money for the holiday alone, lump on top of that the astronomical insurance costs and it simply becomes out of reach for most of us. We then either don’t go, or go without insurance risking our health.

There must be a better way. I don’t mind spending a bit more, two maybe three hundred instead of fifty or sixty quid but I cannot go into the thousands, paying more for the insurance than the actual holiday. Could they not implement a no claims bonus like that found with car insurance? Something must be done.

Sorry. Rant over.

For those searching and wanting to go to America I have found the best thing to do is obtain medical cover from America itself, many websites available, this is specifically designed for visitors and covers pre existing conditions and at a fraction of the cost. It DOES NOT cover holiday cancellations or other such things travel insurance does. This is solely a medical coverage system.

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