I have been on medication for over a year. Calquence Acalabrutinib. And co-triMOXAzole to counter infections.
My Haematologist tells me my blood is “under control”. My WBC is down, my Lymphocytes still high.
My husband and I have a joint bank account with Nationwide, which includes travel insurance. The company Nationwide uses is Aviva. However they do not cover Leukaemia. A general term. In their words “you are covered for everything else.” ?? Which is worldwide cover, including cruises.
My GP tells me forget the USA, Carribean, Mexico, Canada and China. The costs are too high to be covered by travel insurance companies.
So I am sticking to Europe.
My quandary is do I just stick with Nationwide for my travel insurance, and not worry that I am not covered for CLL. Use GHIC.
I feel fine, no symptoms.
I have used Insurancewith last year, did it online, and they came out fine. Trying to renew it this year, over the telephone, is another story. So many questions. Had to add statins, and medication for anxiety. Now waiting for an expert to ring me back, to ask more questions.
And all of this just for Europe. Nightmare.
My neighbour has had a heart attack, has a pacemaker, and is insured with Nationwide Travel Insurance, with no problems. I feel well, so why am I treated like this?
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Bluecheeseforme
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It appears as if Bluecheese is a European resident. At least that is my take so she is probably not able to join AARP as EU and UK members are not allowed membership.
Bluecheese, if you fill out your profile you’ll get more appropriate responses.
Hi, you could take a chance and rely on your Nationwide insurance but you run the risk of them linking any medical event to your CLL and refusing to pay for treatment or repatriation etc. Personally, I wouldn't risk it as there are insurance companies that will cover your CLL at a reasonable cost. Just need to search a bit and the McMillan site is quite helpful in this regard.
Try payingtoomuch they covered us for 10bweeks in France for less than £400 for an annual policy and we're both over 75vwuth various maladies including CLL for me
Note: for rest of world, Nationwide are a UK building society that offers full banking and insurance services.
Staysure are currently running TV ad's for travel insurance with pre-existing medical conditions. I've insured with them before I was Dx but never had a claim.
Was with Staysure for couple of years while on watch & wait, no claims, however when time (Jan 2025) to start O&V, they allowed cancellation of holiday planed for February, however would not cover a holiday planned for July 25, was actually better to get refund of policy rather than claim.Rather annoyed that they said not covered for future holidays until after treatment when can be reassessed. Be aware holiday plans may need to be changed.
Would not risk travel without cover as any infection could be linked to CLL.
I’m also with Nationwide & they haven’t covered my CLL since just after covid 2021 ! I have just gone with All Clear and it was £179 but no cruise just rest of world excluding Caribbean, Mexico & USA , but if you are all up to date with covid jabs you are covered if you became ill abroad with covid . Hope this helps .
I would cover your CLL elsewhere, I have had to claim this year for the first time and as it was my husbands special birthday we had a big holiday booked. Nationwide would not have paid out for either of us.
Ah that sounds interesting. I am talking to Insurancewith at the moment. Looking at annual travel insurance. So if I tell them I only want cover for CLL, they can do it?
Get covered.. Since CLL affects our susceptibility to all infections and our ability to recivee/ heal any problem can and is likely to be blamed on CLL.And then your bank won't cover it.. You GHIC will cover what a citizen of your visited country would pay.. In France, for example 80%. My insurance paid €52,000 for that 20% when I had a burst appendix.. Please do not risk it.
I'm with HSBC. Same as Nationwide, all covered apart from CLL. Went to the States and insured with World First but we mainly holiday in the camper van, France and Spain. 2019, however, when we left home I wasn't feeling great, which is pretty normal for April. As the winter drags on I generally go downhill a bit.
Anyway, cut a long story short, ended up in Pau hospital for 5 days with pneumonia. EHIC card covered most of it but still had to pay somewhere in the region of £900. Wife stayed in the car park in the van. Not a great holiday for her.
Now if we holiday in Europe, if we're not too far from the channel I won't bother with insurance but if it's going to take more than a couple of days dash back then definitely. If you shop around it's not that expensive and just worth the peace of mind.
I have CLL (same treatment as you for several years) and diabetes (35 years) and the same problem. I am also with Nationwide. (flex plus).Touch wood, both conditions are stable but I recently started on slow release Insulin for the Diabetes.
I take the view that, if all is stable when I travel, why would anything flare up when away? I am careful about the diabetes, but the Acalabrutinib makes me feel 45 again (I am 79 and am blessed with recently diagnosed ADHD)
So I have notified the Insurance team of all my meds and agreed the exclusion of cover for these two conditions. Last time it would have cost 5 times the cost of the holiday to have them covered.
When, on a cultural tour of N. Cyprus, I developed bursitis at LGW on the way out. After 3 days struggling on the tour I asked the guide to organise visit to hospital for x-rays, ultrasound and CT scans.
As I couldn't walk I hired a car for myself and companion, also taking a pair of ladies on the last day to Gerald Durrel's house (promised by the itinerary, but the guide just waved his hand at a steep hill and said "up there".)
The hospital diagnosed a problem with a knee cartilage (even though the pain was in my hip!) and I accepted that.
The FlexPlus travel insurance were great. They covered the medical treatment and 4 days car hire, only excluding the full tank of petrol (less than £20 - N. Cyprus is motoring heaven, unlike the South which is in the EU where everything costs more than double).
Previously, before changing underwriter, there was a swinging Age Supplement with the FlexPlus cover, but now you pay nothing extra for being old.
I consider the risk worthwhile only because my three-monthly CLL checkups show my blood levels are all within the normal ranges, and I have been managing my diabetes through diet and medications for 35 years through hypers and hypos.
I have looked at other, "specialist" insurers but they all charge £thousands extra for the conditions and take no account of whether they are stable or not.
My CLL Consultant wrote a letter once, saying my CLL was stable, but to no effect - the "specialist" insurer was impervious to reason.
Please do not take this as advice. Your circumstances might not be the same as mine.
I reason that the worse that could happen is my symptoms could worsen - in which case, at the first signs, I would get the first (cheap) flight home and get to my NHS "team" rather than claim.
I have been a dedicated "Cruise" addict for more than half a century but I would hesitate to venture beyond Europe again now as the cost of being airlifted off a ship mid-atlantic would be extreme!
I am a natural risk taker (an ADHD thing) but as a mathematician I would always assess the risk before travelling.
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