Holiday Insurance

[sadoldred]

Hi can anybody help. Is there anywhere I can get holiday insurance from? Last year everybody turned me down because of Fibro! If Fibro isnt that bad as Government bodies make out ie. Benefits and alike, then why cant we get insurance?? x

[LindseyMid]

There are specialist insurers who cover people with all kinds of issues - one example (I have never used them though and cannot recommend them) would be Freedom Insurance.

[Kasha]

I'l probably get shot for saying this but why tell the insurance company? I dont. You are highly unlikely to need "urgent" medical treatment abroad because of Fybro? and the reason your probably being turned down is because they know nothing about Fybro and wont take any chances due to their ignorance.

[Hidden]

well kasha i thought this why tell insurance company abt my m.e and we went to turkey,.and coz its outside the e.u.i never ever thought id need medcial help.

god was i soo wrong.2nd nite there i was hallucinating,panic attacks,sweat dripping off me,bleeding from every where down there etc.

i was sooo scared.i dont remember getting in lift and going to reception.

they thought id been attacked i was so bad.

i was rushed to hospital put through the most invasive and horrible internals etc.

they didnt speak hardly any english.all they cared about was my insurance.

i didnt have any.so they kept me locked up in the hospital room all nite on my own.

took my passport off,got a ambulance driver to drive me back to my kids and hubby get my bank card.which only had my mortgage money.he drove me to a cashpoint where i was stood in my blood stained pjs.made me withdraw all my money out from there.

i then had no money on me for my prescription i needed.so ambulance driver lent me money from his pocket.

i had to sit in a pharmacy and he had to translate for me.i had turkish ladies staring at me .

then he drove me back to my hotel where i was staying.i couldnt drink alcohol or do much for rest of trip.

i complained about my treatment to my rep.and he told me next time have insurance or tell them.it turned out i had insurance with this company but they had ruled out my illness.so it didnt cover my expenses.

we were out of pocket english money by 600.00 and ill never ever go away with out proper insurance ever again.

id rather tell them pay little more and stay in e.u coz of the ethic card anyway.

sorry but thats my experience scary,humiliating...and never again.

[kraftyk8]

Hi sadoldred,

Having worked for specialist travel insurance Companies as a nurse for ten years, in Medical pre-screening, Medical Emergencies and in Claims, I'm probably the right person to answer this one.

Whether we can get Travel Insurance and what it will cost us largely depends on how long we have had Fibro, whether we have been hospitalized in the last 12months - 5 years (depending on the insurer), what medications we are taking, where we are going and how long for.

Getting TI for a trip to any country that accepts a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) that you apply for at the Post Office or online, shouldn't present too many problems, although the policy may well stipulate that you are treated in a Public and not a Private Hospital (Spain and Tenerife have the most extortionate in my experience) should the need arise. This is because the only major costs that the insurer would need to cover, fall under the repatriation section.

If you are travelling outside of those countries and especially if you are thinking of travelling to the USA, the costs of medical treatment are astronomical. The minimum rate I would have budgeted for with minimal actual treatment is $5000 per day.

Then you have to factor in the costs of a companion's food & accommodation if you end up staying past your due return date and the cost of flights home and if you needed to be stretchered you would need one nurse at least, who gets paid from the minute they leave home to the minute they get back there, plus expenses.

The other thing that is taken into account is Cancellation Costs, should you be unable to travel because of a last minute flare-up that prevents you from travelling in the first place.

What you absolutely must do is declare absolutely everything to the pre-screeners and if accepted ask for conformation in writing so, nobody can say they weren't told.

All that being said here are three names I found on google, advertising that they cover pre-existing conditions, I have no personal knowledge of them so can't recommend them, but they might be worth a try.

flexicover.co.uk

staysure.co.uk

getmy.com

If you can get one and you travel more than twice in any 12 month period, I would go for an Annual Multi-trip Policy, as once you have it, as long as you update them of any changes the cover is valid for the term. The other thing I would look for, is one where the excess rather than the premium is increased due to my conditions. That way it would only cost me more if I make a claim. You need to decide about that yourself. The other thing you might consider is asking for the condition to be excluded, so you you would be covered for everything but Fibro, but that would depend on how likely you think it is that you would need it covered. I did that for loads of people and conditions.

hope that helps, happy hugs, kate

[sadoldred in reply to kraftyk8]

Thanks for that Kate. I will check them out Also if you dont cover yourself for Fibro and in the event you fall down and break you leg or catch somethin then surely your insurance will be nil en void as you havent declared having any conditions? X

[kraftyk8 in reply to sadoldred]

No, it doesn't work like that. They can only exclude cover for anything related to the undisclosed condition. I know from past experience that it is almost impossible to exclude cover for a broken leg.

Even when the client broke it because they decided to climb up the outside of the hotel to the 5th floor, at 3am, whilst off their head with booze, because they lost their room key (Hotel reception was available) and the policy specifically excluded anything related to the consumption of excess alcohol.

The Ombudsman said it was a perfectly reasonable thing for a nineteen year old to do. Cost around £18,000 in the end and people complain about premiums! Now you know why they keep going up.

Seriously though, only a condition or injury that could be shown to be related to Fibro, could be excluded from cover, if the Fibro wasn't covered.

[Dexter2009]

Hi, I have multiple health problems and got best price using moneysupermarket compare holiday insurance for pre existing medical conditions.The other two companies I have found to be good are insure and go, and flexicover direct. If you do decide to take cover out with flexicover direct then you can get 20% off using code EC412 . Good luck at getting insurance at a reasonable price

Debsx

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[66Amanda66]

Hi, i got my travel insurance from Flexi cover direct, and i paid an extra £7 to declare my Fibromyalgia, so i think its worth paying the extra as its so little, im insured for 15 days to Europe along with my family. I got them through a comparison site via Martins Money Tips.

So at least if i have any severe problems while away im covered to see a doctor or for any treatment etc.

You just declare your medical condition as you fill in the online forms and it gives you a quote, hope this helps, Amanda xx

[hayley13]

hi i got travel insurance with holidayextras.com i too have fibromyalgia hope u get insurance good luck hayley xxxx

[Hidden]

I got insurance from Insure and Go last year for a 3 week trip to Spain it cost about an extra £10. If you suffer from depression as I do this usually adds more to the policy and some companies refuse cover if you have depression. I have never been denied cover for Finro in fact when I went to USA for a month there was no extra premium

For fibro at all just for depression. Hope you get cover & without huge extra premiums

Karen

[Mad_scientist_]

I've also used Insure and Go for my last couple of holidays, as they don't seem to add much if your conditions are fairly stable.