Travel Insurance

[Granblue]

Hi all hope you are all well. I have had three Amgevita injections so far. I'm doing ok. Trying to be positive on this one. Just think this freezing weather is not helping. But plodding on. I wanted to ask if anyone knows what company is best for travel insurance. I can't believe the price it goes up when you declare rheumatoid arthritis. Its ridiculous. Thanks

[medway-lady]

I bank with Nationwide and am 71 with CKD and other diseases including RA, Bronchectasis, and we do they’re scheme which is topped up by Aviva through Nationwide. I renewed yesterday all World except cruises as going to Montana, Utah, Wyoming etc for 4 weeks in June it cost £270 plus the account fees. If your bank does similar scheme it’s worth looking into. All covered etc. We pay a service charge for our account which is worthwhile just because of the cheaper insurance with a reputable company. Looking on line it was £1700 so it was a no brainier.

[CagneysMum in reply to medway-lady]

We do the same through our Nationwide account but add on cruises too - Australia and New Zealand cruises planned for March 😃

[medway-lady in reply to CagneysMum]

It is really good value and enjoy your cruises. Getting away is always such a boost. X

[Amnesiac3637]

Worth having a look to the right of your post as this has come up very recently. Happy holidays!

[HeadInASpin]

I've just taken out travel insurance for Europe through Admiral. Declared my RA and husband's heart attack and was very surprised with price of £161 for the year, for us both. I went through one of the comparison websites (topcashback). You really do need to shop around as my quotes were wide ranging. Also look into the levels of cover - we went for the mid range cover (we don't need expensive gadget or winter sports cover for example). My uncle, who is in his 70s and has had major heart and circulation problems uses All Clear. He's just paid £2000 (best price he could get) for worldwide cover Inc USA. He says is worth it to visit his grandkids in Wyoming twice a year.

[DelicateInput in reply to HeadInASpin]

Admiral have an age limit for travel insurance so I don't qualify. They would offer no travel insurance at all.

[HeadInASpin in reply to DelicateInput]

That’s a shame. I remember my uncle saying that some wouldn’t offer cover but All Clear have been good for him.

[pammi2]

what you have to think about is How long are you away. Are you going to have something go wrong that does not concern your RA? more than likley no. I tool travel insurance last year and excluded my RA and didnt have to pay extra becuase in my head i didnt expect anything while i was on holiday t do with RA

[bpeal1 in reply to pammi2]

Be careful though. RA is a systemic disease and insurance companies will try anything to get out of paying up. For example if you ended up in hospital with pneumonia they could argue you are more prone to infection because of RA.

[pammi2 in reply to bpeal1]

I am going to t ahot country the chances are very slim. I take many precautions to avoid getting any kind of cold flu or anything else.

[medway-lady in reply to pammi2]

But if something does go wrong even though unrelated to your RA it will mean you were in breech of the conditions to disclose all health conditions and most likely you’d not be covered even if it was just a cut finger. You can declare and ask for it not to be covered though. This was covered on BBC.

[pammi2 in reply to medway-lady]

not hte case, i chose not to be covered at that time for RA related, i was covered for everything else

[medway-lady in reply to pammi2]

Sorry but check on this as Simon Calder said if you have any undisclosed medical condition and it’s not declared then the policy can be voided. If you disclose and ask for it to be disregarded then that’s fine and everything else is ok but it has still to be declared.

[pammi2 in reply to medway-lady]

i already checked, i already told the company i have RA but dont want to be covered, hey covered me

[DelicateInput in reply to pammi2]

Which company? I can't get travel insurance at all. I only have an underactive thyroid plus the RA but I have not had any treatment for the RA for ten years and it has been inactive. I hardly think it is worth declaring but even then I still can't get travel insurance on the thyroid as the only medical issue. I am 76.

[pammi2 in reply to DelicateInput]

really? i also have under active thyroid, that has never been an issue, its Barclays but it is not medical insurance by iteself, it is a package and i am a long serving customer of theirs. how is an under active thryroid going to cause an emergency abroad? also how come you say you have RA but had no treatment and it is inactive, how is that possible?

[DelicateInput in reply to pammi2]

It is because of my age which is 76. RA was diagnosed in 2014. I did not feel I wanted to continue with hydroxychloroquine which I tried. I used electro acupuncture and Chinese tablets. It seemed to clear up. I didn't really get any symptoms and it does not bother me. Until I moved three years ago, I used to go to the gym and swimming two to three times per week, dancing regularly and walked a lot which kept the RA under control. I can't find a decent gym where I live now. My mother had RA from age 31 to 80 but she was never treated for it after the initial episode.

When I left my job last year, BUPA offered to provide a quote "on preferential terms" - it was £580/month even though I had no symptoms and had not been treated since 2015. They said they base insurance on the diagnosis and once made it is for life.

Forgot to say that RA does go into remission in some people. I suspect it might happen in the very active but I really do not know.

[pammi2 in reply to DelicateInput]

well i say you must be one in a million to have RA and no symptons which begs me to think do you really have RA because people who have it are all on medications of some sort and are suffering in pain like me, £580 per month, i hope you told them to take a running jump, I am no where near76 but i suggest best thing is to shop around

[HappykindaGal]

I use either Staysure or All Clear as both are pretty decent

[bpeal1]

Our Lloyds bank account includes RA as standard on the travel insurance as part of their packaged bank account. We pay a monthly fee but as it also includes breakdown cover, mobile phone insurance too so we decided it was a good deal for us.

[pammi2 in reply to bpeal1]

thats what barclays do but last year they added Medical history to it

[skinclinics in reply to bpeal1]

Yes it’s the same for me with Nat West .

I have had a black account with them for 40 years

And I pay like bpeal1 a monthly fee that covers car breakdown loss of phone keys travel , house emergencies like electric leaks problems etc

We pay an excess of £75 each because we are both over 70 and I just paid £67 to cover me for RA for the year

This is also a worldwide cover so long as we only take a maximum of 90 days away from UK

[Blocksetter]

I've just had renewal quote of £350 from LV for worldwide cover, excluding winter sports, to cover my wife and me (ages 61 & 57). I'm going to go with the cover from Nationwide that comes with their packaged bank account and also includes AA and phone insurance for £18/month (£216/year). If you don't bank with Nationwide, you can switch and get a £175 for doing so!

[pammi2 in reply to Blocksetter]

LV are a rip off

[Janeyannie]

Try web site payingtomuch.com I always sort my travel insurance through them.

[13Lab]

Just Travel were good for me…

[flowerlover]

I would say be very careful about declaring everything. We used Insurancewith this year. We had difficulty with the online form & were referred to a telephone agent. If you answer correctly they want to know everything! Don't think by not declaring something you will be covered for anything else - you almost certainly won't be. I was questioned about appointments I may have had with my GP in last 6 months. One for UTI & one for itchy feet - the last one ruled out annual insurance for me!!

I asked if anyone ever died of itchy feet 😂.

In the end it cost £440 for both of us for a bulb field river cruise in April. My husband has health concerns too.

River cruises don't count as 'cruises' for insurance purposes so that was good news

[Lizard28]

Hi, I’ve had cancer as well and it’s been a nightmare with travel insurance. I also couldn’t get a yearly insurance because of this but once I reached the five year mark I tried them all last year and actually got a great quote from Saga. They also have doctors that you can email if there is a problem. And I got a yearly one which I’ve been pleased about. Worth shopping about. Try them all. I have MCTD and lupus.

[AgedCrone]

Be very careful…. read the small print very carefully on the travel insurances given by various companies…as most exclude any one over a certain age.

Check what is covered against a policy offered by a few well known companies first…then you will know what to look for to be included .

Last year when I was 80+ I was offered an Annual policy excluding cruising & the USA for around £325 by quite a few companies……but everything in2025 is sky rocketing so I fully expect that to have possibly doubled this year.

In fact I found RA made no difference unless you’d had joint surgery. Happy Hols!

[bpeal1 in reply to AgedCrone]

Interestingly they only seem to be interested in replaced or resurfaced joints. Fused joints don’t seem to be an issue which is lucky for me!

[Jackie1947]

I take out Insure and Go