holiday insurance

[alison121]

Hi Im going abroad soon and was wanting information of any good holiday insurance companies that are good for people with pbc .

Its been quite sometime since I last went abroad, so am a bit nervous and want to make sure I am covered properly.

thanks

[Hidden]

Hello alison121.

I do know that if you check out Liver North website they issue up-to-date insurance companies who have stated they will insure. The PBC Foundation may help and also emailing British Liver Trust too, they can email you a list but it seems that it is a case that you have to check it out as ones that say they do can then sometimes change. My son works in insurance and one he once mentioned to me when I was thinking of booking a holiday overseas that I would need cover for with PBC (I was diagnosed Dec 2010 when I was 46) he could sort but now his are not on the list I have noticed as they used to be in Liver North's newsletters.

A reminder, remember that we now have Primary Biliary Cholangitis due to the name change May this yr. Not sure if it will alter anything regarding insurance for travel.

livernorth.org.uk/

If you use the link, click on LIVER NEWS on the left hand side.

[PCBnPBC in reply to Hidden]

Peridot,

I know you didnt create the name change!

I just looked up Cholangitis on Google :

Cholangitis is an infection of the biliary tract with the potential to cause significant morbidity and mortality. Many patients with acute cholangitis respond to antibiotic therapy;

Thank the lord for the name change! I thought I would need a liver transplant, now its just some antibiotics and all sorted....., he said not best pleased since I underwent a liver transplant 10 months ago (all reasonably well, just some bile duct issues)

I find both words for the C in PBC difficult to spell (Encephalopathy)

Just having a little rant........

Hope to get a day off soon, even a little holiday perhaps, I wonder if a European Health Care card will suffice? (assumes holiday in Europe)

Charlie.

[Hidden in reply to PCBnPBC]

Hello PCBnPBC.

I didn't go further re the name change of PBC simply because I was one who didn't agree to this new C terminology.

I say this because the first thing to me that it conjured up was words like tonsillitis, laryngitis, etc which to me are infections that tend to be able to be treated. I think I'm right in saying that the 'itis' part means inflammation.

I would have preferred something like 'Cholestatis' myself, that sounds more complex as to me this is what PBC seems to be.

I already read some comment not so long ago on a national newspaper site (can't say which now but was either Telegraph or Independent) and there was a mention of PBC and the comments that I read later on from readers, some seemed to be getting it all mixed up with PSC which is a different auto-immune even if liver-related. Until the recent Bear Facts or Liver North newsletter (it was in one) I didn't know the difference between PSC and PBC myself but now I do (PBC is the small bile ducts that are affeced, the PSC is apparently the bile ducts outside the liver). PSC ends in Cholangitis too.

I have noticed that on my GP records the C word hasn't yet been altered and to them I still have Primary Biliary Cirrhosis. My GP never mentioned the name change when I saw her late June for the med review for PBC so I now can't help wondering when it will be noticed! My dentist who seems to take more of an interest in PBC than my GPs do, he was interested in knowing when I saw him May. He even read up about PBC when I told him I had it back in early 2011 when I saw him.

[PCBnPBC in reply to Hidden]

when I googled the new PBC all I saw was Primary Billiary Chirrosis links..... seems the medical world have yet to catch up.

mind you whats in a name?

I am happy to explain my PBChirrosis is from an auto immune issue, and that whilst I used to enjoy a social wine, I was not as good at footaball or drinking as George Best....

I had an "issue" in A&E last Sept 2014 pre transplant where my behaviour was dominated by my Encephalopathy, and I was assumed to be a drunk- it really made me think, are we to place alcoholics in a different "pot" and treat them with no regard? any confusion can be corrected, maybe it can open up some debate.. I hate the new name for our condition.

Charlie.

[Hidden in reply to PCBnPBC]

Thanks for the further input.

I feel aggrieved at times since PBC diagnosis that certain professionals (nurses I have found in my own experience) seem to think that I used to be a big alcohol drinker which was never so.

I think now what adds to it is the fact that an alcoholic who has reached a bad state with their liver due to drinking could stop and the damage would be halted even if that person had to continue living a compromised life. With our PBC this won't happen unless someone out there comes up with a cure.

Yes at the end of the day what's in a name. I usually tell people I have 'PBC' and don't spell the letters out. I then would continue after being asked 'What's that?' that I have a problem in my liver area with my bile ducts, that they are being slowly destroyed. i take a tablet that is a form of bile acid to try to compensate.

[nomorepies]

Hi Alison , I always use Rothwell and Towler, I find them kind, sympathetic and courteous.

[syag]

Try World First. They gave me cover no problem.

[susanburgess]

My insurance is still the same but just tell them to not cover you for pbc no extra cost.

[Hidden in reply to susanburgess]

Isn't that a bit dangerous, telling them not to cover for pbc? You would have to be 100% sure you had no varices forming.

[GrittyReads in reply to Hidden]

I agree. Even just a touch of jaundice. Also, if they could link any other illness or incident you might have, to the PBC, you could find find that the particular treatment for it was suddenly not covered.

I know that the responses I've received from Ti companies over the last 8 years has made me slightly paranoid, but I really do not trust any of them.

You have to remember that their reason to exist is, to make a profit.

[CathieG]

I get free cover with my bank account and for world wide travel I pay £20. This time, I'm paying £78 for a whole years worth of world cover. Bargain in my eyes! Nationwide.

[GrittyReads in reply to CathieG]

My bank told me they wouldn't cover PBC, when I considered changing my account to the type of account my bank offered that gets free: TI, car Breakdown, whatever, etc.

I guess some of them do, some of them don't

[spoul]

Columbus direct just paid £68 for annual insurance!

[emerich]

Hi alison 121, I've insured with saga. They added on £103 for pbc, I had a heart attack last year too so maybe higher than some. Worth it though. I wouldn't really recommend leaving out cover for pbc as suggested on another post.

[Mole]

I go with direct travel. Also recommended by Which. I found them via the Liver North Newsletter.

[GrittyReads in reply to Mole]

I was with Direct for several years prior to my whacky 'pre-symptomatic PBC' diagnosis (nb this diagnosis does not 'formally' exist as a medically recognised diagnosis, so caused me no end of grief). At the time of this diagnosis, about 8 years ago, I contacted Direct to renew and as soon as I just mentioned PBC, they said they didn't cover it: end of.

I've noticed that their site and specifications seem very different now, so maybe they are more understanding.

[PBCFoundation PBC Foundation]

Hello Alison,

I have sent you a message with regards to your question.

Best wishes

PBC Foundation

[26smith]

Has anyone tried to get insurance for a holiday abroad after a transplant. Before Liver transplant I had PBC. The insurance company have insured me with a pre-existing medical condition which is quite high. A friend said I should have a policy which says a non-existing medical condition. I wonder who would be the best person to ask.

[allotment]

Hi Alison121

Two years ago, prior to my transplant last year, I went to America and insured myself through the post office. I told them I had PBC for 13 Years and no premium was added to the insurance. They wanted to know if my condition was stable and was seeing doctors on a regular basis. My consultant, who I saw every 6 months, confirmed I was stable.

The insurance cost no extra which I was amazed at because I had been quoted premiums of £900 and £500 with other Companies. Although this was a while ago I think it is worth asking about.

Good luck Alison121