Hi...help needed re travel insurance please re cirhossis

[bobbycat]

Hi

I think this will only be relevant to those who have stage 4 cirhossis now but any info very appreciated. I can get no insurance until 1 year after my last varise banding which was October. has anyone else had this problem? And if you have had a bleed would you risk flying. I live in the UK and would love to go abroad again. Thank you.

[LisaC22]

Hi there. I'm assuming you don't have private health insurance? Because most of these will include some element of cover outside of your own country. Alternatively it really depends on where you are thinking of going. If it's within the EU and as the UK is part of the EU (for the moment anyhow 😉) you are entitled to a European Health Insurance card which guarantees treatment in any EU country (& Switzerland I think). Of course this only relates to health cover & not lost luggage etc. I believe pre-existing conditions are covered as long as you are not travelling specifically for treatment. Would that be of any use to you?

[bobbycat in reply to LisaC22]

Hi, thank you for replying...I dont have private health and live in the UK but from what I heard if you travel to France for example, emergency treatment is only covered..ie A and E and then it is a daily rate. If you fly you certainly would need travel insurance as the cost of landing en route would be horrific! The same problem with a night ferry....I know from experience how fast you need to get to hospital and it would involve air transport. Anyway lets hope I get an all clear one day! Thanks again.

[Cat19 in reply to bobbycat]

There are insurance company's you will over PBC.

[Cat19 in reply to LisaC22]

I would not travel out the uk without very good insurance, it's not worth the risk, take care.

[Suziebeau]

I'd consult your doctor about whether Ot not it is safe for your to fly. PBC foundation have a list of insurers who will cover us, so maybe give them a ring tomorrow. I would imagain if you do find cover, before the year is up it will be expensive though. Good luck

[GrittyReads]

The Eu Insurance is only for Emergency treatment, and in countries where most people have private health care, and only fairly basic health care is free, then you would only get basic health care. Also there are huge variations, eg in Greece (well, on Crete) hospital food is pretty non-existent and families usually take in food. Also, you are not covered for emergency or later, repatriation.

[Plus, we may not have it for much longer if Brexit goes ahead!!]

As for planes etc diverting, you might find that many travel insurance companies just don't cover this, any more - at all. I discovered that my usual company no longer covered, while on holiday. I was actually re-reading my insurance policy about seeing a dentist, when I began to realise that the copy of the policy they had sent with my confirmation, was different to the (supposedly) relevant one that I had (been told to) read online at booking (all 70- odd pages of both).

Ask the 'PBC F' and 'British Liver Trust' about companies that their members have had good experiences with. Also, see if you can have a condition excluded - you still have to tell them all about it - as if you can exclude some things that are not serious, it may make the package cheaper.

[bobbycat in reply to GrittyReads]

Thanks for that info.