so we contacted our travel insurers today to update them on my husband’s appointment with the consultant last week, who has referred him for a CT scan for the inguinal hernia (which showed up as very small in a recent US scan). The consultant has ordered the scan just to confirm it is a hernia and not a ligament tear or something. And there’s no hurry he said, it can be when we return from our trip in the new year.
Also,I told the insurers about my appointment with the ortho consultant yesterday and the referral to a rheumy. (Be honest, everyone says🙄)
Well what a b***** palaver it’s been. They’ve got to contact the underwriters to see what they say and they won’t get a reply until tomorrow at least! We go on Saturday for heavens sake.
Anyone else suffered at the hands of travel insurers? I wouldn’t mind, but they have excellent reviews, so 🤞we’ll get the okay we need.
Note to self: be careful what we tell’em another time.
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Doraflora
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You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t regards telling them. Withholding information is ok until you need to claim.
I had a palaver this autumn when all my previous conditions were no longer covered while I was waiting to have a skin lesion removed the week after the holiday. I only found that out the week before I went, too late to cancel.
Sorry for jumping on here but can I ask a question?
After a flare a few weeks ago and a visit to Rhumy I have been told, when I asked, that I have both GCA and PMR. My question is when I take out holiday insurance do I need to declare both?
Thank you DorafloraWhen I got my last quote, I believed I only had GCA, they asked me if I had attended A&E with the condition in the last year. Minefield!!
My rule of thumb is never withhold anything in case they need your medical record in the event of a claim. It is usually in the small print that you should disclose. They may not be as bothered as you think given they know about one of them and they go together commonly.
I was asked in a previous quote if I had attended A&E with this condition. I was diagnosed at A&E but did not attend after treatment started. I replied no a wee bit ambitious, maybe As far as I was aware I wasn't attending with this condition. Still not sure what to say when asked this question again, I'll be applying for insurance next month. Emm.....
I started April 2024 on 60mg. Was down to 8mg reducing 1 a month. One week of getting to 7mg then overdoing Xmas shopping set me back. Went as D Lady’s plan up to 13 mg. rheumatologist advised to stay there for three weeks then go down to 10mg. I thought I knew better and went down to 9mg. That was a big mistake had to go back to 10 this week. So far so good 🤞
I even detest food shopping. I don't get the concept of retail therapy at all. Can anyone explain? There is a video blog online where a 90 year old gets so excited at her granddaughter carer taking her to a retail park/outlet and the girl never goes out without bringing a "present" back. For goodness sake - I have too much "stuff" already!
I could shop them all out, daughters, granddaughters. Not now. However,show me a sale sign and I'd probably be unstoppable. I love a bargain!!😅😂 Although I must agree I have far too much stuff.
I agree Snazzy. 6 years ago my husband was admitted to hospital in Tenerife with pneumonia. It was a private hospital but we didn’t know that when he was admitted. He’s was in there 5 days but our insurance company wouldn't cover it because he’d attended hospital as an outpatient to investigate why he faints occasionally. They diagnosed vaga vagal fainting which you have to basically live with. At that time we had free insurance with our bank and we just forgot to declare the one appointment he had had.
We had to pay 4000 euros so that he could be discharged. Obviously we were very upset. Luckily I appealed to the ombudsman and they found in his favour so we got it back. But it was very traumatic. In hindsight I would declare everything
It seems to be a UK thing. Here I have always been flabberghasted at the fact I didn't have to list everything in detail - as long as your doctor said you were fit to travel on the date, that was all that was required.
I look at my bills here and shiver at the thought of what I'd be paying in the UK. We do pay a lot of tax in some ways here - but I have no equivalent of council tax to pay as I have a small flat where the amount due is under the exemption for your primary residence. Recycling here is separate to rubbish - bottle, paper and metal in almost every carparking area, and I only pay for the plastic bags I need for rubbish which is minimal - 20L bag every couple of months. Heating is also not a lot and I only have it on for a few hours in the morning and evening - really don't need more, especially on a sunny day.
If they want more money, it's a bit of a bummer, but at least you will be covered. It could be worse. Last year they would not cover me for any of my existing conditions because I was waiting for some results. I went anyway and hoped for the best. Luckily I survived.
Hubby says otherwise, but I do consider us lucky in that they’re still prepared to cover all our pre-existing conditions, especially after reading such horror stories.
No one will be more pleased than us on Sunday morning when our plane takes off!✈️
They seem to hate the unknown e.g. waiting for tests. We had to use them when my husband had a heart attack abroad 12 years ago and this year when we cancelled for his open heart surgery. Excellent service but slow. Don’t hide anything or they may say not covered when you need them.
Husband is recovering well but only a UK holiday planned for now after hassle of refund this year - cruise company and GP caused delays. Before cancellation we had to get a "fit to travel" agreement from our GP when husband was waiting for echocardiogram. After echo he got taken into hospital and we had to cancel.
For anyone having difficulties wit travel insurance and medical conditions- my husband heard about insurancewith.com on the radio. The woman who set this up explained that nearly all travel insurance companies use the same algorithms which do not really reflect the relative risks properly. She was diagnosed with secondary breast cancer and could not get insured herself. "Insurancewith" does not use those algorithms, but appears to have a more sensible approach. we haven't used them yet but are going to in January when our current policy with Staysure runs out.
Staysure have been horrible with me. I was trying to be honest and open about the tests I was having last year and as a consequence they decided not to cover me for any of my pre-existing conditions plus a whole range of other conditions, including broken leg and heart attack, neither of which had anything to do with my existing conditions. This years' insurance has cost us £1,400 !! I concluded that being honest does not pay at all.
Ours is £4,500 for one off 3 week trip to USA…we didn’t go!! Insurancewith insured us for one year, then refused to cover. Staysure did two years, then refused us cover. I have 12 pre existing conditions, my husband has 5. Nail last year we had never claimed!
Absolutely awful, did you try Allclear I have many pre-existing conditions but it was the investigation camera that put the blocks on me and they were only ones who would do it, worth a try in future
Oh yes, I tried over 40 companies, & going through compare the market.com (didn’t even get a quote from their site of travel agents)! Allclear were more expensive than others. If you think of it as the insurer…would I insure you if you’re going for an investigation? Of course not as I don’t know what you’ve got! You have symptoms but diagnosis, how can I insure symptoms? When you have a diagnosis then I will insure you! That’s the best way I can think of it. It’s not the insurance company’s fault that ‘you’ booked a holiday but now need an investigation tbh. Just bad luck!
No that wasnt the case at all, I wasn’t even insured for the symptoms being looked at anyway but premium was so high because of it, I can understand if that was the reason for the high price but to not even cover that yet charge the extortionate price is not on
I couldn’t get a quote on compare the market either
I was awaiting a camera test and every insurance we tried wouldn’t take me any further for a quote, because awaiting a diagnose for the the outcome of camera which I did t no when I was going to have it the only one we could get one off in the end was Allclear £1,500 and had no choice but to buy it as we needed insurance, scandalous price and everytime you update them on change of medication they add on extra fee
if you don’t tell them about the scan, then you break your leg on holiday, the insurers will (as they did in each of our 4 cancellations) ask to see our medical records. If your records show you/husband have been referred for a scan, but not told them, I don’t think you will get any money back. It’s how the system works…you are honest with them. They weigh up what risk you are…in this case your husband us a big risk because the scan may not show a hernia, but something quite different that could cause thousands of pounds in hospital fees if it turned nasty while you are away. I endorse what PMRPro says, if you omit to tell them, why should they pay your claim?? I’m not sure why you think they are bad insurers. None are, would you like to insure somebody who is waiting for a scan that could result in a bad medical issue?
I think you'll find that in many ways the UK has been made to catch up with the rest of the world - I don't know how they did the amazingly cheap insurance in the past, other than everyone with a bank account was paying something towards everyone else whether they used or wanted it or not. All my insurance in the UK has shot up, the ones here, not so much. I used to baulk at the cost here but now it is less than the UK.
It was truly meant to help you, I’m glad it did. The problem is that we all take it personally, & our holidays are precious for us (cancelling 4 last year made me know that!) But if you look at it impersonally…you know your hubby has a hernia, but they don’t truly know that until after the scan. That’s the problem. If they’d just said definitely a hernia, no need fora scan,you’d declared the hernia, all would have been good! But sadly not the way it went, the doctors want a scan to be 100% sure it is, & once it’s on your medical record it’s open for insurers to see. My sympathy to you,& hope all goes well! Part of the reason ours has gone up is due to age…some companies don’t insure over 70’s because the risk of claiming is greater, as it is for those with medical issues! Take care, S x
Hi Pixix. I totally get you and thank you for your frankness.
I rang the insurers again this morning as something triggered in my mind about my OA and a referral to a rheumatologist. I was right, the Person I spoke to when I outlined things the other day had been so tied up with hubby’s hernia issue, she’d failed to update my own issue.
Needless to say, they won’t cover it (fair enough!) but nor will they cover my pre-existing conditions! What? Hubby’s Ct referral surely is more involved than a rheumy appointment, yet they’ll cover his pre-existing conditions.
Fortunately Allclear are prepared to cover me (phew), but we just need to check the joint policy with the original provider will still cover hubby.
That’s why i recommended Allclear as a only option if all else fails as that’s the reason we had to go with Allclear ourselves and very expensive and didn’t cover my awaiting tests which I totally get but to charge an extortionate price because of it I don’t think is fair, but we had no choice other than buy it or not go so just enjoy your holiday now and glad your sorted
If the original joint policy will still cover hubby, then that’s fine, I’ll just pay the higher price for me to go with Allclear. Don’t know how that works, but we’ll find out tomorrow!
Phew! I didn’t realise you hadn’t updated with your OA & rheumy referral! But glad you took another policy & are now covered! Have a wonderful holiday, S xx
Time to complain,I reckon, but could just be your word against theirs, I guess. I remember adding PMR to my policy, it made no difference at all to the quote or cover, & there were no questions to answer. I guess there will always be admin errors, hard luck! Happy Holidays, S x
Something similar happened to me with my widow's pension - someone fed the info into the computer but didn't notice the ERROR notice so the system kept paying OH's pension but into my account for some reason! So I had to pay it all back and get my amount months later. And now I have an Italian version - they are demanding I repay nearly 800 euros that I have been overpaid - except since OH's death I have had one single payment of 150 euros into my account! So they obviously have the correct bank details and the computer claims I am now entitled to about 50 euros a month widow's pension, But they told my tax accountant that I get 230 euros a month for tax purposes. So they seem to have made a right horlicks of something somewhere. Who has got my money??????
Oooooh, naughty. That’s bad, & I’m sorry you’ve had that trouble. Difficult to find out who made the error, but more important to sort out getting your entitlement, & stop the asking you for payments to them, I reckon. Good luck with sorting it out, S x
At least I don't have to - the unions run agencies on behalf of the government because about 70% of the population in this region don't speak good enough Italian to cope with Rome's dictates but German and Ladin are recognised official languages. Even fluent Italian speakers can't cope ... So I only had to turn up at my usual office, show the demand letter to the guy who's done all our stuff for the last 15 years and he went "No, that doesn't look right, bring me your tax declarations for the last 3 years" which I did on Thursday and he expects to have sorted it by next Thursday! Free!
So all being well, nice little xmas pressie of 3 years back payments of at least 50 euros a month - not sure how much MY pension adds. I'd always said that as it was paid annually as a lump sum I might manage a pizza on it. Mine always was peanuts, I didn't pay contributions for more than a few years, but it was enough to make me a pensioner and have medical care entitlement - which after Brexit was all I cared about. But now I should be able to eat twice a month on it!!
it is so interesting to read the issues we have with insurers. I was horrified that I even had to list a doctor’s consultation for a sinus infection after a cold ! It is now on my insurance notes for 2 years. I was also speaking to someone whose 1st language was not English, when I said (to avoid and misunderstandings re the accent) « I’m sorry I didn’t hear that question very well. »…….the person on the other end said « Oh , so you have an auditory problem! »…….It is indeed a rip off.
Yes anything within 2 years you have had treatment for has to be declared it’s so stressful getting travel insurance but it is important to declare everything you are being treated for and anything in the last 2 years I was told because I used to list absolutely everything in my medical history but she said no only list the past 2 years or anything longer if you are being treated for that condition and on medication for it, once you buy the insurance if anything else happens while you still have insurance you have to also tell them, we ended up paying a lot having to update fir change of dose of blood pressure tablets and a discharge from one hospital, I would never expect any insurer to insure for undiagnosed conditions but to rule you out just on that first question is out of order when they don’t even include it in your policy anyway
Good luck I hope you find an insurance that suits you
we now pay £4,500 for any single holiday outside Europe. For 2 weeks in Europe it’s between £600 & £800. I have 12 conditions, David has five. Takes about 45 minutes to get each quote! Until last year we had never claimed but David in hospital with pneumonia twice & cholecystitis didn’t increase the premiums, surprisingly but meant I had to cancell 3 hoidayd…oh & one was caused by the nursing staff not giving him his warfarin & causing deep vein thrombosis & lying on his discharge papers. David was thought to have a heart murmur. Although fit by them we couldn’t insured for any of his heart issues until we had result. It was a locus Dr he saw once on the ward. It took days to find his name, then they’d spelt it wrong. Then he was a locum. After 9 phone calls to hospital I found him, & he’d gone on ho,I day. So we couldn’t go! Next day a secretary said he’d done the letter but not signed it, so she got somebody to sign it & we could go (only allowed to hop to France due to DVT, and the summer weather had gone by then. I will stop 5here, as I could write this particular topic for days!
They are businesses and it is all down to perceived risk - are they going to have to pay out a lot of money if you are taken ill when away. Cancellation insurance is peanuts because the cost of that is what you have paid for the holiday. But if you were to become ill during the holiday, if you have a load of conditions or certain things are more likely, then repatriation can cost multiple thousands and in some countries, like the USA, in-patient care in the ICU is also thousands per day. The potential for a bill for weeks of such care for a stroke for example, increases with age which is why age also adds to the cost. And you are waiting for a scan - what are they going to find? One thing when you have the result and are being treated but entirely another if you are in the USA when it is discovered that you need emergency surgery with a long recovery.
Theyare good insurers! Bad insurers would charge you £5 & then not pay up when you claimed! Please see my response to Nat 107, please, where I put the view from the insurance company! How can they insure symptoms that need investigating! I would give you an insurance! I would happily do that once it’s confirmed as a particular disease! Imagine it’s your own money that you are taking a risk on. They are doing a good job, not bad. My husband & I are at very high risk of sickness, injury and/or hospitalisation while on holiday so we have to pay more! And it really is t their fault if it happens two days before a holiday!! Last year we waited, I think, I said, two months until we had answers…it’s life!
If you omit any part of your medical history, they can deny coverage (even if you have paid the premiums, or they find out after the fact of an injury or illness resulting in a claim) When you apply you are usually required to give them access to that information, hence the "be honest" advice.
oh dear - we had a similar situation a few weeks ago. Due to go to Lanzarote for a week in the sun.
My annual blood tests came back and indicated anaemia so GP prescribed iron supplement and referred me to hospital for further tests.
For once I decided to toe the line and contacted holiday insurance to update details on our annual trip policy. The moment I mentioned hospital referral and further tests they basically said they couldn’t cover me for ANYTHING until tests came back. We decided to cancel our trip. Tests came back clear. I notified them that no further tests were required, they updated policy to include anaemia and that’s that.
Oh, other than the insurance company had to pay out the full holiday costs, apart from Air Passenger Duty. Thankfully they paid out promptly and without fuss, though doubtless the policy will increase on renewal to reflect that.
It was Virgin Travel insurance - based on their speed of response and prompt payment of cancellation I’d recommended.
I have friends with medical conditions who don’t bother with travel insurance for Europe but rely on using their GHIC card. I haven’t risked it myself but I am tempted.
That’s so risky I could not enjoy my holiday knowing I didn’t have insurance, my nerves would be gone, it’s one of those senarios you hate buying it when it’s so expensive but so relieved you did if you ever needed it, just don’t get why the question are you awaiting hospital tests or results stops progression of a quote for existing conditions when the results or diagnosis you are waiting for isn’t covered anyway, that’s my gripe with insurance, always scared me buying it in case I missed something out, I write everything down yet still panic, it’s a huge gamble to take I think relying on the ehic card as your only means for hospital treatment as it’s really only for minor incidents even tempting as it may feel to just go with it, I wouldn’t myself have the bottle to do that
on the other hand, if you don’t tell them and you require medical care while traveling you won’t be covered…for anything. we pay a ridiculous additional amount for my honesty. I’ve never required medical treatment for PMR while traveling but I feel better knowing that we have it. We travel extensively and often for 3 months at a time in places like India. Wouldn’t want to be stuck k with no coverage. But also not during our month in the US last summer, where medical costs are so high for every little thing!
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