Glad you got sorted - the small print on this one shows it would have been no good for us though, as my other half has had his operation recently (as well as blood pressure) - AllClear were OK for us. The irony is that there are loads of people walking round with undiagnosed blood pressure and cholestrol who are probably at much more risk than those who are diagnosed and controlled.

The irony is that there are loads of people walking round with undiagnosed blood pressure and cholestrol who are probably at much more risk than those who are diagnosed and controlled.

Much to the delight of the Insurance companies who do not have to pay-out.

what more can one say other than glad you've got sorted?

Thanks..
Idaho Falls here we come..

Hi all

I was just wondering if anyone could tell me who is doing the cheapest holiday insurance this year. We are a family of 4,( 2 A+ 2 CH) with no medical problems.

Can anyone help

Kerrie

Hi Kerrie

There are loads of recommendations on Page 1 of this topic that you could try.

luci

Thanks luci I will have a look.

Kerrie

hi my mum and dad are looking for an annual cover as they go to tenerife for 10 weeks in jan and also go for a month in november anyone know of good insurances for the over 70 years of age

Merged with Travel Insurance topic which has recommendations on Page 1.

luci

I'm hearing lots of tales about folk with pre-existing no longer being accepted
under their regular annual policies. Looks like a new regime of exclusions have crept in. The disturbing fact is that most are taking premiums but folk have to visit revenue-raising screening lines to ascertain if their conditions are covered or not. I think its obscene and harks back to the old days of mis-selling we experienced through travel agents. Time for government action?

I know it's a hassle trying to find cover for anyone who has a pre-existing medical condition but I can't see where the mis-selling is - every website I've gone onto to find cover for my mother and myself has made it clear that the cover is conditional on 'passing' the medical screening. I always do but we increasingly found that my mother didn't - but we never had trouble recovering the premium and started going through a broker who did all the checking for us before charging the premium. They'd be mis-selling if they didn't run a screening line, never asked about pre-existing conditions, took your money and then refused to pay out a claim on the grounds of the pre-existing condition. I am assuming that in the instance you first posted about that you have since received the refund as promised as you haven't made any more reference to it? In future, if you don't want that hassle - do as we do, go through a broker, but accept that this won't necessarily be the cheapest quote, just the most convenient way of going about getting cover.

Mass insurance operations on the web are always going to be geared up to the basic, simplest situations - it's the same with house insurance. The circumstances re my house mean that I'm unlikely to ever get cheap, standard cover and will always need to speak to someone before cover is provided but are the big on-line outfits mis-selling house insurance to me? I don't think so. Insurance is a form of gambling and rather like gambling in a casino, the odds are always going to favour 'the house'. Insurance companies who offer low premiums can afford to do so because they only take on low risk customers. The higher the risk, the shorter the odds are that you'll make a claim and, as is the way with insurance - the harder you'll find it to get someone to accept the bet. I don't see what action the government can reasonably take that wouldn't result in higher premiums for everyone - which wouldn't make the majority who are low risk and do only need basic 'bog standard' cover very happy.

I think that my mother's GP's comment puts all this into perspective. Getting pretty fed-up of having to both declare and keep track of a longish list of medications, she asked him whether there was any alternative to being on such medication for the rest of her life. His answer was pretty succinct 'Yes - dying'. He made the point - albeit very bluntly - that she'd only lived as long as she had because of the medication. So now that she's turned 80 she's decided that there are still lots of places she hasn't visited in the UK yet and that perhaps the time has come to explore her own backyard.

SM

So now that she's turned 80 she's decided that there are still lots of places she hasn't visited in the UK yet and that perhaps the time has come to explore her own backyard

Indeed and very admiral too. A lot of folk are tenacious enough to still want to accompany younger members on their foriegn trips and also to visit family members abroad.. I'll stick to my views about insurance company's mis-selling, a lot of folk are not astute. I booked my original insurance on the premise that nothing had changed and yes I did get my premium back. I would urge folk to look before they leap. Statins and Cholesterol levels are the new milk-cows.

has anybody used any of the following travel insurers??

we normally either do it through the travel agents or the post office. but an annual multi-trip worldwide for a couple at the post office is £126 but it is only £39 with topdog, flexicover and insurefor.com
http://www.moneysupermarket.com/travelinsurance/travelresults.asp?id=13784215

for a single trip europe for a couple at the post office it is £50 but is only £13 at flexicover, topdog and columbus direct.
http://www.moneysupermarket.com/travelinsurance/travelresults.asp?id=13784159

I would check the cover very carefully at those prices. You may find for instance that baggage isn't covered.

luci

A lot of folk are tenacious enough to still want to accompany younger members on their foriegn trips and also to visit family members abroad..

As does my mother in that we will be heading off to the Canaries in October for the usual family trip and for which insurance is still obtainable at what we consider a reasonable price but she won't be bothering with the US again - been there, done that and don't think a return trip is worth the price of decent health insurance. Thank God we don't live there! We're never going to agree on this one - statins have saved my mother's life but she was and still is at risk from heart disease but for the moment is still going strong and far from resenting the implications of this we just celebrate the fact that she's outlived her own mother by nearly 30 yrs - who died of heart disease at the age of 51 and could never afford to travel abroad.

SM

Statins are useful health aids that have been jumped on by the Insurance companies. My daughter is a health professional in the USA and even she agrees
that US medical bills are astronomical. Every item down to towels are charged for. Anyone who complains about our NHS should go there and see just how lucky they are in the UK. USA is the land of the bung, I swear even the crocodiles in the Everglades have a tin for tips. Anyway I'm off for more USA punishment in 3 weeks FWIW your advice about insuring via a broker is sound.

having just sorted out my insurance i notice that since i last had some, 18 months ago, i was asked loads more questions when ensuring my husband was covered for his diabetes. now i realise that its because he is taking statins, the ironic thing is that he has never had high cholesterol he is prescribed the statins automatically because of his diabetes !!! After phoning several companies ( because you have to phone to discuss the medical bits !!! ) and answering loads of questions i was beginning to wonder if they had all got shares in british telecom !!! Anyway i found Direct travel insurance cheapest as i usually do so i think i will automatically use them next time .
Katherine

Hi, my daughter is fortunate/unfortunate enough to be travelling to Cyprus from T5 in June. She is not covered on our family policy as she is travelling with a friend.
Any recommendations for a policy with good baggage cover, given the fiasco at T5? To be honest the thought of losing all her belongings is putting her off going, so I am trying to reassure her that she will be able to buy more clothes if it happens to her.

Hi,

We are going to Florida in 6 weeks.

We have always taken insurance for our holidays and fully intend to this time with Insure and Go.

However, If something were to happen and one of us needed medical treatment, how is the bill paid?

I had assumed that the insurance company sort it out with the hospital? Minus the excess of course. We certainly don't have large amounts of spare money that we could pay with and then wait until we got home to claim it back!! I have heard stories of medical costs running into thousands.

I am really worried now that if one of us needed medical care we could find ourselves not able to pay for it despite having insurance if we had to pay initially then claim it back?

Can anyone help??

Thanks in advance.

You would need to check the policy documents of the policy you are intending taking out or call to ask them.

I'm more concerned with the fact you didn't take out insurance when you booked the holiday. If anything happened between booking and taking out the insurance, such as an illness being diagnosed, you wouldn't be covered and would lose the cost of the holiday.

luci