correct Glynis, was laughing at dave,

Puerto Rico?? -Extremely brave

it would be brave .

this is why I was asking dave

We did use SAGA up to ~ 5 years ago,but their premiums got silly, even for minor conditions!

pay more yes, but as dave says not silly prices.
looking at Tony's price and I'm thinking sounds OK.
when we decide what week after the year..(still looking for a gap) I'll try several of the recommended.
thanks again everyone.

I can't add anything to the post re insurance however I just wanted to say you both deserve a nice holiday and I hope your wife makes a good recover and keeps well

thanks Kiltman
we like many many others just get on with it.
everyone's got there own problems...as they Say..THAT'S LIFE.

Have you tried Avanti - I have sarcoid in lungs, heart pacemaker and asthma, I went through a few and Avanti cover all of these, i do on a trip by trip, I wouldn't say it was cheap but I have the coverage and so many were a decliniture.

Pinky.
I had a look at the Avanti site and it looked promising, so I rang them this morning and went through the screening process.
They won't cover me for Crohn's - it looks like I'm going to have to rely on the ehic card

Sanji x

Oh really Sanji , Avanti is one of the few that will cover me for my bits and bobs, it's not cheap I have to say, but I can't afford if I go long haul without it.

I will have a look and see if I come up with anyone that cover Crohn's and if I do I will let you know.

You may have looked at already but see the link Sanji

http://www.world-first.co.uk/home/travel-insurance/medical-problems/crohns.aspx - I've not used them or know anyone that has but worth a look maybe.

Pinky.
Thanks for the link - I've been in contact with them and will wait until I've been to the hospital next week, because I might or might not be on medication.
They didn't say yes or no - they would consider it.

I've had my renewal for HSBC this morning and whilst they won't cover me for Crohns, and I made a claim this year, they haven't increased the premium - I've got until December to decide.

Ray
Best wishes, I hope you get some cover and manage to have a nice holiday
Sanji x

Good luck Sanji xx

Sanji, I saw on another forum that one person said that they were covered for Crohns with Saga insurance, you have probably looked but I felt I should pass it on anyway

Thanks Shrimper.
I have recently tried Saga. They will cover me for Crohn's, but only on single trips and not an annual multi-trip policy.
As we like to go to Spain usually 4 times a year, the cost of the insurance buying 4 separate policies, worked out at over £1,000.
Ouch!

If I could get myself discharged from the hospital and another 4 years down the line, making it the magical number of 5 years, without any more hospital admissions, I might stand a better chance of being covered.

Sanji x

But then you might be charged a higher premium because of your age.

Judith wrote:

But then you might be charged a higher premium because of your age.

Hi Judith
I think we already are, having a hubby at 72 years old.

Sanji x

I think mine went up at 68 then again at 70 but I had changed insurers by then and they all have different rules.

judithxx

Something else I found out during my searching...
Some companies are now pricing policies on various areas of Europe.

For example, you can have a European policy excluding or including Spain .
And the reason they give for the higher premium to include Spain, is because (they say) private health care in Spain is the most expensive in Europe.

Which isn't true....the most expensive is in *Turkey, followed by Greece (and Islands), then Cyprus, and then Spain (including the 3 Balearic islands.)
Spain had 11.7 million visitors last year from the UK....that's an awful lot of higher premiums being charged.
* I think some companies do and some don't include Turkey in a European policy.

Sanji x

They do on WW too Sanji, I seem to remember it being EU USA/Canada and then RoW - now you get WW including Caribbean or excluding Caribbean - which puts the costs up again

Sanji wrote:

Something else I found out during my searching...
Some companies are now pricing policies on various areas of Europe.

For example, you can have a European policy excluding or including Spain .
And the reason they give for the higher premium to include Spain, is because (they say) private health care in Spain is the most expensive in Europe.

Which isn't true....the most expensive is in *Turkey, followed by Greece (and Islands), then Cyprus, and then Spain (including the 3 Balearic islands.)
Spain had 11.7 million visitors last year from the UK....that's an awful lot of higher premiums being charged.
* I think some companies do and some don't include Turkey in a European policy.

Sanji x

Never been able to get my head around this.

We've (partner and myself) restarted foreign holidays in the last three years - Because of bypass surgery just over 4 years ago I've obviously declared this (and the extra medication) I've stuck with the same company since we started and each time I've taken the policy (same declaration - same conditions) it has come down. I've recently taken out a policy for the Balearics next year which is down by about 25% on the one I took out for Portugal last September..

Is it a case of time passing with no further medical issues arising or something else ?

Sorry if I'm sounding daft where insurance is concerned. I've been with the same company for 30 years because I've been happy with the policy and the price charged, so I haven't had any need to keep up to date with other companies and their policies.

Sanji x

Scoop, this is almost certainly because they have decided that as each extra year passes since your surgery without any further issues arising that it is becoming less of a risk to provide you with cover. I had a similar situation following an extended period of sick leave due to a chronic health condition. I too got the best deal for a number of years by sticking with the same insurer and my premiums progressively decreased. However, once you have gone 5 years without any recurrence of further acute cardiac incidents then it could be worth your while to start shopping around again. 5 years seems to be the magic number with many insurers and I am now finding that the insurer I switched to because they were quoting me even less than than the previous insurer, has now slightly reduced the renewal premium even further as the condition is clearly being extremely well managed.

Sanji, I too stuck with the same company for many years for exactly the same reason and never had any health claims in all that time so was clearly a low risk for them but the moment I was dianosed with first one and then a second ongoing chronic health condition the additional premium they were asking for started to become ridiculous. Given that I had never previously needed to be hospitalised for either condition I thought that this was unreasonable and especially since whilst they could potentially cause me to need to cancel a holiday before going away, neither was likely to need expensive hospitalisation or medical repatriation if I had an acute attack whilst away. It would simply be a case of a spoilt holiday and sitting it out and flying home as planned. Disappointing for me, yes, expensive treatment for them to pay for, no. So I started shopping around and was surprised to find just how much I could save, even with these two conditions. And bear in mind that most years I need worldwide cover for Cuba and the excess is only £50. It would be even cheaper if I agreed to a bigger excess.

I know that neither of the conditions I have are in the same league as Crohn's and they certainly carry a much lower risk of needing to be hospitalised while on holiday but this probably means that it is even more important for you to shop around and you might be pleasantly surprised at how big the variations in quotes can be between companies.

SM

PS I have always found Saga to be amongst the more expensive and now that I have turned 60 have found Staysure has consistently undercut their quote by a significant figure.

I know that neither of the conditions I have are in the same league as Crohn's and they certainly carry a much lower risk of needing to be hospitalised while on holiday but this probably means that it is even more important for you to shop around and you might be pleasantly surprised at how big the variations in quotes can be between companies

Hi S.
I totally agree, and I've quietly been searching for weeks, if not months, answering the screening process questions, both on-line and via telephone - I'm probably going to get inundated with spam mail and post as a result of it. The first hurdle seems to be actually getting cover for Crohn's when you've been diagnosed in the last 12 months, and then getting around the only type of policy on offer, or finding somewhere that covers over 65's....and then the ridiculous prices quoted.
It gets quite frustrating spending 30 mins or more on the telephone, giving out all this information, to be told at the end of it all, that sorry, we can't cover you for Crohn's.

In terms of travelling abroad for a holiday, having an IBD without cover is probably one of the worse things you could have, and I'll explain why.....
The majority of the admissions into hospitals abroad, they occur as a result of gastro/intestinal problems, usually after picking up the Norovirus or acquiring salmonella poisoning.

Most of us know that the symptoms include vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal cramps/pain and an elevated temperature, and suffering from dehydration.
To determine what is the cause, a faecal test is done, which apart from the cost, it takes time.
In a flare up of Crohn's, I would have the same or very similar symptoms, that I would exhibit with Norovirus.

So, without cover for the Crohn's, and if I picked up the Norovirus, I worry about how much trouble I am going to have convincing the insurance company, that it's the common Norovirus and nothing to do with a Crohn's flare up...... or would they argue the toss, that because I suffer with Crohn's and my immune system is compromised, it's due to having Crohn's that the symptoms of Norovirus are worse in someone with 'dodgy' guts and thus requiring an hospital admission.?

Sanji x