Sunaddict wrote:

joeseptuk wrote:

Sunaddict wrote:

Expect to pay a premium to get your current condition covered. You are still under the care of the hospital and as such are a higher risk for cancellation, and also of ending up running up medical bills, (or worst case scenario repatriation), whilst you're away.

I already pay a lot to words my holiday insurance, to cover my condition, but seeing I'm not out of the uk until next summer 2014, I don't need cover to return to the uk, or cover medical bill

My condition is know to my insurance company, there no risk of running up medical bills, as what I'm looking for is a cancellation policy, in the case I have to cancel my holiday, as I would still be in the uk

I don't know any companies in the UK that offer holiday cancellation insurance as a stand alone policy. That's not to say there aren't any. I would try googling and see what comes up. If they do you would probably still have to pay a premium, because again, you are a higher risk.

I think I would be taking out normal holiday insurance, but without pre-existing conditions, but I would have to make them aware I may have to cancel holidays, and recon the cover I would need would be around £1200, which I think isn't a lot to ask

You would need to speak with a Specialist Broker if you wanted a policy that was just for cancellation,
The cover you will normally find on the internet would be travel insurance which includes cancellation based on disclosure of conditions at the time of taking out the policy. Illness that you are not being investigated/treated for at that time would also be covered, for example a burst appendix.

fwh

What you would need is standard holiday insurance which always includes cover for cancelling if you have been advised not to travel on medical grounds but you would need to disclose the pre-existing medical condition in order to get it. I can't see that any insurer will offer you general cancellation cover for anything other than health reasons. Otherwise we'd all be taking it out in case we changed our minds about a holiday and that, as far as I know has never been offered in the UK.

SM

Reading your post on OTL, and thinking about it again, am I correct in assuming that what you want is for an insurer to spilt into two separate policies with two separate premiums, what is normally offered as a single policy? That you want one solely to cover you if you have to cancel on medical advice in advance and then a second one that you would take out later as your holiday begins to only cover you for medical costs on the holiday in the event that you don't have to cancel?

I think that they are going to say 'no' to that but that if they do agree to do it, that you could find that the total cost of the two premiums could exceed taking out a standard policy that covers both eventualities in the same policy. The reason being that usually they would only have to pay out either the cancellation fee or medical costs on the holiday and the actuaries will take that into account in their risk assessment. It sounds as if there is a high risk that you might have to cancel in which case they would possibly require a fairly high premium and you would still have to disclose the pre-existing medical condition in order to get it.

SM

I am so confused here Joe.
What you need is holiday insurance (as SM rightly says) which you should already have if you have booked a hoilday, or part of the holiday if DIY
You then tell the insurance company about your medical history and they then tell you what extra premium you need to pay.
I think you are making it a lot more complicated than it needs to be.

I decided just to go with my work place insurance, and take out annual multi-trip, and declare everything, and let them decide the outcome

Really frustrated and angry. We have booked a 4 nights break to Disneyland Paris and am now searching for insurance!!!! As we will almost certainly be taking at least one more holiday this year I've been searching for an annual multitrip policy, but the prices are frightening. We both have pre-existing medical conditions, but quotes of £800 and upwards seem somewhat excessive. We've included the USA in our quote because we have friends over there plus we like to cruise and would really want to cross the ' Pond ' at some point, but prices are such I'm not sure we can even afford to go on holiday any more :-(
I understand the need for insurance, but this is ridiculous. Anyone any ideas? We've done the comparison sites and another problem is that i turn 65 and my husband 70 this year (gulp) .
Would it be cheaper to do a single trip insurance?

We have Insure and Go Silver Insurance Annual family policy. 5 of us. 4 out of 5 have pre existing medical problems, knackered, old. post cancer treatment etc. £337.
Try them.

Insurance is usually a condition of booking packages. Independent travelers are free to please themselves, although anyone who does not have insurance cover is being foolish in my opinion. My sister and BIL used to spend winter in Spain until this last years when the premium became excessive so they no longer rent an apartment. They now book a package and use the TOs insurance. Still manage 6 to 8 weeks rather than the 5 months.
Whilst you have included world wide cover perhaps you need to think ahead and take into account where you are actually going to go. If the majority is within Europe then it might be worthwhile just taking that cover and pay an extra premium when you go outside this area. Remember the risk the insurers take on worldwide is that all you holidays will be long haul and therefore their risk is greater.
One you reach 70 then the premiums are loaded more and more yet in many ways we are less of a risk. Less liable to jump off cliffs etc but that cuts no ice I'm afraid. The medical profession claim that all over 50s should take statins and so reduce the risk of heart attacks. The insurance companies load the premiums when you declare you are taking them. My doctor tells me that there is no need for them to do so but then it is a good excuse to make money. Try Diabetes and some of the premiums quoted are more than the holiday costs.

fwh

It all becomes very difficult once you get older, a friend took her 89 year old mother away to Majorca for a week last year within 6 months of her having had surgery for cancer, the price for insurance was untenable, the price for the holiday about £400 Ironically apart from the surgery this lady is fit, so it was either travel relying on the European health card or not go. They took the decision to go as at the end of the day she might not get the chance to holiday with her grandchildren again. I can fully understand someone not wanting to chance it outside the EU though, med bills in places like the US are impossible to deal with.

Thanks for the comments. I think that trying to do it all on-line is a complete non-starter so we will try ringing around and see if speaking to someone gets us anywhere. A lot of websites ask that as we are 'old' we cannot do it via the web anyway but need to call them.

I also think that we will have to work on a holiday by holiday basis rather than an annual multi-trip. However, I did do a quick 'run-through' and the cost of insurance wasn't much different to the cost of our 4 nights trip! Seems we can't win.

Hubby's condition is the main problem; he is diabetic type 2 and although he has never suffered any of the complications that can accompany the illness the companies don't seem to care. As far as they are concerned he is diabetic, has high blood pressure (extremely well controlled) and takes statins,and it is these tablets which seem to be the problem. Despite the fact that most people of a certain age (myself included) take these tablets (they are doled out almost like sweets) insurance companies seem to work on the basis that statins = heart problems. Hubby was once told over 15-20 years ago he had ischaemic heart disease and that was that. no medication, no treatment, no problems but we have to declare it. In fact, only in the last couple of months he asked his GP if he could stop declaring it because of insurance difficulties, but was told (and we did agree) 'better safe than sorry and declare EVERYTHING'.

It seems to me that at a time of life when we have the money and inclination to travel we can't because we can't afford the insurance!!! I hate to think what will happen when friends of ours try to get insurance for a holiday. He has just beaten cancer (had successful stem cell transplant) and she's just had an operation to prevent breast cancer which is being followed up by radiotherapy. By the time it's all finished they will desperately need a holiday but I suspect their premiums will literally be off the scale.

Anyway, will keep trying and will let you know what happens.

Good Luck with it Babs. I think you are right to ring, and not to do it on-line, also it can help if you are struggling with the person on the other end of the phone at the medical line call centre to ask for a Supervisor.

My other half us on BP meds and I take sleeping tablets now and again.

I was asked what medical condition were they for I just laughed and said insomnia, that threw her as according to the sales consultant I was talking to 'it wasnt on her screen' so she didn't know what to do I really wish I hadn't even mentioned them it's hardly something I am going to die from on holiday, Its unlikely I would even take them on holiday. The whole thing is a massive money spinner.

What I also don't understand is that people can go to Boots and buy 6 or 7 different supplements to take each day and not declared them as they are not prescribed medicines.

The trouble is they have a screen in front of them and it seems like all they can insert in each box is a yes or a no, if it's a yes they then they have the option to put in the name of a drug. The software won't let them progress until each box is filled but if you speak to a supervised they seem to have some workarounds they can use, to get onto the next screen and finally give you a price.

We have our annual travel insurance with L&V also have pre existing conditions, we have worldwide cover and they were reasonable price for us but we are a slightly younger age group.
Just had a quick look and it seems they offer annual cover up to the age of 79.
It is possible to get an online quote with pre existing conditions with L&V

I have found Insure and Go excellent for insuring Pre existing conditions.
They only seen to take your medical history for the last 5 years whereas some go back many many years.
I take statins as a preventative measure and they didnt add any extra to the policy.
For an annual policy it was £199 each and £13 extra as we take medication for blood pressure.
This policy covers Europe,Turkey,Tunisia and Egypt.
It may be worth giving them a ring on 0844 888 1587.The online prices for pre existing conditions are more expensive as they dont allow for any leeway.

As Jay says Insure and Go only go back 5 years. Even one year post cancer treatment they were willing to insure me for a single Europe trip with a slight excess. Nobody else wanted to know. And my cancer was easily treatable with good prognosis/cure. Think it was about £50. A so called specialist Cancer insurer that was in the news wanted megabucks. Being older and with pre existings, we never bother with online quotes. The computer is set up with standard questions with no room for manoeuvre or common sense. In most cases you get to the end and they tell you to ring for medical screening.

update[b][/b]

We tried LV and were pleased with their price until hubby saw in small print that they will not cover (our?) pre-existing conditions so that was the end of that. We then did an on-line quote for Insure & Go, but decided to ring them instead and guess what - they've covered us for an annual multi-trip, including the USA at probably the most reasonable price we've seen.

Now hubby is worried that it sounds cheap "sigh"

Anyway, thanks to everyone for their help; you're the best

No excuse from hubby now for multiple holidays. You have to make good use of your premium LOL.You had better get packing now

Insure and Go are one of the best if not the best for insuring pre existing conditions.
I had to ring them myself yesterday to inform them of a change in medication and thankfully there was no extra charge.
I was recommended them by someone who was insured with them when her husband became seriously ill abroad and they were excellent so its nice to know they are a reputable company.

glad you got sorted Babs,L&V sounds a bit naughty to put in small print they wont cover your conditions, i actually phoned L&V to double check we would be covered for pre existing, i was also told i did not have to declare HBP i once suffered 30 year ago, i didnt need any medicines or treatment for it, operator also told me online prices were 15% cheaper, which is correct. i went online filled in the medical questions which asks have you EVER suffered from HBP so i declared it and its in writing as declared on my policy along with our other pre existing.
i checked reviews for L&V which is what swayed me towards getting cover with them and i have to agree they were excellent when we were unfortunate to have a 24 hr + delay in august, i phoned to inform L&V they took details over the phone and within 48hrs they paid £50pp into bank account for the delay.
i will check out Insure and Go though when my renewal is due,