Violet, my adivice to you is, go with your your own instincts. My Dad had cancer and was poorly (at home) and my holiday was getting closer and I could get no advice from any medical staff. In the end decided not to go and he declined rapidly and passed away when I should have been on holiday. I do hope everyhing works out for you. Will be thinking about you in my prayers. CBG

Hi calabonagirl
My mum seems to have been stabilized and the hospital are happy that nothing sinister is causing her problems and that they will assess her care needs and decide if she now needs a nursing home!! She is bed bound because she has been left in bed for the duration of the hospital stay and can no longer feed herself or swallow food so everything is having to be puree'd for her!! They have sorted the dehydration and anemia but physically she is worse than before she went in. Up till yesterday we feared the worst and she slept the clock around friday and could not be wakened and then saturday had a fit, so pretty worrying but then she appears to have improved !! I suppose nothing is certain with the elderly! We are travelling up there to see her today which is almost a 2 hour drive away and it looks like we may go on holiday after all!! We have had a worrying 18 days made worse with living so far away!!
I am sorry to hear of your experience and I am sure you were pleased to have made your choice to not go on holiday! It really is difficult! Thanks so much for your reply
regards violet.

ray
you need to pick your insurance very carefully. Make sure yours will pay upfront.

I think in cases of hospitalisation it is often down to the discretion of the hospital and doctors at the time. If you are having a quick treatment and in and out of A&E type area then it makes sense that you pay up and claim back later. If you are involved in something serious (as was the case with my brother a few years ago) it is highly unlikely that any hospital will demand money up front but they will ask straight away whether you have insurance.

hi, we are going to alcudia in august and finding it hard to find reasonable priced insurance for my husband. he will be 61 when we go but thats not the problem. last august he had a fit and collapsed at work and was rushed to hospital where they thought 99 percent he had had a bleed on the brain or a stroke. scans disproved this and he seemed ok except that he didnt know the names of things or people for a while. after 3 weeks they found out he had an abcess on his brain probably caused by mastoiditis in his ear. they transferred him to another hospital for an operation on his ear and intravenous antibiotics for abcess. he came out in october then had rapid response team 4 times a day at home to administer intravenous drugs. they finished december when a scan showed abcess had cleared. other than 6 monthly checkups he is not receiving any treatment but is still on tablets for epilepsy because of the fit even though he doesnt have epilepsy. both the ent and neurologist are happy for him to go on holiday but we have had quotes of just under £200. he has always had high blood pressure tablets but they have never been a problem on insurance. does anyone know of any insurers who may be cheaper than this. he is back at work and basically fit and well now but i suppose its because he is still on tablets and it happened only a year ago.

When it comes to pre-existing medical conditions, there is no single insurer that always works out cheaper or better than all the rest. Each one would have to consider the risk before coming up with a quote and implementing any special terms. Have you tried the companies listed on page 1 of this topic under the "Cover for pre-existing medical conditions" heading ? Sometimes companies such as Columbus Direct tend just to increase the excess for any claims directly related to the pre-existing condition, rather than load the premium in case you might have a claim. It would be time consuming, but you should try as many of the companies in that section as possible, as quotes and terms of cover may vary considerably.

If you haven't already done so, make sure that you have a valid EHIC too, as that may be a condition of the insurance policy that you decide to buy.

David

hi, thanks for that. will give them a ring later. he has actually just gone to hospital for a check up on a completely unrelated thing so i better wait to see what they have said to see if anything else needs to be added to list of ailments. i think i would be better just leaving him at home then we could save on kennel fees as well and i would have more spends. only joking. will let you know how i get on. mandy

If I was you I would also declare the ailment he is getting a check up for today, even if he gets the all clear. It will still be regarded as an "investigation" by most insurers.

luci

We were due to fly out to Menorca yesterday for 2 weeks all inclusive. Unfortunately my son had a stroke on Tuesday due to several blood clots on his brain. It has been the week from hell!

I always take out my insurance separately, so did not take it out with Thomas Cook when I booked. We have been unable to go on holiday with my son being in hospital and don't know what to do in the hope that I may get some of £2800 back. I have planned this holiday for a year and am total devastated.

Insurance is something we least think about. I've got annual insurance and so never think about it and take it for granted, but it is something that should be taken out as soon as the holiday is booked, it covers a lot of things, good ones that is.
I hope someone can offer you some positive advice, does you household/credit card offer any holiday medical insurance?

I know £2800 is a lot to lose but you sons health is worth many, many more times more than that.

Hoping you get sorted and bless your son. I hate stories like this.

Take care,

Robby

hi,im sorry i cant offer any advice or help with the insurance part..but i just wanted to say that i hope your son has a speedy recovery and that you do manage to get some kind of refund.this is such a very sad thing to happen to you and your family. take care,regards sue xx

Hi noods ... I am sorry to hear about your son, I hope that he makes a full and speedy recovery.

You say "I always take out my insurance separately, so did not take it out with Thomas Cook when I booked" which is fine, lots of holidaymakers do likewise. But did you then take out that policy elsewhere, or did it somehow slip your mind and so you have no insurance at all ? Without any specific travel policy in place, sadly any options open to you are virtually nil, unless you perhaps have any sort of holiday cancellation cover provided by an alternative source, such as your bank, credit card company, or any other form of insurance policy.

If you had been able to cancel the holiday sufficiently far in advance, then without an insurance policy to claim on, the best you might have hoped for would be a gesture of goodwill from the tour operator in perhaps allowing you to transfer your booking to some future date. But presumably because of the unfortunate circumstances, it was either a very late cancellation or perhaps even a no-show. That would have denied them any opportunity to resell the holiday, and so makes any goodwill gestures less likely on their part.

Without insurance, I'm sorry to say that I can't really see much hope of recovering any of the holiday costs.

David

I guess it is a lesson learnt. I probably would have taken out insurance a couple of weeks ago as stupidly, I thought it was to cover us while we were away, I never even considered the fact that we may be too ill to go, however I have spent the past few weeks by my sons bedside. He now had DVT on top of everything else, so I'm not bothered about the holiday, its just a shame for my other 2 boys. Thanks anyway.

Hi noods ... even taking out insurance a couple of weeks ago, it is unlikely that it would have covered you for cancellation, if the holiday was booked some considerable time before. It really needs to be purchased at around the same time as booking the holiday, so that cancellation cover is effective from that date.

But all things considered, despite the financial loss, neither the holiday nor the insurance are as important at your lad's health and recovery at the moment. I wish you well and hope that you may have some good news to report soon.

David

Hi noods i wish your son a speedy recovery, my thoughts & prayers are with you & your family xxx

I wish your son a speedy recovery and best wishes to all the family at this very worrying time. x

hi all,
does Egypt come into the category of Europe for insurance?? i was told in 2006 that europe insurance includes egypt..This year i`ve booked DIY so i`m feeling a bit nervous. i have taken insurance with Insure and Go. i have taken out the Gold policy, destination Europe(exc. Algeria.Israel,Libya and Lebanon) am i ok and did i book the right one..we are off in 3 weeks so the nerves are kicking in and just need peace of mind..

sharon

You would need to check with your insurance company as some companies class it as Europe and other's don't.

luci

Sounds like you are okay with that policy shazza, but do give them a ring just to check. I have used Insure and Go several times now and although I haven't had a claim I cancelled a holiday and rebooked another one where the dates were slightly different and I phoned them and they changed the travel dates for me without question (or charge!).