Travel Insurance Cost Cutting Tips For Older Travellers/Pre-existing Conditions

Bobrobin_2

Anniebee wrote: »

Try the American Express website for £158 for a basic worldwide policy even for over 80s.

That is until you have a problem with alitude admitted to hospital & then find American Express WON'T pay..... Saying it's a pre-existing condition, even though the condition was declared, and premium charged appropriatly.
Hospital bill Cost over 14800.
AND mytherd by hospital for over 12 months for the bill to be paid a SECOND time even though receipts were obtained at time of paying the bill with Cash.

My avice = Stay clear of american express.

Bobrobin_2

I'm looking for a friend who has ANN cover world wide, he has an existing policy in effect now BUT it expires before his next trip, he's afriad of asking for renewal with existing Co as they took so long in giving the original some 4 yrs ago & just renewed each year since. Now having suffered a recent heart attack complete with stents taking 4 or 5 meds a day, declaring this in the pre-existing conditions for quotes, they are coming in at between 500+ to 1400.
Reading some of these forum entries suggests he/we may be doing something wrong!

Tomsmom; has suggested Columbus in her replys to others, befor we call them, Any good sound advise Please.

I have posted in the past re American Express travel insurance (beware) the cost of the hospital bill was rediculas even though the Asthmatic conditions were declared and premiums paid for cover.
So maybe you can understand some of the delema here!

TomsMom

Bobrobin, if this was me I would be contacting the original company and asking for a renewal quote, declaring the latest condition, to see what they come up with. They were already happy enough to accept any previous conditions so it's worth seeing if they are going to load with the latest information and by how much. That would give you a basis for comparison.

Also, do give Columbus a try. When hubby declared his conditions - 3 episodes of pericarditis (connected with heart) which was the major problem with all the other companies and caused the loading, despite the fact that the last episode was 11 years ago, 3 hernias including strangulated hernia, operation for crushed disc and ulcerative colitis. Everything except the UC was old history and Columbus explained that they take a note of medical history and anything prior to 12 months ago is not considered for loading as they are not current conditions being treated. As his UC is ongoing, he had to answer questions and he is not on any medication. They were happy to accept this condition without loading. Hubby double checked to confirm that ALL his conditions are covered should he have any problems whilst away.

I would add that Halifax, on asking them to change our single trip Europe policy to annual multi-trip worldwide (excluding USA) and we knew we would have to pay extra on top of the original £122, came back with asking us for an extra £200 odd and said that NONE of his conditions would be covered, even though they were covered under the single trip Europe policy. Needless to say we cancelled that policy once we had taken the policy with Columbus for £77 and Halifax actually refunded the original £122 as they had seriously misled him in a previous phone call that they would change the policy for an extra £50, which they refused when he told them to go ahead a week later - but that's another story.

One thing that is a must, do declare all conditions as if they're not declared and a claim has to be made non-declaration will probably void the policy.

Bobrobin_2

TomsMom wrote: »

Bobrobin, if this was me I would be contacting the original company and asking for a renewal quote, declaring the latest condition, to see what they come up with. They were already happy enough to accept any previous conditions so it's worth seeing if they are going to load with the latest information and by how much. That would give you a basis for comparison..[/quote

Thanks I did already try this to find they Declind any cover for the heart problem! However, they will cover existing declared/s at the same rate premium as last yrs cover.

TomsMom wrote: »

Also, do give Columbus a try. .[/quoteThis to already tried co's of your recomendaton, they declind any cover!

TomsMom wrote: »

I would add that Halifax, on asking them to change our single trip Europe policy to annual multi-trip worldwide (excluding USA) .[/quoteThis is a needed cover for USA, so may try Halifax!! Just to see.

TomsMom wrote: »

One thing that is a must, do declare all conditions as if they're not declared and a claim has to be made non-declaration will probably void the policy.

This is a bone of contension, mothers decloration with A Express Ins was a waste of time, she ended in hospital with a diagnoses of an asthmatic problem, the bill was out of this world, as the A Express Ins wouldn't cover it, as it was declared !!!

Please don't get me wrong I'm not having a go at you, I appreciate your input. You must sit at your puter for hours answering all those ?'s in this forum. :A

TomsMom

Bobrobin wrote: »

You must sit at your puter for hours answering all those ?'s in this forum. :A

Nah! I'm subscribed to this thread as I originally asked the question and got the recommendation for Columbus from it! Just happy to pass on the recommendation, it has helped some people and I'm only sorry it didn't work out for you.

Including USA always makes it more expensive. I think all companies will quote for USA but combined with the medical conditions the cost may be prohibitive.

Beware Halifax though, they accepted hubby's conditions for the single Europe trip but when asked to change to annual multi-trip they said they would do it (for an extra couple of hundred pounds) but refused to cover any conditions at all despite them being accepted for the first policy.

This is a bone of contension, mothers decloration with A Express Ins was a waste of time, she ended in hospital with a diagnoses of an asthmatic problem, the bill was out of this world, as the A Express Ins wouldn't cover it, as it was declared !!!

This is why hubby double checked with Columbus, going to the extent of asking "Are you sure that if anything happens that is remotely connected with the conditions I have declared, i.e. if I have another episode of pericarditis or another hernia or hurt my back etc., then I am covered and the bills will be paid". Come to think of it, he had a verbal confirmation and nothing in writing..........ooo...err........:o

If you start at the beginning of this thread you should find recommendations for some other companies that might be able to help. Start with the 0800 ones

Hope you get sorted soon. Let us know.

happygo_2

Via the moneysupermarket website, i came across Karma Insurance and got a quote for my father who is over 65 with a pre-medical condition for multi-annual trip to the USA for £80 something. Has anyone signed up with them?

Bobrobin_2

Not I !!
After looking at their site I got fed-up of new web pages opening, to find that if you call their office it costs you a 1GBP per minute, what a ripp-off. :eek: :mad: that's worse than 0870 numbers!

Their policy rates are about the same as Insure n Go, whom give a 10% loyalty discount, tho they use an 0870 number, but if you use www.saynoto0870.com I think they list regular number. :money:

I'm now sick of this research for travel insurance with pre existing medical/s.

One more lead to finish checking which is looking promising but has the need for several emails back & to,all takes time.
If good, :money: I'll try getting back here to post it, I say that as it takes awhile to find this forum thread.

TomsMom

Bobrobin wrote: »

I say that as it takes awhile to find this forum thread.

Bobrobin, when you click reply to a message click on the "Quote" button, the one next to the "Thanks" button, once you've typed your message in the box you can scroll down and there's a box "Additional Options" and within this box there is "Notification Type". From the drop down menu select "Instant email notification". This subscribes you to the thread and when someone replies to the thread you will get an e-mail with a link, click on the link and it takes you directly to the thread.

I think that if you use "Quick Reply" you might need to go into "Advanced ..." to get the Notification Type box.

Of course, you get notified of ALL posts in the thread, not just replies to your own, but at least you can go straight to the thread rather than search for it.

You can unsubscribe at any time if it's no longer of any use to you.

Hope that helps.

Bobrobin_2

Thanks for that..

Travel_Insurance_Expert

nfiche wrote: »

Apart from the comprehensive new article on this site, Martin had an article in Saturday's Guardian and , rightly, pointed out that free or discounted treatment is available in any EU country on production of the new European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) which has replaced the E111.
I feel that this is not stressed enough and perhaps questions need to be asked of insurers' attitude. Why don't they offer the option of travel insurance without the medical cover -- ie only "other" items such as loss of cash/baggage, cancellation etc--- and leave it to the individual to decide whether the higher price to cover medical treatment should be paid, where an EU country is the destination?
Of course it would be foolish indeed for anyone to travel to USA or other non-EU country without full cover, and admittedly, even within the EU, the extent of the "state" cover does vary quite a bit. (see www.dh.gov.uk for details for each EU country). But, for example, the extent of EHIC cover in Spain, and the quality of treatment there, is very good. As a pensioner with a heart bypass two years ago, I have to pay over the odds for medical cover, and I ask myself why I should bother . Insurers take high premiums, and then do their best to persuade you to use the state system if you need help, so that they don't have to pay. Why not call their bluff ?
Yes, I know that if I fell ill and had to be repatriated to the UK, I'd have to pay for it. OK, I'll risk that ! I know also that the pundits always stress the need to have adequate health insurance. Am I being a heretic to question whether that advice always holds good !!

I believe that the various governments have given false expectations to citizens by naming this reciprocal agreement identifying card as the "European Health Insurance Card". The reciprocal agreement entitles you only to the healthcare that is provided to the citizens of the country that you are visiting. You are not entitled to the same healthcare that you would expect within the UK. e.g. France & Germany charge a per day bed rate, Greece provides no nursing staff which have to be hired privately, Irish GP fees are not free, some countries do not include ambulance services within their free health etc.etc. This is of course apart from the repatriation costs that you are aware of. But what about additional accommodation and travel costs if you or you and your companion have to stay beyond your intended departure dates?