Travel insurance question - pre-existing conditions

BigAde

Hi - hope someone can help.

We have recently booked flights online to Orlando. There are 6 of us in the group, all from the same family. Another family member in the US is arranging a couple of condos for the week (as they can get them cheaper somehow).

My question is this: a couple of the party have pre-existing conditions, one has type 2 diabetes and one has hypertension. Both are under control with medication. We want to buy travel insurance to give peace of mind - something that will cover all eventualities includuing the pre-existing conditions, ash clouds, the lot. Also, if one of the 6 of us falls seriously ill, I'm sure the other 5 wouldn't want to travel and would need to cancel.

Should we buy one policy to cover the 6 of us, or given the pre-existing conditions, should this be split up into different insurers?
While I don't want to pay more than necessary, we really need peace of mind on this one. Hope someone can help.

luci

Some companies are no longer covering the ash cloud. Direct Travel is on payment of an additional premium.

Personally I think each person/couple should get their own travel insurance. I wouldn't like to be responsible for declaring PEMC's for others as they may have something they don't wish to discuss with others. However it would be a good idea to all get the policies from the same company as that should make claiming easier.

Some companies will only charge a small extra premium for the declared conditions which others can be expensive so you really need to call a few companies for quotes and read their policies online.

BigAde

luci wrote: »

Some companies are no longer covering the ash cloud. Direct Travel is on payment of an additional premium.

Personally I think each person/couple should get their own travel insurance. I wouldn't like to be responsible for declaring PEMC's for others as they may have something they don't wish to discuss with others. However it would be a good idea to all get the policies from the same company as that should make claiming easier.

Some companies will only charge a small extra premium for the declared conditions which others can be expensive so you really need to call a few companies for quotes and read their policies online.

Thanks luci - much appreciated.
Direct Travel seems to be quite well thought of on MSE from what I can see, but for the over 65s it is seems very expensive. If we bought two policies (one covering 4 of us and another for the other 2) from two different companies and someone fell seriously ill before travelling, would I be right in thinking that a policy wouldn't pay up if someone who wasn't insured with the same company fell ill and the rest wanted to cancel.

Sammy85_2

I did see a tv show on this subject recently. Sorry i cant remember for definate, may have been "dont get done get dom".

Basically. The couple cancelled their holiday because the mother of the wife was ill and had been hospitalised. The mother was not travelling and was not named on the policy in any way. The couples insurance refused to pay out because they said the couple should have declared at point of taking out the policy that the wifes mother had been ill.

I think Dom got the insurers to cough up, but he warned that it was technically the couples fault as they should have declared anything known to them that could have the potential to disrupt the holiday, and they had known that mother had been ill previously.

I guess what im getting at is, based on that case, even if the other travellers take out their own separate insurances it may not cover them for cancelling becauase someone else in the group cannot make the trip because of a known/existing condition unless they have declared it.

Incapuppy

Yes. If none of the party would wish to travel should one of the others fall ill then PEMCs must be declared for all persons travelling (and indeed for anyone else for whom the holiday would be cancelled/curtailed but are not travelling themselves eg: close relatives).

All parties involved do not need to be with the same insurer as long as PEMCs are declared but insurers (or rather their medical screening agencies) do vary in the way that they view different conditions so it is always wise to shop around.

NEH

With Pre-Existing conditions it's always better to declare something than not, i even have to state my hayfever now....

If your trip depends on the others travelling than i would mention that fact as others have said if you get separate insurance. I have found sometimes that as OH has nothing wrong him with it works out cheaper to get separate policies instead of a joint one but i found this year it's less so and joint policies have more often then not been cheaper...

One thing i learnt this year is don't rule out the "ordinary" travel insurances, i was very surprised that ones like Sainsburys and American Express would provide cover for pre-existing conditions.

The other key thing is to read very carefully the terms and conditions and if anything changes even if one medication goes up for example you must declare it.

I also found it quite common that a number of the insurances didn't cover DIY holidays and that you had to pay extra to cover your holiday if you'd booked everything yourself.

If you get stuck for finding suitable insurance try the charities that relate to your illnesses.

2nd_Time_Lucky

My DH has health issues and we use getMY travel- an annual policy that covers both of us and we have the choice of either excluding the issues or including them by paying an extra premium. :T

BigAde

Thanks very much for all the replies. It is very much appreciated. Thought I might have been worrying about nothing, but it seems not. As we're a close family group and that this is one of those once-in-a-lifetime type holidays, I know that if any one of us fell ill (particularly the children), the others wouldn't want to travel.

Thanks also for pointing out about DIY holidays. We've booked flights and accomodation direct ourselves, so this is another concern. Can anyone recommend a suitable insurance company that would cover DIY holidays AND pre-existing conditions? Thanks.

bluenoseam

There's a ton of places which cover pre-existing medical conditions, i know this is a link for ones from MacMillan but most of them will deal with other conditions too

http://www.macmillan.org.uk/Cancerinformation/Livingwithandaftercancer/Practicalissues/Travel/Companies.aspx

NEH

BigAde wrote: »

Thanks very much for all the replies. It is very much appreciated. Thought I might have been worrying about nothing, but it seems not. As we're a close family group and that this is one of those once-in-a-lifetime type holidays, I know that if any one of us fell ill (particularly the children), the others wouldn't want to travel.

Thanks also for pointing out about DIY holidays. We've booked flights and accomodation direct ourselves, so this is another concern. Can anyone recommend a suitable insurance company that would cover DIY holidays AND pre-existing conditions? Thanks.

As i said try American Express, Marks and Spencer and Sainsburys.....;)

American express i know if you book the middle or higher range insurance cover DIY holidays and pre existing conditions...

BigAde

Will try the ones you suggest, thanks NEH.