travel insurance for people on a hospital referral

vickk

We are due to go on holiday to florida in may and had got travel insurance offered to my wife who had a heart attack a year ago and also has mild asthma. Getting quotes was not a problem and came in around £300 for the 3 week trip.

however due to what the Dr thinks are side effects from her medication she has a persistent dry cough and occasional felling nausea first thing in the morning. However to rule out anything serious she has been referred to 2 hospital clinics for tests.

The result of this is none of the insurance companies will now offer cover for her pre existing conditions even if they are not connected to the referrals.

is anyone aware of a company that would offer a policy that covers her heart and asthma and exclude anything related to her referal. I have tried all the companies listed on this site. Staysure will offer a policy covering everything except her pre existing conditions and in the end might be my only option. Most of the others wont offer any policy while she is on a hospital waiting list.

vickk

It would seem from the lack of response that I am going to struggle.

rs65

vickk wrote: »

It would seem from the lack of response that I am going to struggle.

Without a diagnosis, insurers will not be able to know what they are covering (or excluding).

vickk

rs65 wrote: »

Without a diagnosis, insurers will not be able to know what they are covering (or excluding).

But if they are not connected to pre existing conditions why can they not cover them.

rs65

vickk wrote: »

But if they are not connected to pre existing conditions why can they not cover them.

Because insurers don't know what 'they' are. She has an undiagnosed condition.

vickk

She had an undiagnosed condition for months while she was going back and to the doctors and they were happy to cover her. Now the doctor has passed her on the a nhs waiting list they won't cover her. Frankly I dont see the difference

With the state of the nhs there must be loads of people on waiting lists blindly unaware that they will not be covered by their tavel insurance

rs65

vickk wrote: »

She had an undiagnosed condition for months while she was going back and to the doctors and they were happy to cover her. Now the doctor has passed her on the a nhs waiting list they won't cover her. Frankly I dont see the difference

I suppose that being referred is like going up a tier. GP treating something (or investigating something) is different to being referred for further tests - or as you say to rule out something serious.

hazeleyes

My husband has several long standing medical conditions and we sought a quote from this company for travel insurance. On the questionnaire we declared that he was on a waiting list for surgery (knee-replacement). We duly received the quote and under a heading of "Important Health Requirements" it stated
"cover will not be provided if any traveller "is awaiting surgery or
currently on a waiting list for surgery" .
I contacted Staysure to ask for clarification on this statement (we assumed that it meant that he would not be covered for anything which occurred in connection with his knee, both before and after surgery, which wasn't exactly welcome news but nevertheless understandable,given the way insurance companies operate). We werev therefore somewhat taken aback to be informed that
"As your husband is awaiting surgery I need to inform you there is no cover for ANY of his pre-existing conditions including the condition for which he is awaiting the surgery or anything related."
We were further advised that
"The best way to obtain an accurate quote regarding pre-existing medical conditions is to speak to one of our sales agents."
Given what was contained in the company's response, I am afraid that my reaction was "what on earth is the point".

Their advertisement proudly proclaims that "all previous existing medical conditions considered" but is silent on the fact that if you're on a hospital waiting list then basically you haven't a hope in hell because not only does it knock out that specific condition but everything else as well!

So the moral is, avoid Staysure.

Avanti, on the other hand, will cover the condition (i.e. osteo-arthritis) but will not cover anything which arises as a result of the replacement procedure.

vickk

I dont think staysure are on their own. In our case as you say they will offer cover but exclude all pre existing conditions, however most companies refused any cover at all while she was on a wait list.

As things go I have managed to find cover that includes all pre existing conditions. As such I would like to say that following a link on the heart foundation website we found an insurance broker called Ridge Insurance in Glossop. They took all the details and within 2 days had found a company willing to offer cover in a bespoke policy.

Ridge Insurance and Alpha the under writers have proved to be excellent so far and I fully recommend Ridge to anyone struggling to get cover.