Pre-existing Travel Insurance Guide Discussion

koru wrote: »

They don't seem to cover a lot of the market. I have tried several specialist cancer insurers and they all asked about a dozen questions for screening. Not one of these companies is included when I get a quote with Money Supermarket. Their online screening asked only 4 questions in relation to a specific form of cancer, two of which were irrelevant for that type of cancer. I don't see how they can have enough information to know that an insurer will cover the condition.

The cheapest quote it gave (for a single person, 7 days in Italy) was £80, which is about four times higher than the cheapest cover I can get with other specialists. Perhaps this is because MS is only giving quotes from a handful of insurers who use the same restricted medical screening. Others who bother to find out more are able to assess that the risk is low, so they quote a lower premium.

Maybe MS's approach works better for more routine conditions.

I think i states that they do not cover the whole market,i know from experiance that it is a chore searching the whole of the web looking for a good but cost effective insurer.

hirsties wrote: »

Is there any insurer who will sell us a policy for this cruise? I'm concerned that if we have to cancel then we'll have no cover.

Have you paid much of a non-refundable deposit yet? I wouldn't have thought you would need to pay much, more than 12 months in advance. If so, then perhaps worth taking the risk.

If you do have a big deposit at risk, you could buy annual cover, which would pay out if you have to cancel during the year of cover, even if the trip doesn't start til after the cover ends. (You would need to buy another policy at that point.)

Or try an insurance broker, who might know of a firm that does cover more than 12m in advance.

i had exactly the same problem. i had insurance, declared pre-existing conditions, had never had pneumonia before, but contracted it in New York last Xmas. was in hospital there for 3 weeks, airlifted back and hospitalised in UK.insurance paid the bill, thank goodness, as it was astronomical! and i'm afraid i cannot recommend US doctors, hospitals or treatments, certainly not what i experienced.
anyway, the insurance company wanted to re-run the questionnaire but because the claim was on-going, couldn't. when it came to renewal, although the premium had risen, it wasn't by a ridiculous amount but the pre-existing conditions were ot covered anymore, even though i hadn't claimed for any of them and my trips were limited to 1 per year plus worldwide cover was diminished to exclude USA, Canada etc, the ones i visit the most.
what i found so annoying was that ALL pre-existing conditions were no longer covered even though no claim was made for them, that i had never had pneumonia before, went to countries that are classed as good as far as cleanliness etc are concerned as well as medical facilities and being reasonably disease free, unlike a lot of 3rd world classed areas meaning i couldn't go to the ones i wanted to so as to visit relations anymore unless i ran the risk of not getting ill or paying all bills myself if i did. and something that was really bad as far as my thinking was concerned was that one of the reasons given for my 'restrictions' was that i had made a claim that cost thousands to settle. the idea of insurance is to cover that eventuality, isn't it? i would much rather not have been ill and them not pay out. i certainly didn't get sick on purpose.
if you've tried to get insurance elsewhere, you must have found how you are penalised greatly now. i had quotes up to £2000 for a single trip and as you say, the companies listed on the MSE site are far from being helpful and definitely not cheap!

hirsties wrote: »

Hi


Not sure if I'm posting this in the correct forum, or even the correct way!


We have existing medical conditions - my husband has mild asthma and I have limited mobility due to osteoarthritis. I have had two replacement knees and various other joint operations.


We've managed to get travel insurance before but have just booked a cruise for two years' time - October 2019.


Most sites will only let you book up to one year in advance.


Is there any insurer who will sell us a policy for this cruise? I'm concerned that if we have to cancel then we'll have no cover.


Thanks for your help.

I think all insurers will only deal with one year at a time so as said before you might have to buy annual insurance for this year ... and next. Again I would suggest you try Explorer Insurance- tel number quoted in post above. They do cover certain medical conditions and also have cruise cover.
I have used them for a couple of years and their premiums have compared very well with others (and no, I'm not getting commission, sadly!!)