Travel insurance

Hello @Mrs G1,

Thanks for getting in touch. Just to make you aware we can’t recommend any financial products or services but hopefully you may find the following information helpful.

If you are finding it difficult to obtain cover our online community and travel insurance blogs have information posted by other people affected by cancer, including names of companies they have used to get cover. You can find that here.

MoneyHelper (a separate organisation to Macmillan) have also created a Travel Insurance Directory which you can use to search for FCA approved insurers who may be able to offer cover to people with pre-existing medical conditions including cancer. You can see that here.

You may also find it worthwhile to have a look through any cover you might already have available through any bank accounts or credit cards, they won’t usually automatically include cover for pre-existing conditions but may agree to offer full cover if a top-up fee is paid. Trade unions may also be able to help.

Some insurance companies use medical screening systems to provide you with your quotes, but many use the same or similar systems which can lead to you being asked a lot of the questions which are very similar or the same. Please don’t let this put you off shopping around as even though you’re being asked similar or the same questions, each company may be able to offer you a different price if they agree to provide cover. If you find yourself struggling to explain your situation to insurance companies, then you can ask if they’d be willing to manually underwrite the policy. This means a person rather than a computer would look at your health and decide whether cover can be offered and how much it’d cost. It is also worth asking if a fit to travel letter from your consultant would have any impact on the type or cost of cover the insurance company would be able to offer.

When buying travel insurance, it’s important to check whether your policy will cover claims relating to any pre-existing medical conditions. Some insurance companies will simply choose to exclude all cover for any pre-existing medical conditions, while some may exclude any medical claims arising from certain pre-existing conditions.

There are lots of travel insurance policies available that cover claims arising from pre-existing medical conditions and there are some companies that specialise in providing travel insurance to people in this situation. An insurer may offer a policy that covers this kind of claim as long as the conditions have been declared to them and have been accepted by the company in writing. It’s usually more expensive to cover claims relating to cancer. This is because the chance of claiming for medical expenses or cancellation is increased.

If an insurer offers a travel insurance policy with a cancer-related exclusion, this means the person insured wouldn’t be covered for any claims relating to the cancer. If this is the case, it’s important to consider the risk of not being covered if the person experiences any problems related to the cancer while they are away.

If someone does have a pre-existing medical condition, like cancer, it’s important to answer any medical questions as fully and as accurately as possible. If they don’t, the insurer could refuse to pay a claim and could cancel the policy.

There is also booklet regarding Travel and Cancer which includes other things to consider https://www.macmillan.org.uk/cancer-information-and-support/stories-and-media/booklets/travel-and-cancer

I hope this helps you but if you need any more help please do let me know or call the Macmillan Support Line (freephone) on 0808 808 0000.

You can respond by replying via this email or alternatively you can also talk to us via our webchat service.

Kind regards.

Will Quinn

Financial Guide

0808 808 0000