Hello,
I was diagnosed with stage 3 Prostrate cancer & Type 2 Diabetes (double whammy) 12 months ago. My third son was getting married in Canada in September 2022 so eventually my thoughts turned to taking out travel insurance before I booked any travel. This of course assumed I would be well enough to travel as my 8 weeks of daily Radiotherapy treatment was due to be completed approximately 2 months prior to my proposed travel dates to Canada.
It quickly becomes clear that when you're diagnosed with cancer you have to call insurers rather than completing any online application forms as this always results in an eventual "your application cannot be completed please call us" message once you submit any online forms. Anyway, I was being optimistic about things and was looking for an annual worldwide multi trip travel policy for my wife (who's on medication for High Cholesterol) and myself .
Pre-diagnosis I used to be able to get a 12 month Worldwide Multi Trip Travel Insurance for around £140 per year. However, once I started calling a number of travel insurance companies on suggested lists, I quickly realised that travel insurance was looking like it was going to be really expensive!
With out naming names, the first 5-6 companies I called were looking for anywhere between £2.5K and £4.5K for a 2 week holiday any some tried to pull me in by offering an annual policy for a extra few hundred pounds! My immediate thoughts were "Wow this is really expensive and much more than I was hoping for. At these prices I will be struggling to afford to travel anywhere abroad in future" I was feeling pretty despondent and was thinking that as several companies were all quoting £000's then this must be how things are as a person with Cancer and Diabetes.
However, I did not give up an eventually came across a company called Holiday Safe Travel Insurance (HSTI) - https://www.holidaysafe.co.uk/
The customer service people at HSTI were great and I eventually took out a 12 month, Worldwide Multi Trip Travel Insurance policy with them for somewhere around £370. This was of course issued to cover my personal health conditions, treatment plans and current prognosis so the outcome may be different for others depending upon your individual circumstances. There was a several hundred pound excess for my specific conditions but the price overall was much more affordable than other quotes. Overall, I felt that Holiday Safe Travel Insurance did not take advantage of my health conditions which is what I felt was happening with other insurers. NOTE: My policy excluded travel to Mexico as it appears that my premium would have increased a lot if this destination was included.
The application process was all done by phone. You will need to have to hand a lot of detail about your specific condition(s) i.e. dates, diagnosis, treatment plan, drugs, current prognosis, consultants/GP details and any letters by them that confirm things etc. The people at Holiday SafeTravel Insurance were helpful and pleasant to deal with.
I not saying that Holiday Safe Travel Insurance - https://www.holidaysafe.co.uk/ is going to work for everyone and their specific diagnosis. However, given my personal experience with HSTI, I think they are definitely one of the first Insurers you should consider calling and compare them against other Insurers. You can call them on 0333 005 1062. They are open 8am-8pm Monday-Friday and 9am-5pm Saturday-Sunday (Closed on Bank Holidays, Easter Sunday and Christmas Day).
Hi DGHAGGIS2 and a very warm welcome to the online community which I hope you'll find is both an informative and supportive place to be.
Thanks very much for taking the time to tell us about your experiences obtaining travel insurance and it's great to read that you feel you've got a good deal through Holiday Safe.
Having looked back through the previous posts, I can see that they're a company who've been recommended by others in the past but it's good to know that they're still providing competitively priced travel insurance.
I hope you had a lovely time in Canada and that you're planning on a few more trips abroad.
x
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
