Recommended travel insurance 2023-24

We have had a varied result. My wife is in full remission with myeloma.

We have always had travel insurance through our bank account at Lloyds. They now say that they will not insure her for any myeloma related illness, even with a premium. We feel that relying on any illness not being related to myeloma is just too dodgy.

We approached All Clear who would not insure her. We went to medicaltravelcompared.co.uk. Again they would not insure her.

We went to Insure with who said they would phone her back which they did 4 days later. They then said that they would not quote without refering her to their medical team. We gave up.

It is worth saying at this point that I found this process icredibly stressful and draining. Going through idential questionnaires over and over again just to be told at the end that the company wouldnt quote was awful. I havent listed all the companies we approached but found comparison sites useless.

3 months ago Staysure declined to insure her. Then we heard from a member of her myeloma group that he had got insurance with them  so we went ack and this time they quoted. We have taken out an annual Europe policy (no cruises allowed) for over £900. We have paid for both of us even though I am insured with Lloyds because if there was a repatriation  issue it would be more straightforwards. I have no idea whether this was necessary!

The only other thing to say about Staysure is that my wife had a 20% discount voucher from the WI. when we applied this it actually gave us 5%. They explained that the 20% is only off the base price and not off the medical premium part. I was anot amused by this but if you get offered 20% dont expect to actually get it!!

Total travel protection are a company on the BIBS list of companies I got a really good quote to travel on a cruise 

Hi Winship. We used: insurancewith.com

For anyone happy to exclude cancer from your insurance, the only insurer I could find for this was Global Travel Insurance. Such a relief to be able to pay a normal fee for a safe trip when I don't have elevated risk of issues while abroad.

They will add medical screening if you want, but I didn't try. Covid and anything unrelated to cancer are still covered. And I got a GHIC card for good measure.

The best quote I got including cover for the cancer was from All Clear, but it's 9 times higher than I used to pay for a simple week in Europe, (and excluded cancellation). Treatment With outright refused me because I'm due to start new treatment when I return to the UK. Totally nonsensical - it can't give me side effects before it starts, and it's a fixed date not a waiting list. Both these companies and Coverwise refused to exclude existing health conditions - or even medical cover more generally. 

Thankyou I was having a nightmare trying to get insurance

We have just secured travel insurance for us both. Husband recently finished adjuvant chemo after surgery last year, stage 4 bowel cancer with a liver met. He has been given a NED result so begin three month surveillance.

After many online quotes and some phone calls we went with Insurancewith. An annual policy Worldwide excluding Mexico plus cruise cover. I too have a health condition. Total price £1,243 with £1000 excess. 

Not a cheap but considering where we are we decided to go with it and have as many holidays as we can. Life is not a dress rehearsal.

Good luck to all those searching.

Karen 

My husband also has stage 4 prostate cancer and as I have just been through a rotten year of breast cancer treatment  we areboth desperate for a break away. Will try your recommendation. Thanks 

This is sooooo frustrating.  I'm a daughter and live in carer to my 91 year old mum who has Myloma (bone marrow). I want to be able to have a mother and daughter Caribbean cruise (which I booked a short while ago). I'm looking around for travel insurance for my mum but it's becoming a very soul-destroying process.  It's as if the insurance companies are saying that my mum cannot go.  Due to my mum's age, this could be our final trip together, even though I hope to have many more years with her. 

Part of me is tempted not to mention that she has Myloma due to me being frustrated in finding insurance. I tried Staysure and a couple of other insurance companies but to no avail.  I don't know of it's both my mum's age and her Myloma that's resulting in the doors being slammed in my face.

Can anyone please help as this mother and daughter trip means so much to both of us..at least for the change of scenery.

Hi Prue8 and a very warm welcome to the online community which I hope you'll find is both an informative and supportive place to be.

Unfortunately it can be more difficult to find travel insurance when you've had a cancer diagnosis but you've come to the right place to read about other people's experiences.

I don't know if you've had chance to look through the original 'recommended travel insurance' thread yet, as it's where the majority of recommendations from other forum members are. If not, clicking on the link I've created will take you straight there. There are lots of recommendations so it's probably best to go through the thread, make a list and then sit down with a big cup of tea before you start phoning around.

As tempting as it might be to not declare your mum's myeloma, you should be aware that if you do this you might find she's not covered at all if you had to claim as the insurer will say that you did not declare all medical conditions.

I hope this helps and let us know how you get on.

x

Thanks for your quick response.  I shall have a look and hopefully find a company that will insure my mum.