I have recently been diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer in the last month. I have had surgery to remove the tumour and waiting to start chemotherapy (this will be starting after my holiday).
I already had a family holiday booked to Cyprus. I have tried a variety of travel insurance companies and the cheapest quote I have had is £3500 for a 10 day trip.
I have looked into the EHIC/GHIC. Will I need medical travel insurance cover if I have this card? Could the EHIC/GHIC cover me for my cancer (if needed) and I buy separate travel insurance but do not declare the cancer as this insurance would be for issues such as lost baggage, flight cancellations etc.
I'm just trying to find a way around having to spend more on insurance than 3x the entire holiday itself!
Hi Stayingpositive101 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, as you've found, it can be much harder to find reasonably priced travel insurance when you have been diagnosed with cancer.
The EHIC/GHIC card entitles you to state provided medical treatment that may become necessary during your trip. Any treatment provided will be on the same terms as Cypriot nationals.
The Gov.UK website states "It’s important to take out appropriate travel insurance for your needs. A GHIC or EHIC is not an alternative to travel insurance and you should have both before you travel. It does not cover all health-related costs, for example, medical repatriation, ongoing medical treatment and non-urgent treatment."
Have you taken a look through the 'recommended travel insurance' thread yet, as you'll find plenty of recommendations from other forum members who have successfully got travel insurance. 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.
Do pop back and let us know how you get on.
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
You can have insurance cover without cover for cancer but I wouldn’t recommend not declaring the cancer as the company could declare your policy invalid in the event of any claim. I declared my cancer, but the insurance company wouldn’t cover it until I was 6 months free of disease. They did however cover me for other things like accidents, lost money, flight cancellation etc and I was happy to travel on that basis. For future trips they were happy to cover me for everything.
I hope you can find something at a more reasonable cost than you’ve seen so far.
Sarah xx
Thank you! I already have travel insurance but that was prior to my diagnosis. I don't feel brave enough to travel without cancer being declared even though it is highly unlikely anything would happen, but just a constant niggling in my head saying don't do it!
Pleased to hear you are free from it now 
️
You can declare the cancer so they know about it, but just not have cover for it-while still having cover cover for all the usual things that are covered under travel policies.
The EHIC/GHIC card is related to health (while still not being a replacement for insurance) but wouldn’t cover you for something like stolen money/passports etc. Are you phoning companies direct rather than requesting quotes online? That’s usually more successful.
Sarah xx
I think I'm too much of a worrier to not get cover for the cancer (despite being certain there's very little risk) but you just never know!
I already have normal travel insurance to cover me for everything aside from cancer as this was in place before I got the cancer diagnosis. I have phoned all companies directly or gone through a broker and £1060 is the cheapest by far but still a long way off what I'm willing to pay. Quite a few have declined insurance as they say the fact I will have chemo after the holiday means I am awaiting treatment (even though I have clearly explained I'm not on a waiting list so I wouldn't be cancelling or cutting my holiday suddenly short!). Also it would have only been 7 weeks since the tumour was surgically removed by the time I go on holiday so some companies have said this is too short a time.
I'm starting to think I'm going to have to cancel the holiday now. 
xx
I’ve had to cancel a holiday myself, so I know how distressing that is. I was due to travel on the day I was diagnosed with cancer, and my insurance paid out my flight costs etc.
Timing is all important to insurance companies, so that was why they wouldn’t cover me 5 months after my first lot of chemoradiation had been completed-it needed to be 6 months after treatment had ended for me.
Has your surgeon/consultant said you would be fit to travel 7 weeks after surgery? It does seem a short time. I had surgery when my cancer recurred, which did involve my colon, but I wouldn’t have been fit to travel after 7 weeks. I’m not sure what operation you are having, but it can take some time to recover.
Sarah xx
