Travel insurance

Yes to the high prices but I have never traveled without insurance…… At times it ment not going out of the UK for a few years.

Over my 25 years journey with my 2 types of rare Lymphoma I have seen stories and talked with a good number of folks who ‘winged it’ and they ended up counting the cost.

Hello Jonney,

It might sound tempting but I certainly wouldn't take the risk.

The costs of being taken ill abroad can be very substantial and even if you're travelling with a GHIC card in qualifying country this only provides for medical treatment to the local standard free level in the host country. More importantly if you're taken seriously ill and need medical repatriation you're on your own which can easily cost multiple tens of thousands.

I'd suggest having a good trawl through the travel community posts to see what others have done. Unfortunately insurance costs can vary wildly depending on your condition and it's best to get several quotes to compare and find the best one.

Nope, not a chance. We did not travel abroad when I could not get an affordable quote. And, I expect at some point that will happen again. I've worked as a medical claims assessor and seen the cost of medical treatment overseas. We did not cover medical evacuation but did see some of the correspondence about it and it can run into thousands (highest one was from far east and it was something like £30K). 

If I can't afford the insurance I certainly can't afford the treatment.

Hi Jonney, We've had reasonable quotes from InsuranceWith over the last two years.  The last one was in the four hundreds, as we were going on quite an expensive cruise. For the two other trips we just chanced it and took out insurance that didn't cover medical issues as my husband's cancer was well controlled with HT at the time, and he couldn't think of any reason why it would suddenly flare up and land him in hospital, and in fact it didn't.  This year is a different matter though as he's now on chemo so it may come down to a staycation this time!

Thanks Chocaholic28 

Thanks for the feedback. I'm teetering on the edge of cancelling our Spanish holiday planned for next September because I've been getting quotes around £600 for just one week of travel insurance. What could possibly go wrong in a week when my cancer is under control? I'm just waiting on radiotherapy, which will be concluded in April, and I'm not on any new drugs to worry about side effects.

I'm not criticising the NHS—they are fantastic—but I seem to spend a lot of time waiting for appointments with consultants. This must reflect that the urgency for treatment isn't present. I eat and drink sensibly and keep active most days. If only someone could pinpoint what might go wrong while I'm away from the UK—besides me looking suspiciously guilty with cold sweats.

Jonney,

I now see you've to undergo radiotherapy due to be completed in April, presumably for PC and in conjunction with existing HT (although difficult to tell for sure as you don't have a profile with your details on it)?

If this is the case I suspect the high cost might be due to you seeking cover before you complete RT. Insurers don't like providing cover when treatment is pending or in progress and I suspect this is inflating the cost for you.

I had PC recurrence early in 2024 and was put on triplet therapy - chemo plus prostap and darolutamide. Chemo was completed September 2024 and I remain on the other drugs permanently. I waited until after chemo was finished for 6 weeks and got an annual wordwide (ex Mexico) policy covering as many 31 day trips as I want in a year for me and my wife cheaper than your quote for 1 week in Spain.

Maybe not the answer you're looking for, but you may well get much cheaper quotes once you're successfully through RT, although unfortunately a wait is involved just like with the good old NHS.

Thanks for your reply. To be honest the insurers (Stay-sure) only asked if my cancer had spread to the lymph-nodes, which it has. Maybe i should try a few more insurance providers. 

Maybe consider getting a quote for annual travel insurance. It might not be much more. 
we pay £600 for two of us for Europe with Staysure. 

Two that I know about who use a different, more comprehensive, question set are Insurewith and albert&eddie (both part of same group but operate independently). They gave me quotes when Staysure refused and were competitvely priced compared to some others I tried.

As SEE says, annual cover might be more cost effective especially if you're able to have more than one trip.

Ah, I think that's the reason our insurance was much higher last year.  For some reason, mention of Spain pushes the price up.  It seems that medical care is more expensive there than some countries.  Our cruise was in Portugal and we went into Spain for just the one day.  We mentioned that fact to the insurers but it made no difference.  The previous cruise was in Germany, so was more reasonable.  

So frustrating having to wait so long for appointments, isn’t it!  Especially when they then get cancelled, as has happened to hubby several times on his cancer journey.  Unfortunately there are so many more people needing treatment these days,