Getting insurance during breast cancer treatment

I haven't had your treatment (I'm male for a start!) but my recent episode has been chemo for recurrent prostate cancer (finished September last year) plus two indefinite drug treatments (or at least until they stop working). 

Getting travel cover is often very difficult / impossible / expensive whilst undergoing treatments such as chemo or radiotherapy but if all's well around 6 weeks after completion it should normally be easier. I managed to get cover for my wife and I from the beginning of January at reasonable terms.

You'll see many alternatives recommended on here, my own experience has shown insurancewith or holidaysafe to be good options for me plus albert&eddie. The latter is a comparison site which produced the best terms for my circumstances and is actually part of the same group which owns insurancewith and holidaysafe plus a few others. 

I do hope you can get sorted soon, a holiday is certainly a great way of feeling somewhat normal again.

Derek.

Thanks Derek, that’s really helpful re timescales and recommendations.

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

Unfortunately, as has been mentioned by excavator, it can be more difficult to get travel insurance when a cancer diagnosis is involved.

Hi latchbrook thanks taking the time to respond. I have looked at the threads and called a couple of insurance companies to enquire as to whether I could get insurance during breaks between treatment. The answers I have had so far is no, but call back after you have finished a treatment phase and based on factors at that point we may be able to insure you.

As I am on quite a long treatment plan it seems like there is always something coming next and the gap between isn’t long enough to hit any threshold - but they wouldn’t tell me what those typical thresholds were, such as typically you’ll need to wait 6 weeks or 6 months after chemo or radio.

I’m not expecting to get insurance during chemo or soon after radiotherapy but I’m interested in whether the other treatment regimes have the same limitations, or am I likely to need to wait until I’m just on hormone therapy, which will be a very long 2.5 years!

any pointers gratefully received!

Kate

Hi Kate/KateM 

I got insurance to go to Spain only a few weeks after I'd finished radiotherapy and about 2 months after I'd finished chemo through goodtogoinsurance.com. 

I was asked if the treatment I was still having was to treat the existing cancer or as a preventative. As it was a preventative they were happy to insure me.

I don't know if Capecitabine, Abemaciclib and Letrozole are to treat your cancer or to prevent it coming back but depending on which it is, would probably depend on how quickly an insurer will be willing to insure you.

Anne

Hi Anne,

Really helpful - thank you! They are preventative so I will given them a try.

Kate

Kate,

Based on my experience, I think you'll find it's the chemo and RT treatment that causes the problem. I'm on two permanent (or until they stop working) HT treatments which are preventive and they pose no problem for me getting travel insurance - they just need to be declared of course.

I'm sure you'll have a great chance to get away once RT is over and done with.

Derek.

Thanks Derek, the Capecitabine is preventative chemo so that could sit either side of the line - will try again after RT for a summer trip, but it sounds like the longest I will have to wait is until November when that finishes, which is much better than 2.5 years :-).

Thanks again to both latchbrook  and excavator that’s been a great help!

Kate