Hi, I’m new here.
My mum was diagnosed with bowel cancer following abdominal pains and had emergency surgery in October.
She’s 82 and has recovered from the surgery well. Chemo was offered, but due to her age she chose not to have it and her consultant agreed this was a sensible thing to do.
I had booked for us to go to abroad next year, just 3 days before she was taken ill !
I need to get insurance, predominately to cover us for medical emergencies whilst we are away, although cover for cancellation would be good too. We’re only going for a week, so I guess if she’s fit to fly, the risk is low.
I’m looking to get quotes but am confused as to how I should answer a couple of questions…..
’Were you advised to have chemo’ - It was discussed as an option but wasn’t ever advised to have it. So do I answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’. (She did ask her Consultant, who said that was a difficult question, but he did say that ‘no’ he’d not advised her to have it.)
And there there’s a question about ‘how long ago was your last treatment for cancer” she had a right hemicolonectomy which removed the cancer in October, so do I answer ‘less than a year ago’ or do I answer ‘I have chosen not to have treatment’ because she opted not to have chemo.
i am prone to overthinking things, so I may very well be doing that now, but any advise anyone could give me would be appreciated.
And any companies that are retried and tested, that I could use?
Thank you all
Hi Luvvie66 and a very warm welcome to the online community which I hope you'll find is both an informative and supportive place to be.
That's great to read that your mum is doing well after surgery and that you have a holiday booked for next year.
I'm not a member of this group but the subject title caught my eye. You may not be aware but there is a travel Insurance forum which you might like to join. There you'll find recommendations from others who have got travel insurance even though they have a cancer diagnosis.
To join, just click on the link I've created and, once you've joined, look for the thread called 'Recommended Travel Insurance' as that's where the majority of the recommendations are. You might also want to look at this thread as it includes a link to a Travel Insurance Directory.
Most people recommend that it's best to phone the insurance companies rather than try and do online quotes as often at the end of the online quote it will tell you to phone the company and you'll then have to go through all the information again. Also, sometimes the broker can refer to the underwriters to see if they would provide cover when an online quote might just give you a straight refusal.
As for how you should answer those questions, my best advice would be to explain to the agent when they ask you the questions and let them decide so that you've then disclosed everything and there's no chance they can say that you didn't tell them if you have to make a claim.
I hope you and your mum have a lovely holiday
x
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
Hi, thank you for this.
What an awful question to have to answer, although I can see why they would want to know. I hope one of the options was ‘I jolly well hope so!’
I’ll look at the insurer you mention, and I’ll contact the airline too.
Have a fantastic Cruise 
