Travel Insurance

Hi again Blondie1975 and good to hear from you.

A holiday sounds amazing but as you may be experiencing getting affordable Travel Insurance can be a challenge and at times the price quoted could be higher than the cost of the holiday and some people do find that no Insurance is being offered.

I had to be 2 years in remission and not on any cancer related treatment for my type of incurable Lymphoma before I could get any price…… but these decisions are often all down to cancer types, treatment, prognosis and the resulting risk factor put on by the insurers risk assessment.

Due to the various treatments I have had I am very open to serious infections due to a reduced immune system so this is seen as a high risk factor for insurers.

Comparison sites tend to use the same algorithms so getting a clear price can be difficult and it’s not that unusual to be turned down or told to call the insurers. 

It is actually more effective to call a few insurers directly as this means that you have answered all the questions correctly and in doing this a suitable policy can be offered and price given.

Full disclosure is always advisable as in the event of you developing any issues this can reduce the risk of an insurance companies wriggling out from paying out.

As a Macmillan Volunteer I am not allowed to recommend any companies but do have a look through this Recommended Travel Insurance discussion thread in our Travel insurance group as it's where the majority of recommendations from other forum members are. You can also look through all the individual members of posts in the group as well.

I do hope you can get cover and do come back abd tell us who you get cover through.

Hi Blondie,

I asked my specialist nurse and she recommended InsuranceWith. I have had no problems with them and used them since I went into remission for the past 5 years.

There is a whole questionare thing you need to fill in like if you are in remission or not, what type you had and how you are now.

There are 3 levels of insurance. I always use this one so I know I am covered for anything cancer related, and others might not cover you for anything unrelated if you didn't let them know.

I pay about £30 for my family( they need that cover too as they are then covered to stay if something is wrong with me) for a week to Europe. 

don't let it stop you travel. If you are in remisson there is no need to wait for 2 years. I travel all the time.

I hope this helps,

Ingrid

Great encouraging reply Ingrid Ducthie and this demonstrates how different each Insurance application can be.

I can say that I tried InsuranceWith (and a number of the other main companies) with in those first 2 years post treatment. I talked with them and answered all the questions asked (did not offer another information unless asked) and the quotes were akways high…….

But the same companies will now see my incurable Lymphoma as cured!!!!! and they don’t ask any questions!!!!….. their default is if you have had no treatment in the past 5 years you are cured.

So yes it’s important to push the doors even a few months after treatment and see what is on offer

That is very interesting! I do have to say that their questions are very annoying. It is not all so black and white. And the chat is not helpful at all

I was able to get insurance a few months after remission, i selected that my scans were clear. But maybe for every diagnosis it is different as there are so many types of Lymphoma. 

I always ‘talk’ with a real person….. as I have talked with lots of folks who did everything on line and when it comes to a claim there were issues with some of the answers that had been put

Thank you Mike for all your information & advice.  I'll check this out and hopefully get sorted today. One of the questions being asked Is there any further cancer treatment planned? Not sure what to say here?

Thank you Ingrid for your advice.  I'll try that one today.  Its great to get knowledge and advice from you both. x

At the point of talking with an Insurance Company if I had not been officially told there ‘was’ further treatment on the cards and when it will happen then I always said no. 

I’m in remission from breast cancer and am going to New York in a few weeks with my daughters. Insurance was quoted as over £300 -I put that I’m on Letrazole (have been advised it’s foolish not to as if I had a thrombosis or something else happened and I hadn’t told them, I wouldn’t be covered) I also had a hip replacement last summer so another added cost to insurance! I’ve ended up joining Nationwide bank-I pay £13 a month for a current account but this includes travel insurance for all the family-I had to pay £89 for the extra medical stuff but still works out cheaper. Also includes AA breakdown recovery and mobile phone insurance. 

Hi Mike 

Sorry its been awhile.  I went with InsuranceWith, easy enough to get sorted out, so thanks for all your help and advice.  Hope everyone is doing well and staying positive! my next check up is this Monday so hopefully might get back to work soon.  xx