I’m 78 years of age and on 9th July I had a lump removed from my parotid gland in my face and after a biopsy I was diagnosed with Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma on 12th August. PET CT Scan on 20th August and appointment with the Haematologist pm 27th August. It was at this last appointment that I was told I had Low Grade Non Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, marginal zone. The PET Scan showed that the Lymphoma hadn’t spread anywhere else and as I had no symptoms I was put on Active Monitoring. My problem now is that my Travel Insurance Company won’t insure me at all for the Lymphoma, not even with me paying extra premium. (I had to phone them as our annual medical upgrade was due).They (Aviva through our bank account with Nationwide) spoke to their underwriters who told them they don’t cover ANY type of Lymphoma. They say they will cover me for everything else that might happen to me except if it is as a result of any of my existing problems including Lymphoma and said I can look for an insurance company to cover me for just that condition. So this is what I now need to do. Has anyone found a not too expensive Insurance Company that will cover for just one condition? What has been the experience of other Lymphoma sufferers?
Hi JaneH and very warm welcome to the Macmillan Community although I am sorry that you had to find us and especially sorry to hear about MZNHL diagnosis.
I am Mike and I help out around our Lymphoma groups.
I don’t have Marginal Zone NHL but for some context I was diagnosed way back in 1999 at 43 with a rare (8 in a million) incurable but treatable type of Cutaneous T-Cell NHL (a type of slow growing Low-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma)……. eventually reaching Stage 4a in late 2013 when a second, also rare (4 in a million) type of aggressive Peripheral T-Cell NHL (a type of fast growing High-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma) was then presenting so although my Lymphoma ‘type’ is different I most definitely appreciate the challenges of this journey rather well……. I was also diagnosed with Asbestosis in 2012 and Prostate Cancer this April past.
I am sorry to hear about your travel insurance company not insuring you……. unfortunately it’s not that unusual as many insurance providers can’t deal with the concept of Active Monitoring especially along with the complexities of Lymphoma.
I was basically on Active Monitoring for my first 14 years and at times it was challenging to get cover…….. and often expensive to get cover for Europe but more so the USA.
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.
Based on my long year experience it is more effective to call a few of the main cancer insurers or a Insurance Broker 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.
My latest insurance was through PayingTooMuch, the price was ok but I was 9+ years out from my last treatment and I can’t comment about how good they would be in the event of a claim as we did not need to do this.
If you follow the link below……
……. it will take you to our dedicated Travel Insurance group, then have a look at the ongoing discussion thread called Members recommended travel insurance as it's where the majority of recommendations from other group members can be found.
I do hope you can get cover.
If you want to chat more about your diagnoses then we are around to help out.
