Hi, we booked our cruise 2 years ago (a week in Spain and France) and I tried to get insurance but couldn’t because it was too far in the future and now my husband has cancer. It’s subungual melanoma. They have tested his lymph nodes and we are waiting to see if it has spread but from what the consultant has said and how long it was under his fingernail with no doctors suspecting it was cancer it hasn’t been caught early. i need to pay off the holiday which will be over £1300 but we are still waiting for results. The consultant said even if it hasn’t spread he may recommend immunotherapy and if it has then it’ll definitely be immunotherapy. Obviously we’re expecting the insurance to be a lot but just wondering if anyone had anything similar and had a ball park figure? I can’t get an estimate because I don’t know what stage or if he’ll have any treatment. I will have this information before the cruise so will look for insurance then but can’t before I have to pay it off as I’m sure they won’t insure him when we don’t know what stage or treatment. I don’t want to waste £1300 if the insurance is going to be £3000 as we would just cancel but if it’s maybe £800 for example we would pay. I literally have no idea what we might be looking at if it’s stage 2 with no treatment or stage 3 or 4 with treatment but we need to decide very soon if it’s worth paying the holiday off or cancelling. For reference he is early 40s with no other health issues. I was hoping someone might have an example of what they paid for insurance with stage 2 melanoma or stage 3 melanoma and having immunotherapy. Just so I can get a ball park figure. If we cancel we would have two very devastated young children. Thank you.
Hi Confused and a very warm welcome to the online community.
Having had melanoma myself, I know how difficult it can be to get reasonably priced travel insurance.
The online community is divided into different support groups and I can see that you've already posted this question in the travel insurance group and had a reply from one of my fellow Community Champions. I can see that they recommended you joined the skin cancer group but you'd probably be better joining and posting in the melanoma group as you'll then connect directly with others who have had or have melanoma.
To join, just click on the link I've created and, once you've joined, you can start a new post in the same way as you did here and join in with existing conversations by clicking on 'reply'.
How soon do you need to pay for the holiday? Is there any chance you'll have the results before then? You haven't said when the holiday is, but would you still be able to go if the consultant will be wanting to start your husband on immunotherapy whatever the results?
Has your husband asked his consultant whether you can still go on holiday if treatment will be starting soon. If not, you could explain that you have a holiday booked and need to know whether you can still go or not. For example, when I was diagnosed with breast cancer a few years, ago my husband and I had a wedding anniversary holiday booked for about 6 weeks later. I asked if treatment could be postponed until after my holiday but was told that no, treatment needed to start immediately.
Anne
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
I can see you're in a very tricky position regarding getting travel insurance. Ideally you'd want to buy it before paying the final balance so that you can claim if the holiday has to be cancelled because your husband needs treatment.
Your best bet would be to phone some of the specialist travel insurance companies that you'll find recommended in the travel insurance group. Have a look through the two threads titled 'Recommended travel insurance 2023-25' and 'Recommended Travel Insurance', which you'll find at the top of the first page, as there are lots of recommendations within these. You could explain your position and see if getting insurance now is possible. They will have encountered this sort of issue before so should be able to offer some guidance.
I hope you're able to get travel insurance and can continue with your cruise.
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
I'm sure you've already thought of this, but if you wait to get insurance quotes until after your husband has a full diagnosis and treatment plan you may not be able to get insurance anyway and then you'll have paid out for the holiday and not be able to claim it back, if you have to cancel, and neither will you be insured if you're still able to go.
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
