Holiday Insurance Question

[babystar]

I am getting married in Disney next Sep and just found out that my Grandad needs to have a pacemaker fitted.
I REALLY REALLY REALLY want him to be able to attend my wedding but not too sure about the whole insurance side of things-
basically he was told last Thurday that he needed it fitting and that he is now on a waiting list and will be given 3 weeks notice as to when they will want him in hospital so....

Will anyone insure him while he is on the hospital waiting list?

Could he get insurance for any other medical condition and sign a waiver to say that if he is called for the op that the insurance is invalid and he would just have to loose the holiday money?

How long roughly after the op will he be able to get insurance?

Any info would be fantastic!!

 

[orangetiggs]

sorry about the insurance but off topic we are getting married at disney in sept too!

 

[Jakey Rowling]

I think (hope) you might be pleasantly surprised but the waiting time for pacemakers is usually not too long, even with the post code lottery. A relative of mine waited weeks rather than months, I'd contact someone (GP?) locally to see what the indicative time will be.

Assuming it gets fitted, as long as he declares a pacemaker then it shouldn't be too big an issue for insurance, it's so common now, expect a bit of a premium but nothing significant, you can drive after a week all going to plan.

See here for some travel insurance comments, the general website is a good source of info

http://www.pacemakerclub.com/public/jpage/1/p/story/a/storypage/sid/6058/content.do

 

[BiGGy]

The better half had a heart attack in january and the insurance situation was a bit crazy from quotes of upto £800 we finally got it from the post office for an extra £85 ontop of the normal cost, they were very helpfull on the phone and made the process easy

 

[babystar]

Thanks for all the info- My G-Dad is 77(ish) so I know that insurance was going to be a issue anyway but the pace maker has just added another hurdle! Fingers crossed there is a insurance agency out there that will insure him!

 

[Jakey Rowling]

Thanks for all the info- My G-Dad is 77(ish) so I know that insurance was going to be a issue anyway but the pace maker has just added another hurdle! Fingers crossed there is a insurance agency out there that will insure him!

Assuming he has the pacemaker fitted travel insurance isn't a problem.
To be honest I'm not sure how it would work if he's on the waiting list but as stated previously you should be able to get a very good idea of the waiting time but it's a pretty routine op these days.

see here for plenty advice, the first link is for travel insurance, I can't recommend any but just an example that it is available. Quite often though these recommended companies can be expensive so shop around.

http://www.chss.org.uk/search/index.asp?zoom_query=insurance&zoom_per_page=10&zoom_and=0&zoom_sort=0

 

[Shooby doo]

I can only tell you how we got on,DW had a brain haemorraghe back in 2004,we went to Orlando later that year but basically didn't think about our Insurance as we were all just glad that she was still with us.On our 2006 trip I called our insurance company to make sure everything was alright- basically she is covered for everythingelse but anything to do with her brain haemorraghe as that is classed as a pre-existing condition but we don't have to pay anything extra.
HTH SD

 

[Claire L]

DMIL had a heart valve replaced in 2004 and 6 weeks later the consultant said she could fly 6 months later and the insurance through VH was happy with that. Although just last week DFIL tried to get insurance and amongst pre exisitng medical conditions of heart problems, cancer (recovered from) and an impending operation for his eye the cheapest quote he could get aged 73 was £1700

Hoping some company will insure your Grandad, but do not exclude any important medical condition because if he needed treatment in the US or medical assistance to get home it would be very expensive.

Claire

 

[Andy B]

There are a number of issues here.

Firstly insurance for over 70 or 75 yr olds is less easy to get as most of the direct routes have an age limit.

I do not think that any insurance company will cover him for the chance to cancel his trip if the operation is scheduled for the same time, however once the pacemaker is fitted there should be less of a problem as it is fairly common and is intended to improve his condition.

I would suggest Age Concern ot the Heart foundation as possible people to ask as they have financial services or advice departments.

If you want your insurance to cover your party for cancellation should something serious happen to him or any other relative then any of their pre existing conditions will need to be declared to your insurers.

 

[AliceGardner]

but do not exclude any important medical condition because if he needed treatment in the US or medical assistance to get home it would be very expensive.

Very wise advice

It may cost extra to include it, BUT - especially in his 70s - you run a very high risk that if anything does happen to him whilst you are away(God forbid), that the insurance company will try to put the cuase down to (or related to) the exclusion. And ANY medical problem in the US will easily run into $1,000s even $10,000s VERY quickly

Another thing to look into is SAGA - they specialise in insurance for older people...

Alice

 

[DisneyBB]

We had to take my DD5 to hospital when we were last in Flordia. Just to give you an idea of how the bills stack up, we were only there 12 hours and the bill was over $7000 ! She had nothing seriously wrong, but they throw lots of expensive tests in and it soon mounts up. We would be terrified of going to the states with something that wasn't covered by the insurance.