Insurance for people with medical conditions?

[Sid74]

Hi,

I am trying to sort out my travel insurance before I pay the balance next month and I have a pre existing medical condition.

I keep getting the same thing from the insurance companies, ie, I'm sorry we don't cover you, or it will cost several hundred pounds for single trip cover

I have had a quote from Tesco for cover for the 4 of us including my conditions and OH asthma, which is about £165, which is pretty good for inclusive cover, but I was wondering if anyone knows of any other companies which provide this sort of cover so I can shop around?

I don't have anything terminal or particularly nasty, just a couple of chronic, long term, non lethal, things.

Thanks.

 

[tony64]

Sid DW & DS both have long term ailments all we had to do was get a letter from our doctor to say their conditions were stable and our insurance company, which is in with our house cover, sent us a letter to say they were happy to cover us. I don't know what your condition is but it may be worth you asking your doctor and checking if this is an option on your house insurance.( it worked out a lot cheaper for us)

 

[paulh]

we have used www.insureandgo.com for an exesting complaint,you do have to phone them but this gets flaged up on the website when entering details
Paulh

 

[Ali and boyz]

to be honest that quote does sound good if you have pre medical conditions.

our son has and we got a family policy with M & S last year for £130 but this year it was hundreds of £ more due to the fact they changed underwriters.

this year we have went with ESURE. for it for £140. my parents were £1300 last year with SAGA this year they got it with Norwich Union for £290 . there does seem to be extremes. Post Office also gave us a good quote whereas some wouldn't even touch us.

 

[alisonbestford]

Have you tried Age Concern?

They covered DH for our trip last year and have just agreed to cover him for the Canary Islands
We had the same experience as Ali with M&S - they covered DH two years ago but wouldn't entertain the thought last year.

My parents have just got insurance through Norwich Union (the policy seems to have been issued by Insureandgo) but aren't very happy with the customer service (they've had to return their documents several times as a result of incorrect dates, name spellings etc) - everyone will have a different experience though, often depending on who picks up the phone at the other end

Your Tesco quote sounds pretty good
When it comes to most things, especially insurance cover, I always say that cheap isn't always the best way to go

Good luck with your planning

 

[florida sun]

My mum who has pre exsisting conditions phoned the company listed below and they were very good, I also use them and have never had any problems with them and find them great value for money.

http://www.direct-travel.co.uk/

 

[claireloveseeyore]

We don't have excess to pay on our holiday medical insurance because my son was born with his condition.

 

[nobodies36]

I have the same problem. I was going to say M&S before I read they had changed. We used to be with Halifax (until mum lost the diamond out of her engagement ring) and we had so many problems. We had to share the cost from Halifax (our travel insurers) and Norwich Union (or home contents insurers). We are now with Norwhich Union and pay (for mum 52- asthma, and me 24- M.E.) about £50 for the two of us for yearly cover (but it is added on to our existing home policy). My experience of Norwhich Union has been good.

So, I know Halifax and Norwhich Union both cover pre-existing medical conditions (the latter needing a form filled out and the former answers over the phone) without the severe excess.

Hope this helps.

Lisa
xXx

 

[Sid74]

Thank you to everyone for your replies, I will look into them all today

 

[yorkshiregirl]

Another vote for insure and go which we found on the Insurance Surgery website. We were with AllClear but as one of DH's conditions is angina and they had a very large claim recently in the states for an angina atack they would not renew us earlier this week when year was up.
M & S would not renew last year either.
We got an annual insurance for just under £100 for the 2 of us.

 

[Daysleeper40]

I have the same problem. I was going to say M&S before I read they had changed. We used to be with Halifax (until mum lost the diamond out of her engagement ring) and we had so many problems. We had to share the cost from Halifax (our travel insurers) and Norwich Union (or home contents insurers).

Just so you know - all insurance companies would have done the same thing. If you have personal possessions (cover away from the home) on your contents policy and also take a travel policy you are effectively insuring your personal possessions/luggage twice. The two companies therefore share the cost of any claim that involves loss of or damage to your personal possessions. This is usually shown as a "Travel contribution" on your contents policy and should not effect your no claims discount on the contents policy.

Yep, sadly I do work for an insurance company!

One thing to think about if you are getting quite expensive quotes, and you are likely to go away more than once in a year, is getting quotes for annual policies instead of single trips. It can often work out cheaper in the long run.

Somebody above said cheaper is not always best which is DEFINATELY true and I cannot stress enough ALWAYS ALWAYS read the policy wording - you might be surprised by what is and isn't covered by different companies!

 

[Ali and boyz]

Have you tried Age Concern?

They covered DH for our trip last year and have just agreed to cover him for the Canary Islands
We had the same experience as Ali with M&S - they covered DH two years ago but wouldn't entertain the thought last year.

My parents have just got insurance through Norwich Union (the policy seems to have been issued by Insureandgo) but aren't very happy with the customer service (they've had to return their documents several times as a result of incorrect dates, name spellings etc) - everyone will have a different experience though, often depending on who picks up the phone at the other end

Your Tesco quote sounds pretty good
When it comes to most things, especially insurance cover, I always say that cheap isn't always the best way to go

Good luck with your planning

Alison you are not going to believe this but its Norwich Union my parents have got the good quote this year with and guess what they got their name wrong and have had to send back the documents. I have told my dad to double check everything once they get new onces through. It asked him immediatley who he had got it with when it was £1,000 cheaper and when he said Norwich Union I thought sounds good, wan't them he booked through though like you it was an agent

 

[Ali and boyz]

We don't have excess to pay on our holiday medical insurance because my son was born with his condition.

funnyly enough ESURE said because our sons condition was because of an accident and as the result of his accident and not born with it they would insure him no problem and was the first company to say to me that they cannot discriminate re a disabablity. BUPA as soon as you mentined wheelchair wouldn't even touch us, which I am told is against the disablity discrimination act but who has the time or energy to fight them.

 

[nobodies36]

Just so you know - all insurance companies would have done the same thing. If you have personal possessions (cover away from the home) on your contents policy and also take a travel policy you are effectively insuring your personal possessions/luggage twice. The two companies therefore share the cost of any claim that involves loss of or damage to your personal possessions. This is usually shown as a "Travel contribution" on your contents policy and should not effect your no claims discount on the contents policy.

Yep, sadly I do work for an insurance company!

One thing to think about if you are getting quite expensive quotes, and you are likely to go away more than once in a year, is getting quotes for annual policies instead of single trips. It can often work out cheaper in the long run.

Somebody above said cheaper is not always best which is DEFINATELY true and I cannot stress enough ALWAYS ALWAYS read the policy wording - you might be surprised by what is and isn't covered by different companies!

I know. I just didn't want to go into the fact that my mum had a letter from the Gardia (Spain) stating that she had reported it to them and then Halifax said they couldn't do anything because that didn't prove she was there (they needed flight details which were booked in my aunt's name). So they dragged it out for months. That was the problem. We knew it would have to be split, but one company was good to work with, the other was not. That was my point.

We do have a yearly policy (have done for many years). That was another problem with them. We called for a renewal quote, they said it, and I gave my credit card details. Booked. All was fine. Until we came back from holiday (in Florida) to find out that they had cancelled the insurance due to non-payment! They said we still owed (£17 or something like that). They got mixed up and were trying to charge us for full price rather than renewal and cancelled our insurance. They took weeks to get it back (weeks to admit their mistake) and we had paid for insurance and couldn't jet off to Night of Joy that September without booking more insurance from someone else. Then they charged us for the period in which it was cancelled and when renew date came- we didn't go back.

True, cheaper isn't always better, but when you are disabled (like me) then you know what to look for in the wording (I stress over anything and stressing makes me worse) to cover any eventuality. The point of mentioning the sharing of cost was that Norwich Union did everything over a call when Halifax were just trying to get out of paying anything by creating obstacles and taking months and months to do anything about it. I just didn't want to freak people out if they were with (or planning on going with) Halifax insurance. It was a freak thing that happened, but one too many problems with them is why we cancelled.

 

[Daysleeper40]

I know. I just didn't want to go into the fact that my mum had a letter from the Gardia (Spain) stating that she had reported it to them and then Halifax said they couldn't do anything because that didn't prove she was there (they needed flight details which were booked in my aunt's name). So they dragged it out for months. That was the problem. We knew it would have to be split, but one company was good to work with, the other was not. That was my point.

We do have a yearly policy (have done for many years). That was another problem with them. We called for a renewal quote, they said it, and I gave my credit card details. Booked. All was fine. Until we came back from holiday (in Florida) to find out that they had cancelled the insurance due to non-payment! They said we still owed (£17 or something like that). They got mixed up and were trying to charge us for full price rather than renewal and cancelled our insurance. They took weeks to get it back (weeks to admit their mistake) and we had paid for insurance and couldn't jet off to Night of Joy that September without booking more insurance from someone else. Then they charged us for the period in which it was cancelled and when renew date came- we didn't go back.

True, cheaper isn't always better, but when you are disabled (like me) then you know what to look for in the wording (I stress over anything and stressing makes me worse) to cover any eventuality. The point of mentioning the sharing of cost was that Norwich Union did everything over a call when Halifax were just trying to get out of paying anything by creating obstacles and taking months and months to do anything about it. I just didn't want to freak people out if they were with (or planning on going with) Halifax insurance. It was a freak thing that happened, but one too many problems with them is why we cancelled.

Well that would explain things! I have not had insurance with Halifax but my partner banks with them and has had some problems as well. Plus I hate their adverts on the telly! One to avoid methinks...

The bits about annual cover / cheaper not being better / reading policy wordings were not just directed at you btw - I was saying in general for everyone who has posted. You would be amazed at the amount of people who take no interest in the policy wordings and then get upset when they can't claim for things later on - Like you I read things cover to cover so it puzzles me that people are willing to pay (sometimes a lot) for cover and they don't even know what they are buying

 

[diamond57]

We have Annual Travel Insurance with Boots which we took out last year, and they were happy to cover my husband pre-existing conditions (he has had one hernia operated on and takes regular medication for another). Other insurance companies would not cover him, because we were travelling one month after the operation, or put the price up through the roof. I cannot remember how much it was but I think it was they standard policy.