Travel Insurance for people with health conditions

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
mnichols
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Travel Insurance for people with health conditions

Post by mnichols »

My travel insurance has just been declined after 10+ years as I have multiple health conditions. My conditions haven't changed but their attitude to risk has

Luckily they will honour my next two trips, but next year I want to do more touring and possibly at high altitude

Can anyone recommend a travel insurance company that might insure me, specifically with medical conditions and that will cover cycling (not racing) and at high altitude (+5000m)?

Thanks
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mjr
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Re: Travel Insurance for people with health conditions

Post by mjr »

http://www.HolidaySafe.co.uk ? Cycle Touring covered as standard in Multi-Trip (no activities add-on) and I don't see an altitude restriction.

The policy will get loaded for medical conditions but they didn't refuse me.
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robgul
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Re: Travel Insurance for people with health conditions

Post by robgul »

For the past couple of years I've bought an annual policy from these people www.world-first.co.uk - online form-filling and the best rate I could find ... including cycle-touring in Europe.

Loaded for my medical conditions: Atrial fibrillation, ongoing and cancer (almost 2 years since it was fixed with major surgery)

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georgew
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Re: Travel Insurance for people with health conditions

Post by georgew »

"Staysure" is an insurance company who specialise in this type of insurance. I used them for years and had all sorts of health problems.
axel_knutt
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Re: Travel Insurance for people with health conditions

Post by axel_knutt »

Has anyone actually made a successful claim for medical emergency on travel insurance? I've only ever seen one person doing so, and she was still fighting to get them to pay out a year after the claim.
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Chat Noir
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Re: Travel Insurance for people with health conditions

Post by Chat Noir »

I use Austrian Alpine Club ( https://aacuk.org.uk/ ). Membership costs £46.50 and includes worldwide cover for things like rescue / repatriation, etc, and obviously no issue with altitude. Used on climbing trips and on cycling trips to mountain regions where other insurance won't cover. Don't know about existing conditions but might be worth checking out. Used to use Snow Card or BMC but found got too expensive or wouldn't cover the sorts of things we were doing.

Went to Caucasus in September with mountain bike, not up to 5000 m, only up to 3400 m. My nat west travel insurance wouldn't cover on unmarked trails so for added security went with the AAC. Would add their service is impressively quick.

Good luck.
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pete75
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Re: Travel Insurance for people with health conditions

Post by pete75 »

axel_knutt wrote:Has anyone actually made a successful claim for medical emergency on travel insurance? I've only ever seen one person doing so, and she was still fighting to get them to pay out a year after the claim.


Yes. When we were staying at a Eurocamp in Brittany back in 1994 my 18 month old son pulled a table over and a hot coffee percolater spilt it's contents over his face. One call to the travel insurance company was all that was needed to start the process. They covered his one week stay in the main hospital in Quimper along with the accommodation costs of my wife to stay with him, paid for a flight from Quimper airport to Stansted when he was well enough to travel and a private ambulance to take him the 90 miles to our local hospital.
We only had to pay the small excess, £25 I recall. All was done in a fuss free manner.

Just to add for clarity the insurance co arranged all the transport as well as paying for it.
Last edited by pete75 on 12 Oct 2016, 12:25pm, edited 1 time in total.
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mjr
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Re: Travel Insurance for people with health conditions

Post by mjr »

axel_knutt wrote:Has anyone actually made a successful claim for medical emergency on travel insurance?

I've never needed to, but I fancy my chances better than if I didn't have any insurance. Search for reviews of any insurer name to see if people are complaining on the web somewhere. People tend to get quite excited when facing thousands of pounds of bills that they thought they'd insured against.
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Psamathe
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Re: Travel Insurance for people with health conditions

Post by Psamathe »

(I've bookmarked this thread for future use - as I will also be affected by this).

Last year I asked my GP about this subject and whether I would need to declare my own condition (which NHS are "monitoring rather than treating") and he said it must be declared. He added that the insurance companies will do anything to get out of a claim and that 1st thing they do when you call from overseas needing treatment for e.g. your broken toe is to call your GP and if they then find out you have any undeclared medical condition (even totally unrelated ones to your claim) they will void the policy and you will not be covered for your e.g. broken toe. He said they call your GP before approving any treatment ...

Ian
sailorp
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Re: Travel Insurance for people with health conditions

Post by sailorp »

I claimed on travel insurance about 5 years ago.
Insurers paid up without any issues...Co-op Insurance IIRC.
Wife, myself, daughter and her husband were touring/camping well West of St Malo, having left the car in Portsmouth long term parking.
I developed Shingles (Zona in French)...painful nerve infection with rash...I was very sore and very tired.
I saw a GP in France who said I needed to start anti-viral medications immediately, and wrote me prescription. He also wrote a letter indicating that I should be repatriated, as managing shingles while camping would be impossible. I asked him for the letter, explaining that my insurers would want proof (thank goodness for O level French).
I paid the doctor with credit card.
I bought the anti-virals with credit card, then phoned insurers, who agreed that I should repatriate.
Hired a medical taxi (cash) to take me back to St Malo the next day (the rest of the family continued their tour!)
I paid for the extra ferry trip back to Portsmouth on the card, then drove the 20 miles to home in Southampton, feeling pretty sorry for myself.
Rang insurers, who sent a claim form. I eventually sent in the form and all receipts, (including credit card statement for proof of exchange rate) and received payment in full less the deductible, which wasn't much.
I had pre-declared asthma and hiatus hernia, neither of which were applicable to the shingles.
So insurers acted as per contract, and for once we actually used the insurance we had bought.
Good for peace of mind, if nothing else.
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Re: Travel Insurance for people with health conditions

Post by Vorpal »

I've claimed on Co-op insurance, as well without any trouble, though it was a bit more than 5 years ago, perhpas 7. Our claim wasn't big, but Mini V cam down with a probable sinus infection whilst we were travelling, and we needed to see a doctor at a walk-in facility in the USA. We were advised not to fly, so it also paid a couple of nights hotel for us. The airline changed the flight without a fee (with a letter from the doctor).
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steady eddy
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Re: Travel Insurance for people with health conditions

Post by steady eddy »

Try All Clear Travel Insurance - after complex surgery for pancreatic cancer I did wonder if I would ever ride a bike or get travel insurance again.I needn't have worried. This web site seems to run a basket of companies who will insure ill or previously ill people and I didn't need letters from doctors or anything like that to get cover. I expected to pay dearly but the premiums were comparable with the CTC scheme for a week's cycle touring in Holland! You do need to look at the small print of companies to see that cycling is covered in case you fall off and need to claim, rather than have an illness related claim. One or two who would insure me as a post op cancer patient excluded cycling!
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mjr
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Re: Travel Insurance for people with health conditions

Post by mjr »

Chat Noir wrote:My nat west travel insurance wouldn't cover on unmarked trails so for added security went with the AAC. Would add their service is impressively quick.

However, it looks to me like AAC now only covers cycling where it's part of a MTB-style tour including trails, not everyday cycling, so it's not all good.
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climo
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Re: Travel Insurance for people with health conditions

Post by climo »

Chat Noir wrote:I use Austrian Alpine Club ( https://aacuk.org.uk/ ). Membership costs £46.50 and includes worldwide cover for things like rescue / repatriation, etc, and obviously no issue with altitude. Used on climbing trips and on cycling trips to mountain regions where other insurance won't cover. Don't know about existing conditions but might be worth checking out. Used to use Snow Card or BMC but found got too expensive or wouldn't cover the sorts of things we were doing.

Went to Caucasus in September with mountain bike, not up to 5000 m, only up to 3400 m. My nat west travel insurance wouldn't cover on unmarked trails so for added security went with the AAC. Would add their service is impressively quick.

Good luck.

After major mountaineering accident the AAC were useless. The UK end are just a sales operation and hand the repatriation arrangements to a German speaking company whose English and Italian was just not up to scratch. The needed a form signed but couldn't explain what they needed to the hospital. British embassy was totally useless, completely uninterested and even didn't have a list of translators! The local consul was on holiday and sorted it out on their return 3 days later. Once the paperwork was done and the NHS agreed to have me back (admin cockup), the flight was fast and efficient.
BMC are way better as its all handled by the BMC, likewise the Canadian Alpine Club. One phonecall and your case is managed all the way.
skelo
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Re: Travel Insurance for people with health conditions

Post by skelo »

i think that, as with all things you have to shop around. I had a stroke in 2014 which left me paralysed on my left side, and have since developed epilepsy, i can't ride a bike anymore so i bought a trike. I have just done a tour from York to Lucca, 1350 miles, slowly over 45 days. Holidaysafe covered me, my trike and kit for the trip, i think it cost about £200.00, luckily i didn't need to make a claim :D
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