Travel insurance

Everyday living
1

Hi all.

Just after a little practical advise. Myself and my wife are going on a much valued holiday to Turkey in a couple of weeks and the thorny issue of insurance has raised it’s head. Since diagnosis last year, It has been hammered into my head that there is no such thing as an MS emergency (as per the MS Nurse), and fortunately in that time I have had no further major relapses, but I have a feeling that the condition may impact how much we fork out for travel insurance.

My questions therefore are as follows…

  1. Do I need to declare my MS with the insurance provider.

2)If yes, is there a certain provider that tends to be better/cheaper than the others.

Thanks for any and all help with this.

2

Yes, its a pre-existing medical condition. And if you didn’t and god forbid you DID need help abroad, you would not be covered.

1 Like
3

Good old GPO although not anymore; be honest; tell them and pre-existing complaints covered, Travel Insurance Coronavirus | Covid Cover | Post Office®

4

Last time I went abroad I got my insurance through the PO. Out of interest I went through and declared nothing and then went through again and declared my MS. There was no difference in price at all.

5

I used Allclear when I went to Spain in July. They specialise in travel insurance for people with pre-existing conditions. It wasn’t expensive at all. Have a nice holiday x

6

Definitely mention it when you think so very many symptoms can be attributed to it. Not long back from Portugal I thought I’d declared everything, adding about £30 to the policy but overlooked urinary retention, so then I was concerned what would happen if I got a bad UTI ie no free medical treatment. Four days into my holiday my luggage was stolen from a bus baggage hold, so then I had no catheters, increasing the likelihood of a UTI. Managed by getting up 5-6 times each night and pressuring my bladder with both hands to get more out. Also learnt to go over the policy exclusions in fine detail. The biggest consequential cost of this theft for me was the loss of three passports which I quickly had to cancel to prevent their fraudulent use. Replacing them and obtaining 3 emergency travel docs from the consulate in total amounts to about £500 but then I read that this is not covered in the policy exclusions unless the passport is stolen off your person or a locked hotel room safe! Neither was the cost of replacing daily contact lenses (£30)and you cant claim for your luggage case (£40), so although I had a comprehensive cover rather than the basic for a claim of up to a couple of thousand I am expecting to get hardly anything because of the weaselly exclusions. I never splash out on clothing - Primark will do, but I am hoping it covers a remote car key as they are very expensive at least £130 and my medications which I had to urgently replace (£140) . |All items are depreciated from their original purchase value by some notional amount that is meant to reflect what somebody would give you for them now secondhand, which I imagine is not a lot . You don’t get the replacement cost where you’ve had to fork out to reclothe yourself for example and receipts are required for everything! Who keeps those? Probably best to check everything you pack against these exclusions before deciding to pay over the odds. The only funny side is that the thief who stole my case is going to have a great time trying to flog off the catheters, disposable and cloth incontinence pads, waterproof pants which I also cant claim for because I was too embarrassed to explain and list them making the police report.

7

We I get our Travel Insurance via our bank.

We pay a fee each month that gives an insurance package including, travel insurance, full RAC breakdown cover, home emergency cover, phone insurance, gadget insurance like iPads ect and extended warranty on home appliances like washing machines ect, also covers boiler and heating breakdowns, including a yearly boiler service, it even gives access to VIP lounges at airports where you get free drinks and food before you fly.

All for less than £20 a month, its a steal.

I always inform the insurance dept at the bank when we are going away and where too, and ALWAYS make sure they still have my MS and any other conditions on file.

Theres was no increase in the fee we pay for this insurance package, since telling them about the MS.

We usually go to places like Tenerife or Portugal but we are going to take the plunge and have booked for Mexico in a few months time, so I rang the bank only last week to make sure everything is up to date.

I will ring again just be we go to make sure all is still updated, especially if my symptoms have changed.

It amazes me that some people pay through the nose and go to these “specialist insurance” companies when theres no real need to.

It’s the same with Life Insurance, I just went to Aviva told them about my conditions and they offered a policy almost straight away, I did have to give permission for my medical files to be viewed by them.

I think a joint policy cost us £6 extra a month, but it wasnt even the MS that caused the increase it was my high BP.

These so called specialist insurances companies are having it right off, shop round speak to existing insurance company or bank…