I have just been diagnosed with DCIS and will be having surgery sometime in May. I am all set to go on holiday to Sicily on Wednesday. The consultant knows about the holiday and has no objections in fact she thinks its a good idea to go as I will be mentally and emotionally more prepared for the MX when I get home. I have had an annual travel policy with Saga and out of courtesy I phoned them last week to say that I was undergoing more tests and that DCIS was suspected. My policy is due for renewal at the end of May and I fully expected that they would refuse to cover anything relating to the DCIS but I have just received a phone call to say that they can’t cover me under my annual policy but they will give me a quote for a single trip!
i have told them that the medical professionals have told me I am fine to travel and there is absolutely no way that having the diagnosis is going to effect the holiday but they won’t budge! i had already started looking at other insurances as we a replanting to go to South America next January and I wanted to make sure I have proper cover in place. I have travel insurance through my Bank and I have upgraded to declare the DCIS and they are covering me for anything excluding anything directly resulting from the DCIS (fair enough).
i am afraid that I felt so indignant that when asked by Saga if I would like them to quote I told them to poke their policy where the sun don’t shine!
The guy I spoke to asked if I wanted my comments added to the notes so I told him yes!
what a con!
Hi Duffer This is appalling and I think Saga are very wrong in their attitude. I was dx with IDC last year a week before I was due to go on holiday. I also had a. Raging out of control Thyroid (which the medics were more worried about than the cancer as I was high risk for a heart attack! ). I rang my travel insurance company - virgin and they covered me on everything at no extra charge and were really y helpful. Sounds like you should definitely vote with your feet and move to a different provider for the future! And we’ll done you for providing them with such honest feedback!!!
Exactly, Saga insurance - shame on you!!
Duffer, there are threads on here regarding travel insurance and Euro Tunnel insurance - they are excellent and don’t load your premium, if diagnosed with primary or secondary diagnosis (or indeed any other medical condition.)
All they need to know is that you are fit to travel. Seems too good to be true - but seems to be!!
Good luck and happy holidays xx
I am with eurotunnel as well! Give them a ring. Uncortunately I can’t say if they are any good if you claim for medical reasons.,
I would have thought that if your policy was in place and your holiday booked before your dx they should honour it. They are being disgraceful.
I had the same with Saga. I had an annual policy for Europe and was planning a holiday in Florida for this May, so had arranged a standalone policy with them for Florida.
i was dx with BC at the start of September, aftet mammogram and biopsy. Had WLE and was advised there was no lymph node spread and had clear margins. Consultant recommended chemo and radiotherapy as cancer was grade 3.
Younger daughter was going to Turkey and asked us to join them. Oncologist was fine with it and chemo booked for when I got back.
like you I phoned Saga, out of courtesy, to tell them. Did not think would be a problem as cancer was removed and I had an annual policy. Was so cross when was told they would not cover me for Turkey and I should have checked with them before I booked. As I had an annual policy it did not occur to me that they would back out of my policy. Even worse they cancelled my Florida policy! I had to pay over £100 to get a weeks cover elsewhere
am I missing something here? I thought an insurance policy was to cover you if things went wrong! They refunded my money back into my bank account immediately. My daughter works in insurance and reminded them that they have an obligation to offer cancellation insurance regardless, and after loads of correspondence they agreed that they should do this and reinstated that part of my Florida policy.
my ONC had told me I was clear. What kind of message does it send out when a big company considers you to be too high a risk to cover. What did they really think would happen to me in one week in Turkey!!
i would not recommend Saga for anything now, not any insurance or holidays. They cover over 50s and yet are so quick to back away when things go wrong
you can probably tell I am STILL really cross about this!
will be taking out Eurotunnel insurance as I am absolutely fine now, just taking hormone talets
kay
Hi Girls
I just want to add something about eurotunnel insurance. My mother whom was DX with secondary cancer 9 months ago tried for a policy with eurotunnel my father read every word on the small print and they will not cover you if you are having on going hospital treatment. For example my mother has a zometa infusion once every 2 months which means even if her Onc tells her she is fit to travel she will not be covered due to the zometa. My parents now travel with a standard insurance policy with no cover for breast cancer. Hope you all enjoy your hols.
All the very best Lisa
Lisa - I’m very confused by this, I took out my annual policy in December and have been thru health section with a fine tooth comb and have to disagree with yourt father. There is no such exclusion - or wasn’t in December. Whether the terms have changed since then I don’t know - I’d love to know the section your father thinks says no cover for ongoing treatment.
Nina
This is what I found and Zometa means a hospital treatment so they told my father.
7 You must not have been waiting for medical treatment as a hospital patient or have been under investigation for an undiagnosed condition when your policy was issued or at the date your travel tickets were bought (whichever is later).
I live in Canada and have health insurance through my work. I have just booked a flight to Hawaii for November (am finishing treatment -chemo and rads by end of August) Anyway, I noticed that my policy covered travel to the states, and I wanted to check what my coverage would be, so gave them a call.
To my delight I was told that I am covered up to 2 million for hospital/medical expenses. Then I nervously told them I was currently undergoing treatment for cancer but should be well after my treatment finished, and was it a problem travelling with existing health concerns?
The answer was no not at all, providing a) you are not travelling against medical advice, and b) you are not travelling specifically to get treatment abroad!
I thought that was all very fair!!
Eurotunnel insurance to continue with that query - “waiting for medical treatment as a hospital patient” - this is sposed to cover someone who is waiting for an operation or such like, not undergoing on going treatment.
re SAGA insurance - I’ve had problems with them too but for other reasons. They are VERY quick to cancel policies if you notify them of anthing a bit unusual and the staff I’ve spoken to in the past have been quite rude too. I did complain about them once but was made to feel like it was my fault! I’ll never use them again and would never recommend them either
X Yvonne
Hi All
i have attached a link to the thread “Travel insurance tips” hoping this may be helpful!
Very best wishes
Janet
BCC Moderator
It’s not just Saga with this. We had only just taken out a very expensive annual family policy with Direct Travel Insurance a few weeks before my BC dx. We had a holiday in Florida booked for a few months later and another holiday later in the year. When I called to advise them of the new dx they agreed to cover cancellation on the first holiday but then refused cover for anything related to the BC for the remainder of the year. We had to cancel the later holiday as I was on chemo by then but it wasn’t covered despite having paid for an annual policy which should have covered those dates. I just feel cancer is like a ‘get out of jail free card’ for insurance companies and gives them the green light to rewrite the rules to suit themselves.