Hi all
I know that forum members often mention the difficulty of getting insurance so you might find this news useful
money.guardian.co.uk/insurance_/travel/story/0,2196674,00.html
best wishes
Lucy
Moderator
Breast Cancer Care
Interestingly they cite quotes for someone diagnosed in 2000 with no subsequent reoccurrence. Not a lot of use to most of us on here. I called them and they won’t cover you until you have been out of chemo or rads for a month. Don’t know where they stand on herceptin and ongoing tamoxifen etc.
Also the quotation they gave for this mythical woman who had bc 7 years ago for an annual policy is more than I (dx May 2007 and still to have rads, herceptin and arimidex) have just paid for an annual policy with Aberdeen having declared my condition. (ok - a £500 excess for anything related to bc). I smell a good marketing by Pink Insure
Sharon x
I get free Standard European insurance each year from the Aliance Leicester bank as a perk with my current account . I rang them to advise I had breast cancer diagnosed in December 2005 and now free from rads and on Arimidex. They insured me for an additional £30.00. It’s highly unlikely I would claim but gave me peace of mind to go to Majorca this year. Might be worth ringing your own banks and building societys
Regards Mary Emma
hi i am completely lost here why does it make a dfference if you have breast cancer or not its not likely you r going to need treatment in a fortnights holiday no more than any other person surely…
jal7777 - I totally agree with you. It seems to me to be a good way to make more money out of us. I have been looking for annual worldwide insurance to include skiing and heliskiing - I am 68 and very fit. I will not be away for more than 12 days on any trip but almost every company I have tried either won’t cover you after 65 or else exclude anything to do with BC and double your premium. I suppose they are worried you might have to cancel. Age and BC are both a bitch!
hi i have just had a holiday and never told them after all some people dont even insure… i have now booked for next year but not done travel insurance as yet. i have only had to pay 50 pounds deposit until 8 weeks before i go so i will reasses then and if i need to cancel i will only loose my deposit and if i iam well i will go on normal insurance…
another thought has anyone ever been caught out whilst on holiday with breast cancer. if so what happened and what treatment was given. i thought it would b interestibng to see what we would actually be paying for as most dont even cover pre existing illnesses.we just get charged…
Hi Jal
Not had to claim whilst on hol but had to claim earlier this year off our family annual worldwide cover for a canada ski hol which was to take place a week after I had my WLE. With a longhaul flight and skiing we had to cancel and the insurance reimbursed us the full cost plus an upgrade we made and gave us £180 more because we had to wait a while for the settlement. In summer we went to Portugal and the policy stayed the same except no cover for BC. Our renewal is in Nov and will be interested what happens as we have re booked the Canada ski hol for new year. Can cope with not being covered for BC as if I found another lump I would leave it until I got back but I bet they also exclude things such as DVT when flying and on tamoxifen.Also wouldn’t get money back again if had to cancel hol due to BC - so am hoping 3 monthly check in Nov goes ok!!
Olivia - heli skiing and 68 - that is fantastic - you must be incredibly fit!! Looked at it for my husband but not sure about me doing it (age 45)!
Happy hols everyone!
Shorty xx
BC cover is not just about being covered if you find another lump. I have a vivid imagination and a scenario such as this worries me about being in USA with no insurance:
falling over and breaking a bone and discovering its being caused by bone mets. Dealing with this and getting home would cost a fortune.
I go to EU countries with no bc cover because I could get home easily or use EU reciprocal arrangments (which vary from country to country but wouldn’t get landed with astronomical bill.)
I have heard that Aberdeen Insurance will cover USA for reasonable rate but am not banking on it…will ring them next week as I love the USA and want to go again.
Jane
I went to New York for my honeymoon-with lung mets, on herceptin, and Aberdeen still covered me for U.S- annual insurance for both of us for 60 pounds, with a 500 pounds excess for any thing related to BC. Needless to say I was absolutely fine and had a brilliant time.
India
x
hi if all these policies state no cover for breast cancer there is no point in sayting you have it surely. and i agree jane i am only going to europe holidays and a flight home can easily be got if i feel unwell. i would always get insurance and will look into this aberdeen one when i go next year. but again 500 excess what is going to happen to us in a weeks holiday relaxing in sun. i think allthose people going long distance deseve a medal normaly as i dont like travelling that far and thosewho are skiing are really fit. i last went when i was 18 i am now a fit well i thought i was 40 year old. congrats to india on your honeymoon and glad you enjoyed it.
Shorty - you are a babe - if you are a good intermediate skier you can do it! Have a look at some of the Canadian heliskiing websites. After I had my first BC which was 17 years ago I decided to do all the things I wanted to a bit sooner - this was one and I am now hooked (an on my second BC).
JaneRA is right - very often if your cancer comes back it doesn’t always mean that it’s going to come back in the breast. This is what happened to me and now have spine and liver mets but it doesn’t stop me from going on holiday and I know I have to have insurance because if I fell the consequences don’t bear thinking about! I’ve lived with this for 3 years and (touch wood) have had no problems whatsoever while on holiday. I get my insurance through www.miaonline.co.uk and they are brilliant but don’t cover worldwide at the moment, only Europe. They quoted me £44.50 for a fortnight’s holiday in South of France (and that’s with being on chemo and other treatments still).
I would say there is no reason to be covered for primary breast cancer but you probably still need to declare it that it’s a pre-existing medical condition but want it excluding. That’s what I used to do because as quite a few of the comments above say - what are you going to get ill with that can’t wait until you get home?
I used to love ski-ing as well Olivia and that’s my only regret that I can’t now do it - my oncologist looked at me as though I’d lost my marbles when I said I suppose ski-ing is now out of the question?! But the other way to look at it is that we skied for 10 years (twice a year) so at least I’ve done it.
You must declare you’ve had breast cancer on any travel insurance. If you don’t and you subsequently make a claim even for something nothing to do with breast cancer then your claim might not be met.
Jane
hi i agree i wouldnt travel without travel insurance and will search around nearer the time of my hols when i know a bit more about my situation…
on another thought do you tell your car insurance… has anybody should i
julie
Please make sure if you take out insurance that you declare all pre-existing conditions or they will not pay out on ANYTHING and you will have wasted your money.
I agree though that if you are only going short haul (can get treatment on holiday) you can get back. I have travelled with secondaries to bone and liver whilst on exemestane… and they quoted £72.25 annual policy (we went to Thailand) for both of us with my preexisting condition and it was a follow on policy with Insure and Go I had to talk to their medical people. I’m not so sure they would let me go at the moment as I am having chemo but hopefully if everything settles down I shall be off somewhere warm…
Good luck to you all on your travels and get those skis out and keep looking on the internet for a deal.
Car insurance i don’t think so …
W