Travel Insurance ... should I or shouldn't I 'risk' going without it?

[Minxy]

I've got a dilemma ... I've had some blood tests done, some are back and others are still being processed and depending upon the results may require more investigation, or nothing at all (nothing serious, just trying to get to the bottom of my somewhat OTT allergy reaction).

The problem is that whilst this is going on I can't legitimately get travel insurance as I have to declare that I'm having 'investigations' and/or 'awaiting test results'. We were originally planning on going this Thursday but put it off until next Thursday to allow for the bloods to come back but it looks like it's gonna be the end of this week at the earliest then of course I'll need to know what the plan is from my GP etc.

We've always had travel insurance and I'm the first to stay not having it is silly however we are so fed up and want to get away (need to be back in mid-July as that's when Mum's flat sale is likely to complete) that we're seriously considering only having it for hubby so we can get away before the summer madness and temperatures. We're thinking of down to the bottom of France then coming back up via Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium and France over a period of 2 months, and other than me messing about in my kayak occasionally we don't do anything even remotely risky but I appreciate it's not just activities which travel insurance in intended for.

The EHIC/GHIC covers for emergency medical care as well as chronic and pre-existing conditions where you can't wait for treatment, but obviously not for repatriation which is the main thing we want it for, ie not bothered about the usual stuff such as lost baggage, missed departure etc. I've been trying to see if I can get just 'repatriation' cover but this isn't as straightforward and tends to only repatriate if you are dead!

Anyone got any suggestions?

 

[Odd-no-more]

Having had medical emergencies in the past I would say get the insurance, call the companies and explain the situation tell them everything, pay the price and hope you have wasted your money.

 

[Minxy]

Having had medical emergencies in the past I would say get the insurance, call the companies and explain the situation tell them everything, pay the price and hope you have wasted your money.

Trouble is that whilst undergoing tests/waiting for results they won't insure as they don't know the risk consequently I won't even get offered insurance at any price.

 

[suavecarve]

Have never used travel insurance.
Wife makes me take it out but not sure if we have any and certainly don't know who it is with if we have got it.
I completely lost interest in it when going abroad during COVID nullified any we had.

But I m a tad younger than the average on here and never been ill. Though I did do my rotator cuff last year cycling in Paris for a laugh. Took 5 months to mend with no doc involvement

 

[Minxy]

rotator cuff

Just googled that as I didn't know what it meant ... that's what I did last year but didn't realise it!

It was caused by the way I was having to twist/support our little Lily whilst encouraging her to go to the loo, it hurt like mad at times and took months to eventually heal.

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[SteveandSueJ]

You can always pay for repatriation if needed, or come back early... emergency treatment would be provided by EU. We rarely use insurance so just this once, take a chance. Insure hubby, not yourself....

 

[Lenny HB]

You should be OK in Germany as with the GHIC card you only have to pay €10 a day when in hospital it would just be the repatriation risk but you could just stay there until fully recovered.

France if something happened it could get ex[ensive if you have to pay 20% of hospital costs if d could cost you a few grand.

Don't know about ambulances but even in the UK they charge for car accidents because they know the car insurance company will pick up the bill that can be a few grand.

What would I do, probably risk it.

 

[Odd-no-more]

Don't know about ambulances

We used an ambulance in France a few years ago, whilst Mrs. Ex was taken to A&E I was taken to a cash machine to pay.

 

[Minxy]

In all the years we've been going abroad we've only claimed 3 times, first was when our hand-held PDA did a nose dive into a canal (don't ask!), second was when our Romy broke her dew claw badly on the Saturday morning (we were due to travel back later that day), and the third was when our Lily was taken very poorly in France on a Sunday.

We've never claimed for our own health - when we had second degree sunburn (very nasty) in France we didn't claim on it then.

 

[suavecarve]

Just googled that as I didn't know what it meant ... that's what I did last year but didn't realise it!

It was caused by the way I was having to twist/support our little Lily whilst encouraging her to go to the loo, it hurt like mad at times and took months to eventually heal.

Call me "Doc"

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[Stoosal]

We used Staysure this year for cover. At the end of last year mrs stoosal phoned to update them as she had some tests at hospital for back pain. Undiagnosed pending results. Cancelled insurance on the spot!

I phoned them back 5 mins later and spoke to supervisor and explained position ie probable old injury eg slipped disc from many years ago.

No problems. Couldn’t reinstate old policy as it was cancelled but went through usual questions and we got insurance albeit there were a number of ‘exclusions’. Once confirmation of no issues or treatments required we updated them and the excisions were removed. Same price as last year.

I think it really depends who you speak to sometimes. Once we fully explained the position there were no issues whereas the first person just refused to do anything other than cancel a policy. Note added to confirm the policy was subsequently amended rather than a cancelled/refusal to insure which you really don’t want to have on your record!

 

[Lenny HB]

In all the years we've been going abroad we've only claimed 3 times, first was when our hand-held PDA did a nose dive into a canal (don't ask!), second was when our Romy broke her dew claw badly on the Saturday morning (we were due to travel back later that day), and the third was when our Lily was taken very poorly in France on a Sunday.

We've never claimed for our own health - when we had second degree sunburn (very nasty) in France we didn't claim on it then.

Just go, you could always sell one of your property empires to pay the bill.

 

[62272]

Trouble is that whilst undergoing tests/waiting for results they won't insure as they don't know the risk consequently I won't even get offered insurance at any price.

I don’t think it is a problem. You will need to be fully honest with your insurers and very likely they will insure on the basis that they will not cover anything related to the test issue. Which would cover any unforeseen accident or medical issue but not the ongoing issue. As a result the insurance is not likely To be that exorbitant.

However you clearly are taking a risk on the issue under investigation. If you are comfortable that it is not a game changer then go ahead.

It is a worry though.

 

[Jim]

Just get hubby to insure himself, then if anything happens to you, stick a dress on him and you go to the docs as Mr Minxy. I can forsee a few problems with this plan, but you'd get some great stories to tell us. Especially if asked to cough.

 

[irnbru]

When my mum recently went on a cruise the insurance fees were extortionate due to mums medical condition , however out of all the insurance companies , Churchill agreed to exempt the conditions and cover her for everything else. You could ask if that would be an option for you. Good luck

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[Minxy]

I don’t think it is a problem. You will need to be fully honest with your insurers and very likely they will insure on the basis that they will not cover anything related to the test issue. Which would cover any unforeseen accident or medical issue but not the ongoing issue. As a result the insurance is not likely To be that exorbitant.

The tests are not for something 'new' or likely to be nasty, it's just trying to get to the bottom of why I have the allergy reactions I do - nothing life threatening, just a blooming nuisance, and to see if there's an underlying cause/anything that can be done it to make it better - it's nothing new as I've been like this since childhood, just trying to find answers that's all.

However you clearly are taking a risk on the issue under investigation. If you are comfortable that it is not a game changer then go ahead.

It is a worry though.

I'm not worried about it as the status quo will just continue and I'll just have to manage, obviously I'm hoping for a suggestion as to how to make things better but don't anticipate them getting any worse than they are already.

If I could just get repatriation on it's own I'd be happy but it's not that easy.

 

[Lenny HB]

it's nothing new as I've been like this since childhood,

That explains a lot.

 

[DuxDeluxe]

I've got a dilemma ... I've had some blood tests done, some are back and others are still being processed and depending upon the results may require more investigation, or nothing at all (nothing serious, just trying to get to the bottom of my somewhat OTT allergy reaction).

The problem is that whilst this is going on I can't legitimately get travel insurance as I have to declare that I'm having 'investigations' and/or 'awaiting test results'. We were originally planning on going this Thursday but put it off until next Thursday to allow for the bloods to come back but it looks like it's gonna be the end of this week at the earliest then of course I'll need to know what the plan is from my GP etc.

We've always had travel insurance and I'm the first to stay not having it is silly however we are so fed up and want to get away (need to be back in mid-July as that's when Mum's flat sale is likely to complete) that we're seriously considering only having it for hubby so we can get away before the summer madness and temperatures. We're thinking of down to the bottom of France then coming back up via Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium and France over a period of 2 months, and other than me messing about in my kayak occasionally we don't do anything even remotely risky but I appreciate it's not just activities which travel insurance in intended for.

The EHIC/GHIC covers for emergency medical care as well as chronic and pre-existing conditions where you can't wait for treatment, but obviously not for repatriation which is the main thing we want it for, ie not bothered about the usual stuff such as lost baggage, missed departure etc. I've been trying to see if I can get just 'repatriation' cover but this isn't as straightforward and tends to only repatriate if you are dead!

Anyone got any suggestions?

A friend of mine went for a “booze cruise” long weekend to France/Belgium with his mother. Only a weekend but she slipped and broke a hip and her shoulder. At this stage they realised that travel insurance, or at least an EHIC card would have been a really good idea. I know that the private ambulance (not that type!) to bring her back to U.K. was about £4500 which they had to pony up. Luckily some of the surgery was free - or at least they have not been billed yet as it only happened two months ago. A harsh lesson learned

 

[Brody]

I always 'assumed' that when it asks about test results it meant tests as in scans/x rays etc not blood tests. You could be waiting for something as simple as iron levels.

If it were me I would get the insurance and if you were to say break a bone you would be covered.

My sister needed a hospital in France recently as she broke her leg whilst on our skiing trip. The stretcher off the mountain was €300 and the ambulance to the hospital was €1000 the wheelchair was €500. We had extended cover so she only needed to payout for the wheelchair upfront.

No one can plan for an accident.

**Edit to say they let her out that night to get it sorted in the UK

 

[Jenben]

I think you need to investigate the options by talking to insurers and get some cover, there are some good ideas from other posters.

I have claimed on travel insurance twice, once when I broke my arm skiing (had to be rescued off the piste ) and recently when a relative died and we cancelled a trip. I never buy expensive insurance but see it as a necessary cost of my trips away.

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[DavidG58]

Can you not upgrade a bank account, Nat west have various options, nothing to declare they only want the £10 / month as far as I can see

 

[Stealaway]

The tests are not for something 'new' or likely to be nasty, it's just trying to get to the bottom of why I have the allergy reactions I do - nothing life threatening, just a blooming nuisance, and to see if there's an underlying cause/anything that can be done it to make it better - it's nothing new as I've been like this since childhood, just trying to find answers that's all.


I'm not worried about it as the status quo will just continue and I'll just have to manage, obviously I'm hoping for a suggestion as to how to make things better but don't anticipate them getting any worse than they are already.

If I could just get repatriation on it's own I'd be happy but it's not that easy.

Regarding repatriation do you not have any family or friends that would come and drive the van back home with you as a passenger.
It would have to be very serious to need an ambulance to get you home

 

[Lazyboy]

I would have thought you could have got some insurance which would cover you for most things excluding your current tests.
Personally i think the risks financially are too great not to have any cover. It's all a risk. We have car insurance and hope we never have to use it. You also insured your home I assume and that is not mandatory.

 

[mikebeaches]

As others have mentioned, be upfront with insurers that you are undergoing some non-life-threatening allergy tests and awaiting results. I would expect cover to be available at a reasonable premium, but possibly excluding cover for the allergy condition until such time as the test results have been confirmed.

I have 'allergy' noted on my travel policy and if I remember correctly there were only two questions - do you have an epi pen? have you been hospitalised with it during the last 12 months? (which in my case, the answer to both is - no) And that's it. They don't really seem interested in what the allergy actually is! But apparently I'm covered for it.

 

[hja]

If you have treatment for your allergy it could take years. I am allergic to wasp venom and am currently undergoing treatment. It is essentially an acclimatisation treatment. It began last year and I am now on the maintenance injections (every 6 - 8 weeks) which will continue for another two years. So I suppose that counts as undergoing treatment for insurance purposes, not that I had really thought of it as treatment, any more than my blood pressure meds being treatment. But I suppose it all is.

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[Googlebot]

You will get insurance, it just won’t cover you for anything related. I would always advise against going uninsured unless you have a house to sell just in case.

Call me a doom monger, I always look on the worst case. An air ambulance with anaesthetist and nurse is eye watering, that’s before the costs for hospital.

I fell off my bike a few years back in France, helicopter came and took me to a large hospital where thankfully I wasn’t as broken as they thought. I still needed to fly home while Lucy drove back. The medical taxi both ends were hundreds of pounds alone. I dread to think what the chopper cost, ours is £3000 per mission with less staff and a cheaper aircraft.

I wouldn’t risk it, even with excluded conditions, you can still get home if you have an accident if you take it out.

 

[Nanniemate]

Parents travelled a few times without it and took a risk .
The only time father needed repatriation due to pain in his hip before it was replaced they called the personal emergency service
Frind drove me to airport 2 planes 1 missed connection and bullet type train was there in under 8 eight hours
Bought them and van home.
No insurance claim only my airfare and train ticket

 

[Minxy]

If it were me I would get the insurance and if you were to say break a bone you would be covered.

I'd much rather have insurance, it's not something I'm again, so long as I can get it and that's the issue, as soon as I mention I'm waiting for test results they won't quote.

 

[Minxy]

As others have mentioned, be upfront with insurers that you are undergoing some non-life-threatening allergy tests and awaiting results. I would expect cover to be available at a reasonable premium, but possibly excluding cover for the allergy condition until such time as the test results have been confirmed.

Yes I agree, as others have said I need to speak to them so I think the only option is to have a ring round of insurers to see what they say 'in person' as it were, rather than relying on web quotes which just say 'no way Jose'!

I'll give it until the end of the week and hope that the results are back and see if I can have a chat with my Dr as to what has been tested for and the result, and whether it's anything that will prevent me from going away/getting insurance.

 

[jumar]

I've used medical insurance a few time due to accidents...private ambulance home....and if a friend hadn't driven the motorhome back they would have driven that too.
I've posted before of the perfectly fit guy in the MH next to us a few years past, started fitting, taken to hospital, then air lifted to another, operated on, had to stay in for a month before travelling back to UK, made full recovery...Brain Tumor....poor guy.... I'm not good with sums...but without insurance I think that would cost more than I have in the bank right now..Get cover of some sort..

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