Has a medical condition affected your travel insurance?

I’m planning a trip to Canada in April but when I went to get ins had a shock that I couldn’t get any.I am over 70 but I consider myself fit and well.I had bowel cancer last year which was taken en masse so am clear so the hospital say,also I have asthma and emphysema which has been controlled for years and also controlled blood pressure.
I have two more firms to get in touch with and hope to find someone who will insure me.

I paid my bank Santander for my current account £12 a month and in this package received annual worldwide travel insurance. I had to pay an extra £70 last year as I had bowel cancer in March 2010. Later that year they decided to cease all these packages added to accounts with effect from October 2013. I had to rearrange my insurance I am over 70, the old policy would cover me to 79, plus my medical details now looked like costing £500 + eventually I was directed by the Colostomy Association to companies that would cover me. I choose Staysure and the cost was reduced to about £300 for a 2 week holiday cruise in the Caribbean. Unfortunately this is an expensive area owing to its proximity to USA. Since then I have had to advise them of other medical bits which adds to the cost plus an admin charge.

A couple of years ago I was annoyed to discover that the insurance bundled with my bank account did not cover me for allergies (mild hay fever, mainly, no serious ones) AND charged me an extra £100 or so to insure me at all. A previous insurer had not charged extra. Any condition requiring regularly prescribed medication must be declared apparently, so the insurers can deny cover to anyone who does not declare a minor ailment but has repeat prescriptions.

A recent cancer diagnosis means I will have to look very hard to find insurance even though it was totally removed by surgery. I discovered that Macmillan have a leaflet called Getting Travel Insurance which is available as a PDF. This could be useful to anyone as the companies are used to dealing with people with so called uninsurable conditions. One company was started by someone who had cancer and been denied insurance.

We have given up going abroad because of the high cost of our travel insurance, which will not cover us for our pre-existing illnesses. 17 years after my treatment for breast cancer finished they will not cover me at all for cancer. I worry that if Scotland go independent, I will have the same problem with travel insurance for holidays there.

I agree with this service as i believe it benefits many people – Thanks

I have suffered from rheumatoid arthritis for over 40 years, but am relatively fit. As a result of this I have mild bronchiectasis with few symptoms and also acid reflux. A couple of years ago I was diagnosed with takotsubo cardiomyopathy, a reversible heart condition brought on by stress. 9 months later when the heart condition had gone and I had been cleared by the hospital I needed travel insurance. It had been bad enough before, but the addition of a new condition, even though it was no longer present, was the last straw for the insurance company. These companies do not understand many of the medical conditions and any hint of something, even though it may provide little or less risk than someone ‘healthy’, makes premiums leap or excludes one from insurance. The companies who say they specialise in people with pre-existing medical conditions seem just as bad. They seem to specialise in certain conditions and don’t understand others. In the past I have been offered insurance that excluded rheumatoid arthritis. You can imagine what would happen if you had an accident. Nearly every bit of medical care would be considered to be a result of the arthritis! Travel insurance for people with pre-existing medical conditions is a con.

my brother tried to get insurance cover and he was quoted more cost than the holiday, he stayed home and gave the holiday to his son as his wife had pre booked,

Like everyone else we have struggled to get reasonable travel insurance and have been refused by some. Our conditions include diabetes, copd, heart attack, angina and atrial fibrilation plus the statins, blood pressure medication and warfarin tablets which go hand in hand with the conditions.I was asked if I would take part in a worldwide medical research study called Reveal concerning good cholestoral. I said yes, that was it, I then became more or less uninsurable.The University of Oxford who are part of the study told me to try Able2travel. What a surprise, they not only insured us but allowed us an annual policy at a reasonable price. I agree it’s hard work and expensive but we would never go away without it.

It must be considered discrimination against disability.
There is also discrimination against age.

Just as society funds healthcare for all Insurance companies must be forced to quote a flat rate for all regardless of medical conditions with absolutely no ability to refuse insurance on the basis of age or medical conditions bar the extremes of age or life threatening illness that would preclude travel.

High time similar principals were applied to vehicle insurance too.

Meantime the Insurers all compete to cherry pick the most profitable customers leaving the most vulnerable often priced out of the market. It is outrageous. Make them compete on customer service, features and the flat rate prices alone.