How to get travel insurance with complex medical history?

[Cookielover64]

After seeing more stories recently about travel insurance not paying out, I'm wondering how I would possibly get legitimate cover for DD who has been under consultant care for the best part of 16 years.

She's had hundreds of appointments, probably 6 months total inpatient care, countless prescriptions. I couldn't accurately recall everything.

She doesn't have any named conditions, she has a weak immune system due to being premature, and was extremely susceptible to common childhood illnesses which dragged on and led to secondary infections and short hospital stays.

She's had long periods of symptoms and tests with no diagnosis at the end e.g. infrequent seizures with epilepsy ruled out and no heart issues, which eventually stopped.

What on earth would I put on a travel insurance form that could cover 16 years of ill health with no underlying condition (that we know of!)

Now realising how lucky we've been so far in never needing to claim 🤯

Try this company OP, they can often find really good quotes for complex health issues and an annual quote might be more cost effective than for just a couple of weeks if you have the option of more than one holiday in a year.

https://www.payingtoomuch.com/

I would phone some companies and talk to them, but I suspect that you may find it all prohibitively expensive. "Normally" healthy people can find their immune system struggles abroad due to the fact that they will come across things they aren't used to - a combination of a weak immune system plus no diagnosis with lots of treatement and tests will raise a lot of flags. For obvious reasons, insurers are risk averse - you'll almost certainly need one of the specialist companies rather than a mainstream one. But I also second the comment that annual is "cheaper" than single trip if you go abroad more than once a year.

Thanks, she's going to the US later this year so need to sort by then. Practically though it would be impossible to list every test and investigation she's ever had. She's actually really well at the minute, ironically. A lot of it was in early childhood and she's gradually improved.

Definitely need a one year policy too so I'll look into that.

It's not worth the risk of travelling to the US without travel insurance.

My DD has a well-managed, medicated and improving condition but is under oncology and another team. Her annual insurance including the US was close to £500 a couple of months ago. There are companies that cover pre-existing conditions but you have to search hard.

Does her medical team have any recommendations?

Ah - hang on. She isn't going to the USA "for a year" as opposed to "for a holiday" is she? Because that would begin to open up other insurance issues. Like @TerrifiedPassenger mine is about £430 for the year, but the difference is that my condition is diagnosed, stable (or as stable as it gets) and known. I think your problem is that you don't know, and that will make some insurers antsy - "fine right now" and "improved" doesn't allow them to easily calculate risk. So I think conversations are definitely the way to go - if you google insurance for pre-existing conditions you'll get a list (or Martin Lewis's site used to have one too), but be aware that several of them are actually "the same company" under different trading branches.

And "practically though it would be impossible to list every test and investigation she's ever had" - you need to get her medical records. If you miss off anything it will quite possibly invalidate her insurance, and I can guarantee you that the insurers will be able to get a full list if she makes a claim.

This will cost an arm and a leg. My dad pays £850 a year for his travel insurance and he has loads of exclusions. That’s because he’s got an AAA and a history of high blood pressure. Try all clear travel insurance. You can phone them.

Just to add, I checked and "travel insurance" only covers individual trips of up to 31 days - after that it is a different type of insurance for long stays.

Highly recommend StaySure. Their customer service is fantastic. I'd call them and have a chat.

Sorry I meant an annual policy, covering multiple short trips, rather than single trip cover.

Sorry no I meant an annual policy not a single trip policy, if I'm going to do it I'd rather do it once and it cover a few trips.

I wouldn't know where to start accessing her medical records, are they all digital now?

When I called to try and fix they were only interested in pre-existing conditions and anything else that had happened in the last 2 years IIRC. So complications earlier in her life should be irrelevant.

Yes, my dad pays for an annual policy to cover short trips.

If he wants to go to certain destinations (Caribbean, USA, France strangely), he has to pay extra per trip.

I had the opposite experience calling them, it was a nightmare. They called perimenopause a “pre-existing condition” ! And the fact that my son had had a concussion injury -
from which he had fully recovered- caused the premium to increase by £400. Not because of the concussion, but because he’d ended up briefly in hospital for a reason that wasn’t on their system!

Oh if she is currently under investigation for something that will make it much harder (though you can insure for anything except that), though it doesn’t sound like she is?

I would try Staysure, I’ve had cover from them for pre-existing conditions.
If you look on the NHS app or ask the GP for a print out of the “front page” of her notes that will give you a list of all diagnosis and medications she’s had. Your problem will be if she’s had symptoms but no diagnosis, if those symptoms occur again when she’s in USA and she has to go to hospital they may say it was pre-existing but they haven’t covered it as it wasn’t a diagnosed condition. So I’d call them and just read out everything she’s had and let them decide.

The OP's DD has pre-existing conditions, and has had multiple investigations without any conclusive diagnosis. Of course they will want to know about those - they are not "completed" because they couldn't work out the issue. They might decide to discount them, but they won't ignore them.

OP, you GP should have access to complete medical records - I believe they should all be digital now, but I don't think they actually all are. My GP (for very different reasons) was able to provide a record of all my chilhood illnesses and vaccinations etc, even down to the badly sprained ankle when I was 11 - I am 67 now! Hopefully yours will too. But I would still advise - talk to the companies, and be certain what they want to know. Don't leave it to chance. You don't want even a stubbed toe in the USA, or you could be selling your first born for the costs.

I know it's a rip off etc, but last year, just before a holiday, I almost severed a finger tip. It was still in a splint, but all treatment was completed and I was discharged. It sounds and looked awful but it was a very minor injury in the scheme of things. I told by insurer and they charged me a surcharge that was MORE THAN THE ANNUAL POLICY!!!!! For two weeks. But if I hadn't told them and had injured myself on holiday I would not have been covered for anything. It may be a rip off, but it is one we cannot afford to ignore.

I have numerous conditions and they wouldn’t touch me. I have it with AllClear (including USA).

you can find all info about her medical records if you have the NHS app.

They doubled mine for no reason five years ago. The last two years I have found Admiral good - and they do have cover for pre-existing conditions, although mine are stable and not "risky", so that may be a factor.