On 2 ww pathway and Tesco have cancelled my travel insurance

[PinotGrigios]

We booked travel insurance (£60) to cover us for a week's camping in France as a family. In the meantime my GP found a couple of lumps last week, so I am booked in for a mammogram when I return. I phoned Tescos (as per the Terms and Conditions) and they have now said I am uninsurable by any company for insurance.

Ironically they said if I was diagnosed with cancer then they could cover me, but not while I'm under investigations. I don't get it!

Has anybody been in this situation? Should I just insure my husband and daughter and go uninsured? I have a GHIC.

To be fair @DartmoorWanderer I wouldn’t be travelling abroad whilst waiting for an angiogram, it seems quite a risky thing to do (and insure), whereas travelling whilst on a bc 2 week wait doesn’t seem particularly high risk.

It’s absolutely disgusting. I was waiting for a CT scan for chronic sinusitis and was uninsurable - I took the risk because I am generally healthy otherwise, but it’s obviously a case by case basis! I hope your mammogram comes back clear and you can stick it to Tesco by getting insured with someone else!

He’s all good, it’s just to determine the type of treatment for atrial fibrillation and seems to be a formality at this point as he’s really well controlled by his medication (touch wood). He’s been waiting for three months now, so it’s not urgent! Just a disgusting money making business

Speak to a travel insurance broker or allclear insurance. You can get covered for other things and the lumps/potential cancer not covered. If you died in a car accident then your body would get repatriated by insurance. As it’s not related. Do not travel without insurance.

Anything to do with the heart or head, I wouldn't go without being insured but excluding breast lumps from insurance should be fine, especially as you are only going across the channel.

This is what I would have thought as well.

Is it not the case?

And if it’s not the case, becuase she only took it out to cover those dates, is the only way to be covered in this instance to buy an annual policy?

People always say “take out insurance as soon as you book the holiday” and I assumed it was to cover situations like this. So I’d be surprised if that’s not the case.

I understand Tesco won’t cover the Op to go on the holiday, but I’m assuming they will pay back the cost of the holiday, as she cannot go because she cannot be insured?

Insurance companies are arseholes, always trying to rinse money out of people and wriggle out of any responsibility. Try staysure, they at least specialise in medical conditions.

Ah fair enough. Apologies for speaking from ignorance there. Glad to hear all is well with him.

I find it difficult to understand why someone would only take out insurance for the actual holiday period. Lots of things could have happened between booking and travelling that would have made it difficult or impossible to travel.

Thanks for the comments everyone.

I've just gone through Tesco's small print again:

Changes in your health
You must call our medical screening helpline on 0345 030 6124 if, after buying your policy, before booking a trip or starting a trip:
• you are diagnosed with a new medical condition;
• you experience new or recurring symptoms or have an undiagnosed condition;
• your doctor or other medical professional make any changes to your prescribed medication including the dosage;
• you receive in-patient medical treatment; or
• you are placed on a waiting list for investigation or medical treatment;

When you call, we will ask you specific questions about your
medical condition(s). This may result in:
• you needing to pay an additional premium to allow cover to continue for your pre-existing medical conditions and associated conditions; or
• us asking you to cancel your trip and make a claim under Section 1 - Trip Cancellation, for your costs which cannot be recovered elsewhere, for trips booked before your change in health.
Alternatively:
• you will be entitled to cancel your policy, in which case we will refund a proportion of your premium, providing you have not made a claim or intend to make a claim; or
• if you find alternative insurance to cover your trip, we will contribute towards the premium up to the maximum we would have paid if you had cancelled your trip. The cover under your policy with us would then end.

What we were told on the phone was none of these options, simply that I am no longer insurable. We will call again in the morning - they're not very pleasant phone calls as the questions are remarkably blunt ('so have you got cancer, or not, then?').

Lesson learnt - definitely not Tesco next time!

No worries! The things they can get away with are staggering. I genuinely find it disgusting. My last insurer tried to charge me above my bank account cost to renew, because I’d not told them about my CT scan. I told them where to stick it 🤣 I’m not taking the risk for this holiday but sometimes I must admit I do take a risk and go without insurance 😬

There are specialist insurance companies that may insure you. Have a Google and see what they say.

Speak to another insurer - some companies will give you insurance but may exclude anything related to the cancer investigation. Try Goodtogo or Staysure. Good to go insured us while my DD was on a surgical waiting list.

Most If not all insurance want you to tell them of any medical changes before the holiday starts, then they may alter the price or as in OPs case, cancel it

It's not just Tesco, most insurers will give you the same answer. However what they should do is pay for cancellation. This is why you buy insurance.
In January our insurer did the same thing. DH was awaiting a test, perfectly fit to travel and when I declared it they withdrew all cover. We cancelled the holiday and they did a full refund.
I'm now with Aviva who will exclude an undiagnosed condition. My health means my annual insurance costs £600+
Whatever you do don't travel uncovered. If you had a car accident you could end up doing Gofundme.

Go back to Tesco and complain/ escalate it.
When ours was cancelled in January I did a formal complaint and got a senior person on the phone. Suddenly it was possible to be flexible. It was too late by then as we'd cancelled the holiday.

GoodToGo insurance do waiting list cover as an add on, but only for waiting for treatment, not for diagnosis AFAIK. I’m awaiting surgery for a diagnosed condition and they have covered me (for a price). SureStay are another option but I suspect they might be the same.

I agree OP, I’d have expected to be covered for anything not incidental to what is being investigate. Like a UTI or broken leg. Also disappointing that you’re not insured from the point of taking out the policy rather than after a subsequent disclosure - surely that’s the whole purpose of insurance to guard against the unknown, I always take annual policies so assumed they’d cover me from the point of payment/initiating cover, but will now check.

My DSD is uninsurable owing to a plethora of existing health conditions. DH has always risked it, what’s the alternative really?

This is why there are a lot of go fund me's for people that have insurance but are not covered because they dig deep and find out they haven't declared HRT when they have an accident for example

if you were waiting when you bought the policy, correct.

if the issue came amount after you bought the policy, I think it’s totally ridiculous that you’re not covered.

ditto my dad. A weekend in Paris would have three times the cost of the trip to insure. So he doesn’t and has a credit card with a high credit limit instread.

@PinotGrigios We had exactly the same following my husband's cancer diagnosis but before he had started any treatment. Our annual policy was cancelled when he informed them and we received a refund of our payment however we had a trip booked but would have lost all the money if we'd cancelled as we didn't have any insurance at that point! Makes you question the purpose of insurance.
He did manage to get cover through an insurance broker who covered us for everything except pre existing conditions.

I'm afraid this kind of thing is quite common OP. I haven't been on holiday for several years now because I've been undergoing some orthopaedic treatment that involved several surgical procedures each with a CT scan beforehand. So I hit the jackpot as I was awaiting both investigations and treatment. I'd happily have accepted insurance that excluded anything to do with the active problem (the chances of me needing any medical care for that whilst I was away were miniscule anyway or I wouldn't have been going) but I couldn't find anyone to insure me at all. Even most of the specialist pre existing companies wouldn't quote. I think I got one who would, can't remember who sorry, but it was exorbitant so in the end we've just had UK holidays for the last few years. I think it's ridiculous that you cant even insure your luggage if you're awaiting investigations. This year I could have got insurance but the quotes were still sky high because I'd not long had surgery so we didn't bother. I'm hoping to get away next year when it will be a year since my last operation.
No advice sorry, but I can empathise. It's probably worth contacting the specialist companies but I'm afraid there are no guarantees.
I hope your investigations bring good news and you can get away for a lovely holiday afterwards.

So if you see that dodgy looking mole don't go to the GP just before your holiday, wait until you come back.

If you had a car accident, personal injuries might be covered by motor insurance if the policy includes/can be extended to France.