Travel insurance - undiagnosed condition

[picklespark]

Hi,

Has anyone recently had success at getting travel insurance with several pre-existing conditions while awaiting a diagnosis? I'm halfway through a 43 week wait to see a gynae after years of painful periods and other symptoms that point to endometriosis. These symptoms are unpleasant but I have ways to manage them and they have never prevented me travelling or cut short a trip - I'm currently on the minipill to help with the symptoms.

My current issue is that even travel insurers who will cover me (have tried AllClear, InsureWith, GoodtoGo, Avanti, Staysure and some other specialist providers) will only cover me for luggage, cancellation and will exclude ALL my pre-existing medical conditions, not just this one and medical issues relating to it. One of these is brittle bone disease (osteogenesis imperfecta) so I really can't go without cover in case I break a bone on holiday.

Has anyone managed to get an insurer to exclude an undiagnosed condition/related things but to cover them for other unrelated medical conditions? Getting a bit desperate here :(. I usually get travel insurance no prob and not too expensive, but this undiagnosed thing has caught me out.

the only one I can think of to try is Able2Travel - they’re good with pre-existing medical conditions, but don’t know how far they go with conditions still being investigated

When it’s non-standard medical cover (lots of pre-existing conditions or ones still under investigation) always ring and go through it with an advisor rather than using the online forms

We have used insure&go with multiple conditions. It's a pain, isn't it. Not as if it's your fault you are having to wait.

Thanks both! Insureandgo have sadly said no already, Cookerhood.

And yes, I have been ringing them up. Will come back and update if I find something for anyone else who may happen upon this thread and is dealing with the same issue.

I used to work in travel insurance, you won’t find an insurer that will cover an undiagnosed condition, unfortunately if you need to cancel and the reason could be applied to the undiagnosed decision, you will not be covered. Where do you plan to travel to OP?

Thanks, I suspected as much.

I don't need them to cover that condition or something related, just my other ones. I wish I could find an insurer that would exclude those symptoms. Unfortunately it's Turkey so can't even chance it with just the GHIC which I might have considered had it been elsewhere.

I know I've been very silly and I will never book again without checking I can get insurance.

Whoops wrong username but that was me!

Can you speak to your gp and find out if you can state endometriosis on the form rather than awaiting diagnostics. I suspect the gynae appointment is to confirm and they already have diagnosed

Very risky to travel uninsured, although people do, it’s ok till something goes wrong. Repatriation is very, very expensive, as is private medical care abroad should it be required.

I pay an uplift on my travel insurance to cover my disability, always, always list every condition when booking insurance, this is totally key, otherwise you risk the policy being cancelled.

The options, as I see them.

-Change destination so the EHIC is valid, this won’t cover everything that travel ins. would though.

-Speak to consultants secretary and ask for any cancelled appt, you could go at short notice, if you could etc.

-Seek a private dx before your holiday.

-Cancel your trip.

Good luck with whatever you decide, hope you are feeling much better soon.

Thinking about it, have you tried Staysure? If anyone will insure you, they might, but it will be at a price though.

Sorry OP, I can see you have tried Staysure.

Try Trailfinders if you can they told us we could pay extra to get a disclosed issue covered

V much appreciate all the helpful replies, thanks all! Will definitely have a go at seeing if I could get a cancellation if possible. I really have got myself into a pickle.

For context (sorry wasn't intending to dripfeed) I have already seen a gynae privately a few months ago, who told me the symptoms are almost certainly endometriosis but obviously I would need a laparoscopy to confirm. I've then gone onto his NHS list to wait for a consultation. So whether I have been diagnosed is sort of a grey area.

I can't afford a private DX unfortunately as the procedure would cost too much. I've just reviewed my medical notes and my GP has indicated several times it is "likely endometriosis" and that I am down to see the gynae for further advice. It doesn't indicate I'm seeking a diagnosis but I know insurance companies will do anything to wiggle out of paying!

I've unfortunately paid out a lot already so can't cancel trip. What a wally I am. I'll try that company though.

I got coverage via a specialist broker recommended via a cancer charity (although I didn’t have cancer), while undergoing investigations. I had to pay through the nose, and there were some restrictions, but the cover was adequate.

Have you tried a broker, OP?

I haven't actually, could you recommend one?

Unfortunately it's a few years ago now, and I can't remember who the broker was. I eventually got cover through Good to Go but, like you, I had been turned down by their algorithm when I approached them directly.

I'd try Googling 'specialist travel insurance broker' and take it from there. I don't want to give you false hope, because my medical condition was totally different from yours, but it was a serious one, so hopefully my experience suggests that cover is not impossible.

Insurers are of course wary of an unquantifiable risk. A lot of it depends on how you describe a condition, which is where a broker's expertise comes in handy. For example, in your case, "diagnosed with endometriosis by consultant gynaecologist, awaiting laparoscopy" might get you a totally different result from "possible endometrosis". The broker has the expertise to describe the condition in a way that is truthful but most palatable to insurers, and the relationship with insurers to get them to consider risks that their website algorithms will weed out.

Good luck!

Coming back to say a HUGE thank you to everyone for the kind and useful replies, but especially to @MissLucyEyelesbarrow ! Great suggestion of trying a specialist broker. I called a couple of brokers and The Bateman Group agreed to cover me and my laundry list of conditions, inc. being on a waiting list for my gynae symptoms for less than £150.

So relieved. And hope this thread will help anyone else who finds themselves stuck similarly.

Yay! So pleased I could help. Enjoy your holiday 😎

Aww great news, really pleased to read your update, have a great holiday.

Great result. Can I ask who the actual insurer is please OP?
( i think Bateman is a broker?)

@BeechFairy It's underwritten by AIG.

Thanks for well wishes all! 🙂

Thanks for this thread it’s really helpful. My partner has an undiagnosed condition and we are due to go away in 3 weeks by which time tests are unlikely to be completed. I was nervous about ringing our insurers Staysure today to tell them this but amazingly after answering all of the underwriters questions they have said we are still covered! I can only think it is because we have an annual multi trip policy with them and the holiday and the policy precede the onset of his symptoms related to the undiagnosed condition. I was all prepared to ring the Bateman Group brokers today to pursue a new one trip policy for him but no need! Thought it worth posting this as I really thought we wouldn’t be covered. Thanks again for the post.

That's good news @fraj1 .
We have an annual policy with staysure. I took it out in January. We had hoped to travel before then but it took 2 months to get some results for DH.

Hi, any help appreciated. We have a holiday booked for Turkey, 6th July. My husband developed chest pains etc mid April and had his referral 3 weeks ago. Tests were inconclusive for angina so he now needs to have a CT scan with an expected wait of 6months. Medication is controlling his symptoms. We had insurance since booking with Staysure the holiday back in June 2022, however they will now not cover him for any previous declared conditions eg high blood pressure/ cholesterol or with the new info of possible undiagnosed angina. It sounds like I can claim for the party as we had a group insurance (hubby, daughter, sis in law and me). I have looked at a good number of other insurers but they won’t cover an undiagnosed/under investigation condition. I’m considering booking a holiday to Spain for the same time in the hope of getting most of our money back from a claim and relying on an EHIC card if needed. Any advice? Thanks

@JanieMary Your husband will need individual insurance now. Try a specialist travel insurance broker, it's possible they may cover the angina. Or if not, they may agree to exclude that condition, but it does give you the risk of having to pay in full if he has any issues with it on holiday.

Go on the BIBA website for a directory and ring round a few brokers as a starting point.