Travel Insurance Recommendations

[torthecatlady]

Husband and I travelling to Greece in October and want to take out travel insurance.

I have pre-existing medical conditions, husband does not.What should we do? Our options are:

• insurance covering my pre-existing conditions as well as my husband

• individual cover for each of us (this may be the cheaper option)

Does anyone have any experience actually claiming on their insurance and have recommendations or warnings?

I'm leaning towards John Lewis, as we used them for wedding insurance, made a claim and they were really amazing throughout.

However, when I read the small print, the insurance doesn't cover of there's an act of terrorism.

Help!

you may find most companies don't cover that.

there are comparison sites for travel insurance so google that and have a play. They allow you to declare pre-existing conditions for each person so you should be able to tailor a joint policy. Declare everything, relevant or not.

whatever you do, get a shift on. If you've booked but have no cover yet, you will lose the lot if you can't go for any reason.

don't forget to make sure your EHICs are in date too. If they need renewing, they are free. Do not use any site that charges.

Ok! Thanks for the advice. I will speak with JL about a joint policy.

Also, I'd forgotten about our cards! Better go and look for them!

Thanks!

single policies would be a bit pointless. say for example you had to cancel because you were too ill to go or you fell I'll out there and needed him to stay with you, your costs would be covered but not his.

it also depends on whether your condition is easy to screen for. Tescos used to be good and ok to claim from but last year I found them stricter on criteria. DS had a rough year medically last year that made insurance difficult (undiagnosed unstable condition) so we ended up with a few quite specialist insurance companies.

The preexisting condition searches are useful for getting an idea of who might cover you but generally exclude the condition -even if you ask explicitly to include it. always call the company to check

With pre-existing medical conditions, watch out for companies that purport to cover you, but subject to such a wide ranging exclusion (eg "no cover for anything cardio-vascular related") that you're without cover for a huge range of medical conditions. Read the pre-existing medical conditions section of the policy document itself. Don't rely on a summary for that.

We had one holiday where we had to claim for two GP appointments with our AA travel insurance, and we didn't have any problems. They will cover some pre-existing conditions if you phone up and declare them.

MIA are pricey, but will offer cover for some declared pre-existing medical conditions which other insurers would refuse to cover. No experience of making a claim with them though (touch wood!)

I think it's very common for insurance policies to have exclusions relating to terrorism.

I love that you class your husband as a pre-existing condition!

I've used Amex in the past and have had to claim. They've been brilliant.

The other option that's good, if you are old enough, is Saga. My mum came home from one trip in a wheelchair due to a flare up of a pre-existing condition. They were great with her.