holidays and insurance

[betty2]

hi there

sometimes i am torn between reading the site or not. on the one hand its wonderful and i dont know what i would have done without your support. on the other hand everytime i read messages it highlights something else i need to worry about. my life has become a round or sorting out things and covering ourselves . our lives are not our own anymore .

i just read the mail about to travel or not. well dad has made a desicion to cash in a couple of things and we are now booked on holidays to corfu and egypt. we booked the holiday to egypt before we got the offical diagnosis, and so insurance company said we were covered because it was unknown at the time.

however, corfu holiday was booked recently. after what bruce just said i am now reluctant to call and inform insurance company . on other hand what if something happens etc etc .what do you think? does anyone have experience of this.
dad is not too bad, although he had a massive fall 2 weeks ago and now has 10 stiches in his head, but he was running for a bus at the time and tripped over a paving stone. other than that hes carrying out most things as normal.

perhaps i should phone and say we are thinking of booking a holiday and how would his condition affect the insurance. eeerrrhhh. dont know. Am I worrying too much, anyone work for an Insurance company?

suggestions welcome please.

betty

 

[Brucie]

It is a difficult call!

The problem is that any pre-existing condition that may influence what happens on the holiday - should be declared. If you don't declare it, and something happens, then there is a chance that all cover will be invalidated, and you could end up stranded, or with big bills to pay.

Imagine what might happen if Dad somehow causes someone else to be injured. There could be large damages to pay. What if he, for some reason, needs an air ambulance home. etc.

The point of insurance is not only financial cover, but also peace of mind.

You can always take the chance of course.

Why not ring another insurance company and ask what their policy is? Most companies have similar terms.

There are always companies that will provide cover - at a price.

At the time when I had the conundrum, it had not even occurred to me to declare Jan's condition because she was not obviously ill - she was withdrawn, but no-one would have noticed anything out of the ordinary, partly because I was glued to her. [then again, I always was, we were so close]

I only asked the holiday rep if we could get a 3 seater on the plane because it had worked so well on the outward journey. Her reply may not have reflected reality.

But I am the person who always tries to have belt, braces, ...and a piece of string around my waist.

Peace of mind is knowing your trousers won't fall down.

 

[Jude]

Dear Betty,

I seem to have missed the beginning of this thread somehow and can't find it.

Travel Insurance is essential..!

Having said that, I'm probably one of the slackest people in the world ever to do it. Last Feb was the first time I'd ever seriously considered doing so. As it turned out, it would have been a waste of money since the insurance companies won't pay up if you are dumb enough to travel countries with current 'travel warnings', ie: Indonesia. What you do need to check out -

1. Insurance for AD Suffers. So far as I'm aware, there aren't any special clauses or regulations, but I've never specifically checked this out.

2. Ensure that you have emergency air lift insurance. If you're stuck overseas and suffer a heart attack, stroke, or serious injury etc, then the cost of an emergency air lift can be as high as £20,000. If you aren't insured for that, then the British Consul overseas will pay it for you, but will require reimbursement later on.

Over the last 3 years I've had to arrange emergency medivac airlifts for 3 tourists out of Bali to Australia and England. None were covered in their insurance. Also you need to be insured for hospitalisation - especially for injury or stroke. Stroke victims cannot be admitted onto aircraft within 14 days of having a stroke, due to the possibility of a blood clot moving in the body. All aircraft carry oxygen, but you will need to ensure that extra is available if an emergency arises. You also need to factor in the possibility of a Doctor or Nurse accompanying you on the flight - this will be essential for stroke or heart attack victims and you will be up for paying for their ticket too.

This all sounds very fearful and ominous! Don't let all this deter you from having a holiday abroad. So long as you aren't holidaying in a country with a current 'travel warning' posted and you have covered yourself for every eventuality, then you won't be at risk. The possibility of having a medical drama are very slight really.

If something happens, make sure you have the telephone number of the British Consul handy. The Consulate will arrange everything for you.

Jude

 

[betty2]

thanks

thanks for that, good idea, will ring another company and read details on site.

i think i just ran out of energy yesterday .

regards

betty

 

[Izzy]

Hi there - I know I'm a bit late in replying to this but I'm just back from holiday. Last September we took out new yearly travel insurance policies. I declared on the phone that my husband has Ad and I was asked what this involved as regards visits to the hospital, medication etc. I told them he was on medication and had 6 monthly visits to the hospital. This didn't seem to be a problem and the policy has this down as a declared condition. I will read it more closely in case there are any catches I missed as the polcies are due for renewal. I must admit I feel that I will always declare it as I would panic if I thought we weren't covered!

Cheers
Izzy

 

[Charlie]

Hi Betty,

I'm with everyone on getting the full insurance and not taking the risk. Although the temptation is to skim over the full situation it's always best to be straight with insurance companies.

A few years back we phoned to double check that we were still covered by Barclays for our home yearly travel insurance. Seven months previously my daughter had been in hospital with pneumonia. They took our updated details on the phone and said they get back to us. When they did, a letter informed us that we were not covered for medical expenses if our daughter developed any problems as she was still having checkups.

Instead of grinding my teeth down, I faxed the letter to the paediatrician, who wrote to Barclays explaining the situation. She also spat some venom and told them how disgusting it is that insurance companies only look after the 'safe no risk members' of society. Oh and a week later we had a letter saying that our daughter was now covered.

The moral of this story is that insurance companies have an obligation to offer cover (within reason), you may just need to give them a kick up the backside if they forget their obligations.

Cheers
Charlie....

 

[Jude]

Dear Charlie,

Good on you for insisting on your rights!

Jude

 

[betty2]

all sorted

as usual whittling over nothing

i phoned the compnay, said we were thinking of booking a late holiday and would there be a problem, no they said just need to have a quick chat with your dad.

dad phone on his good day answered a few questions like who are you, date of birth etc and they said fine no probs.

might not be so easy next year. thanks everyone.

next job, battle number 14 with DLA!

my friends at work now look forward to my daily phone battles with various agencies..... its making me a better negotiator!

bye
betty

 

[Izzy]

Good luck Betty - we lost the battle with the DVLA - well didn't really fight it. Just accepted that when my husband's licence had to be renewed he was over 70 and they wouldn't renew if because of the diagnosis. When I see some other drivers on the road I think maybe we should have appealed - I'm sure he could still drive better than many!!

Well done with the insurance!

Izzy

 

[Nutty Nan]

holiday insurance

I have 'automatic' holiday insurance for myself / family members for any trip / accommodation I book with my Bank Credit Card (linked to my current account). There is a monthly charge, but this more than outweighs the benefit of not having to shop around and pay separately for holiday insurance.
I have checked with them again, and they have confirmed that
a. there is no upper age limit (my husband is now 74 and does not fit any longer in the usual holiday insurance 'bracket'), and
b. there is no problem with AD.
Best wishes to all.
Carmen