Insurance after Cancer

[Dinglebert]

I know there is a Insurance forum, however its mostly US so not as relevant.

 

The issue

 

We currently have two cruises booked for next year.  Since booking my wife has been diagnosed and through the treatments for breast cancer.  We are now at the stage of preventative treatment moving forward for the next 42 weeks.

 

After the active "treatment" phase I contacted my insurance company with updates as we had made them aware of the diagnosis at the time.  They cannot provide cover for the cancer for the cruise but will cover if we cancel.  

 

I have tried various companies to get quotes and am somewhat confused by the answers and costs.  Basically the price is 20x our current insurance cost but only covers the cancer and therefore we need to keep the other annual insurance to cover the other aspects of the cruises such as delays, luggage etc.

 

I thought that this was our future cost.  However I also tried just quoting for a non cruise holiday to EU countries and the cover cost is small.  Actually less than I pay via my bank.

 

Am I right in thinking that cruises are therefore a very high cost for cancer as compared to just a foreign holiday or perhaps I have not got the right insurance company?

[Aulanis]

Not sure what you are asking here.
Cruise Insurance is always more expensive than for a land holiday visiting the same
country for the same length of time.
I have always assumed this is due to the possible cost of diverting the ship to land
or arranging recovery from the ship.
I have often wondered if there is data on such claims.
As regard cover for cancer I have always thought there are not enough price steps for the
many types. I had a malignant melanoma that was less than 1mm deep and maybe 5mm across. This was completely removed and 5 years on fortunately no re-occurance.  At the time  our insurance shot up as it was cancer but with little or no differentiation to if it had been a more serious type. There did not seem any way to persuade otherwise so we paid over the top premiums for 3 years - Although the prognosis question was there they seemed unable to  accept it was not a terminal condition. ( unlike crossing the road 😉 )
Wrong ins co?   That is a difficult one there are only 2 or 3 different sets of medical questions that almost all the companies use.  
We are going to insure soon so have been looking -Saga seem most "lenient" on age and medical  as their clients are mainly affected.
I have not gone deeply into any as we want an annual policy and want to book a cruise  for Dec 22 from the US. At the moment the US  (CDC) do not recognise the Astra Zenica vaccine  so even if I was to buy insurance now they could say that I was not covered at the time  I took out the policy. Hopefully by mid Dec AZ will become good or they will accept a Pfizer Topup as enough. 
   Today I have been re reading the posts on the Macmillan site as my skin nurse suggested  I might find info there.  If you have not looked it is here.
https://community.macmillan.org.uk/cancer_experiences/travel-insurance-forum/f/travel_insurance/169013/recommended-travel-insurance#pifragment-13906=19
It seems quite a few insurers have given up trying to cope with covid and have stopped doing new policies.
Maybe try here : Payingtoomuch.com
Another alternative I saw was to find an insurance broker and let them try to find a policy.  - Its a minefield!!!!
  I think in times past you could just say you had cover and get on a cruise but now they say they check at boarding and you could be denied.
Whatever I would keep your policy going that allows you to cancel and if you have correspondence keep it safe.
Hope you get lucky and find cover at reasonable expense  and that your wife gets to full remission, which is much more important.

[Aulanis]

This site might also be useful in narrowing down who might provide cover.

https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/everyday-money/insurance/use-our-travel-insurance-directory

 

[Kristal Blade]

Thanks for posting this Dinglebert, this is an issue we have too.

My husband has had radiotherapy after prostate removal but is otherwise as fit as a flea.

We have 4 cruises booked for next year, we will be sailing from USA on our first cruise.

I have done a trial booking on one of the online sites but insurance was declined! I’m thinking of taking out individual policies (I have no medical issues), but that may not help.

I like the idea of using a broker.

Please post if a solution is found. I will do likewise.

Thank you.

[Harters]

Have a look at the holiday insurance pages on the Money Saving Expert website. My prostate cancer has recently returned. I previous had radiotherapy so the treatment now is hormone therapy, probably for life (however long that might be  - hopefully a goodly number of years). We used to get travel insurance with our Natwest bank account, paying a supplement for our various medical conditions. This year, they declined to insure me. I looked at the MSE website for recommendations for specialist "existing conditions" insurers and was able to get 15 month cover, including cruises, from Staysure. It is not cheap - approaching £1000 for the two of us - but it appears to cover all that might be needed.

[Kristal Blade]

1 hour ago, Harters said:

Have a look at the holiday insurance pages on the Money Saving Expert website. My prostate cancer has recently returned. I previous had radiotherapy so the treatment now is hormone therapy, probably for life (however long that might be  - hopefully a goodly number of years). We used to get travel insurance with our Natwest bank account, paying a supplement for our various medical conditions. This year, they declined to insure me. I looked at the MSE website for recommendations for specialist "existing conditions" insurers and was able to get 15 month cover, including cruises, from Staysure. It is not cheap - approaching £1000 for the two of us - but it appears to cover all that might be needed.

Thanks, Harters

First of all, best of luck with the hormone treatment. Hubby had that prior to radiotherapy and now takes no medication. They seem to have a good range of treatments so I’m sure you will be here for the long run!

I get the MSE newsletter every week so will definitely check out Martin’s recommendations. 15 months cover including cruises for 1,000 sounds amazing. 
All the best

[Harters]

I also had a short course of hormone therapy before the radiotherapy, which was fine. They have warned that the current hormone treatment is likely to be lifelong which I'm sort of still getting my head round (it has, ahem, certain side effects which I knew could happen but hoped they wouldnt)

[Kristal Blade]

Damn those side effects! We know what you are talking about…. Even the short term course of hormone treatment per radiation is still showing it’s effects.