Travel Insurance - UK

[Pete1948]

Hi,

Have read the posts regarding insurance through Costco etc., but wondered if anyone had any advice for someone from the UK.

I’m 76 years old, and had a bypass operation about 20 years ago. Though never actually diagnosed with high blood pressure or high cholesterol, I take prescription medication for these conditions as part of the post-op “survival package” all heart patients seem to be on.

Does anyone have any experience of UK accessible insurers (particularly regarding cost!)

 

Thanks.

[iamtrustworthy]

I'm sorry, but I can't give advice about non-USA travel insurance plans.

[Host Kat]

13 hours ago, Pete1948 said:

Hi,

Have read the posts regarding insurance through Costco etc., but wondered if anyone had any advice for someone from the UK.

I’m 76 years old, and had a bypass operation about 20 years ago. Though never actually diagnosed with high blood pressure or high cholesterol, I take prescription medication for these conditions as part of the post-op “survival package” all heart patients seem to be on.

Does anyone have any experience of UK accessible insurers (particularly regarding cost!)

 

Thanks.

 

Hello @Pete1948

 

Thank you for your new thread on our special sub-forum Cruise Insurance Q&A w/ Steve Dasseos of Tripinsurancestore.com Summer 2024. However, it was off topic there since Steve only handles USA cruise insurance.

 

To help you out your new thread has been moved to the UK Cruisers forum. That is the forum where you can learn more about cruising from the UK, or on UK-based ships, from cruisers just like you! We also have the Pub Forum for chit-chat about anything with other UK cruisers. Browse through the thread titles in the forums looking for threads of interest. You may find your fellow Cruise Critic members have already posted questions and received answers that may be of interest to you.

 

The Cruise Critic website and message boards are both great resources for new as well as experienced cruisers and we are so glad you are posting! Please click here Cruise Critic Community to browse the categories list of all our various discussion forums. I suggest you put the page link in your browser's Favorites for quick & easy access in the future. Please read a few threads in the different forums to get a feel for what each forum is about. Make sure you read any pinned threads (aka stickies) on the top of the first page of threads in most forums. You will find very important instructions or information there. 

 

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I sincerely hope this will be helpful and glad to have you aboard Cruise Critic! 

 

Happy sails,

 

Host Kat

[Harters]

Pete

 

Firstly, I'd suggest asking your GP if they'd still advise you to keep taking the medication. They probably will but it's worth an ask. 

 

Blood pressure  and  cholesterol issues will be of minor consequence to an insurer, so long as they are both under control. But you will need to declare them as "pre-existing conditions" and they will count towards the cost. 

 

We have a long list of conditions so our insurance is never cheap. We've previously used Staysure and All Clear, both  are which are advised by the Martin Lewis Money Saving Expert website as being amongst the best for  folk with existing conditions. 

 

Costs obviously depend on  your range of conditions and what you want insurance for.  You could do a "dummy run" on the websites of the two I've mentioned to get an idea. But, FWIW, our current insurance with All Clear is an annual policy for the both of us including the cruise cover addition, for trips in Europe and costs about £1200. For last year's policy, we needed to add cover for the US and Caribbean  - we were doing a transatlantic cruise and were spending just six days in that region. It more than doubled the cost to just about £3k. Possibly means that'll be our last trip to the States - it's probably not worth the extra cost for that. 

[Pete1948]

Thanks for your reply, John - very useful! I’ll. try them both.

[Harters]

You're welcome, Pete. If you think on, perhaps you could come back to the forum and update us as to how you got on. Travel insurance for old crocks like me  like constantly shifting quicksands, so "latest info" is always handy. 

[Tigermad]

On 9/19/2024 at 2:56 PM, Harters said:

Pete

 

Firstly, I'd suggest asking your GP if they'd still advise you to keep taking the medication. They probably will but it's worth an ask. 

 

Blood pressure  and  cholesterol issues will be of minor consequence to an insurer, so long as they are both under control. But you will need to declare them as "pre-existing conditions" and they will count towards the cost. 

 

We have a long list of conditions so our insurance is never cheap. We've previously used Staysure and All Clear, both  are which are advised by the Martin Lewis Money Saving Expert website as being amongst the best for  folk with existing conditions. 

 

Costs obviously depend on  your range of conditions and what you want insurance for.  You could do a "dummy run" on the websites of the two I've mentioned to get an idea. But, FWIW, our current insurance with All Clear is an annual policy for the both of us including the cruise cover addition, for trips in Europe and costs about £1200. For last year's policy, we needed to add cover for the US and Caribbean  - we were doing a transatlantic cruise and were spending just six days in that region. It more than doubled the cost to just about £3k. Possibly means that'll be our last trip to the States - it's probably not worth the extra cost for that. 

I took out travel insurance today with All Clear, annual Europe policy with cruise and with pre existing conditions for me ad hubby and it was £77. Both in our 50s. Why is yours so expensive?

[Harters]

16 hours ago, Tigermad said:

Why is yours so expensive?

It'll be a combination of our particular pre-existing conditions and our ages. Both All Clear and Staysure are in the same area for costs but for the last couple of years, AC has been slightly cheaper. That's not surprising as I think both companies use the same software (as do most travel insurers) to assess risk when you fill in the online application. 

Edited September 21 by Harters

[Ergates The Ant]

On 9/20/2024 at 10:28 PM, Tigermad said:

I took out travel insurance today with All Clear, annual Europe policy with cruise and with pre existing conditions for me ad hubby and it was £77. Both in our 50s. Why is yours so expensive?

Big jump in the price, the older you get. We are in our 70s, 1 week Europe cruise well over £300, with multiple, but stable, pre existing conditions. (That’s with Staysure, who paid out promptly five years ago when we had to cancel at the last minute.) Premiums have gone up every few years, plus as our medical issues add up. Do lots of travelling while you are youngsters of 50! 

[Harters]

17 hours ago, Ergates The Ant said:

Big jump in the price, the older you get

Yep. I'm expecting another big increase when I hit 75 next year. And I'm sure I've read that it gets tricky to get insurance at any price when you hit 80. 

[john watson]

Cruise lines weigh up the risk and consequences of people becoming ill.  In this respect babies under six months and pregnant women beyond a specific stage of pregnancy are excluded from travel. The medical team on board can only cope with a certain level of medical emergency.  Travel Insurance providers are much the same insofar as considering the medical conditions passengers have and if the condition you have could result in an episode and whether this can escalate to a life threatening emergency rapidly or otherwise. The older you get the more likely something might happen, insurance companies load this a lot. The consequences of an incident might be getting a helicopter or a boat to transfer you ashore.  The ship might have to return to port if you have just left or call in at an unscheduled port to pull alongside for transfer to an ambulance ashore. This type of response is enormously expensive and insurers will foot the bill if you have a valid claim. It is very important to obtain Travel Insurance as soon as you book. Initially your financial risk is limited to the deposit price and then liability increases by a certain percentage as you get nearer to sail date. You should also be thinking about flight and hotel refunds although these may be boked with free cancellations included for any reason in many cases. The important points are that your cover includes the geographical area you are visiting, make sure cruise cover is also included and all you personal details are accurately given to the insurers including pre-existing medical conditions. I tend to book an Annual multi-trip policy and not rely on a bank including cover as a customer as I feel you could become unstuck if you make a big claim.

 

Regards John

[Harters]

17 hours ago, john watson said:

not rely on a bank including cover as a customer

For many years, our travel insurance came as a perk with our NatWest current account. There was always a smallish supplement to take account of existing medical conditions. It was a good policy, paying out quickly the time we needed to make a claim. Then, in what must have been a general reassessment of risk by the bank, they declined to renew our policy. Not even an increase in the supplement, simply would not renew, even thought there had been no change in our conditions. 

[John Bull]

On 9/20/2024 at 10:28 PM, Tigermad said:

I took out travel insurance today with All Clear, annual Europe policy with cruise and with pre existing conditions for me ad hubby and it was £77. Both in our 50s. Why is yours so expensive?

 

When you hit 60 you'll be quoted very different sum - I don't recall the figures but on my 60th birthday Insure-and-Go rated me triple the risk that I was the previous day 🙄.

 

I switched my banking to a Nationwide "flex-plus" account. 

That account costs £15 per month (recently increased from £12, but their age surcharge has been dropped) and covers me for worldwide travel incl cruises, plus car breakdown cover plus a couple of other minor risks.

Not great value for you at the moment, but bookmark it for the future 

 

JB 🙂

[sandancer]

21 hours ago, Harters said:

For many years, our travel insurance came as a perk with our NatWest current account. There was always a smallish supplement to take account of existing medical conditions. It was a good policy, paying out quickly the time we needed to make a claim. Then, in what must have been a general reassessment of risk by the bank, they declined to renew our policy. Not even an increase in the supplement, simply would not renew, even thought there had been no change in our conditions. 

Same for us with Nationwide. To rub salt into the wound they keep sending emails asking us to renew our medical conditions cover. I called and explained that they have refused us cover but the emails keep coming. 

[babs135]

On 9/25/2024 at 12:35 PM, Harters said:

For many years, our travel insurance came as a perk with our NatWest current account. There was always a smallish supplement to take account of existing medical conditions. It was a good policy, paying out quickly the time we needed to make a claim. Then, in what must have been a general reassessment of risk by the bank, they declined to renew our policy. Not even an increase in the supplement, simply would not renew, even thought there had been no change in our conditions. 

Likewise with us.  Slightly different circumstances though. DH woke up one morning and complained about feeling 'odd'. Took him to A&E where they did lots of tests before sending him home the same day with NO follow-up and NO medication. They didn't really know what it was, other than possibly an 'ischaemic incident', but did advise us that we should inform our insurance company.   On informing them we were told that that they would not cover him for anything arising from this and furthermore they would no longer cover him for his diabetes!!  Shocking service.

[Ergates The Ant]

I usually book our insurance as soon as we book the cruise. However, this year, the premium was more than the deposit. I decided that if we had to cancel before final payment, it was cheaper to lose the deposit. I waited until just before final payment was due, no new medical conditions had arisen thankfully, and the premium was the same as the quote we had originally.

One thing I always do now is to pay the extra premium for reducing the compulsory excess to zero. It’s a relatively small amount, but I found it well worth it to reduce the hassle in the case of a claim.

[sandancer]

We also paid extra for natural disaster cover. The way things are with the weather patterns these days it was worth the extra few pounds. 

[KforKitty]

We’ve used both Staysure and AllClear for annual multi-trip policies but Staysure lost me as a customer when they took 4 months to pay out on what should have been a straight forward cancellation due to catching Covid, three days before sailing.  
 

I just renewed our AllClear policy which was about 1/3 less than last year despite me turning 60, but that was due to me having cancer surgery 18mths ago and not needing any further treatment since.

 

Catherine

 

[Harters]

Catherine - we had a similar Covid experience, at a time when the cruise line was requiring a "Covid free" test result. Also three days before boarding. Have to say, Staysure was fine, paying out in a couple of weeks or so.