Options
Travel Insurance
My parents are seriously thinking of renting a house in Arizona for a couple of weeks, they've got enough to rent a place, buy the flights, and rent a car, but my dad is being driven nuts by the travel insurance quotes.
He is 74, he had a heart attack in 1995, and takes blood pressure medication, in addition he has Type 2 Diabetes which is controlled by diet, no sweets, use sugar substitutes, have low calorie tonic with your gin etc., but he takes no medication.
He is getting quotes of between £310 - £440 for a single 2 week trip.
I told him that I'd spring for it as a treat, but he is adamant that he should be able to get it for £150 - £225.
Knowing what a stubborn old cuss he is, I'm worried that he'll say screw it, and not buy any.
I'll probably get together with mum and buy a policy on-line without telling him, but does anyone know any companies that may be nearer his estimation in price?
He is 74, he had a heart attack in 1995, and takes blood pressure medication, in addition he has Type 2 Diabetes which is controlled by diet, no sweets, use sugar substitutes, have low calorie tonic with your gin etc., but he takes no medication.
He is getting quotes of between £310 - £440 for a single 2 week trip.
I told him that I'd spring for it as a treat, but he is adamant that he should be able to get it for £150 - £225.
Knowing what a stubborn old cuss he is, I'm worried that he'll say screw it, and not buy any.
I'll probably get together with mum and buy a policy on-line without telling him, but does anyone know any companies that may be nearer his estimation in price?
0
Comments
http://www.moneysupermarket.com/travel-insurance/over-65s/
There is no easy way of finding cheap quotes, as he will have to ring each insurance company up for a quote on the pre-existing conditions. He can use the money supermarket sites etc, for a base quote though, and then phone the companies up to see how much extra it will be.
One other point when you yourself take out travel insurance for your own holidays, do you let them know about your father's conditions? if you don't and anything happened to your dad with regards to his pre-existing conditions, which meant you might have to cancel or curtail your own holiday, you know you wouldn't be covered?
I've never heard of that, and although I'd never say that you're wrong unless I was certain, I find it hard to believe.
If what you assert is correct, then a normal 40 something couple with no pre-existing health problems could find themselves not covered for an emergency flight home/curtailment of holiday due to a relative's sudden illness, because they didn't disclose the relative's previous medical history to the insurer?
If this were to be true, then the insurance application form should have a section where you are required to list all your relations prior medical history.
Or, the couple's grandchild is hit by a car and is in the ICU, they take the next flight home and the insurer says, "You didn't disclose the fact that the child crosses a road en-route to school."
It's like saying, "We'll sell you a policy, but in the event of a claim we reserve the right to never honour it."
If you have pre-existing medical conditions and don’t declare them, you will be potentially invalidating your entire insurance cover for ALL & ANY claim.
Very unwise to even consider that option!
Thanks woodbush, and Summer Breeze, all done now, everything declared and double checked, bottom line £186.
Providing that he doesn't find out that I bought it for him normality is restored!
It is, in the policy usually were pre-existing conditions are given and general exclusions, that is why it is important to read the policy thoroughly. All insurance companies vary.
100% agree with this. You need to be aware, though, that insurance for the USA is much more expensive than for Europe, given that they charge $1000 just to say "hello" to you!
Going by what my Dad has to pay - and he is a very healthy 90 year old - and my sister in her 60s with some medical problems, your Dad is getting quite a reasonable quote. My sister, with a history of breast cancer years ago but still (and will be on forever) had to pay £400 for a 3 week trip to the USA.
I may be misunderstanding this, if so I apologise in advance.
Maybe you're saying that if a proposer declares a pre-existing condition, the insurer wants to know if it's hereditary, then if someone in the proposer's family is taken ill with the same condition an emergency flight home wouldn't be covered.
But it reads like you are saying that the insurer wants to know about pre-existing conditions in your family even though the proposer has a clean bill of health.
My neighbour, who suffered skin cancer years ago, (now thankfully all cleared up), purchased an annual travel policy for his son last November, he said all the insurance company wanted to know was whether or not his son had any pre-existing conditions.
Correct, anything you know about that could make you claim, such as a pre-existing medical condition of a close family member that you know about.
An insurance company will generally only ask you about pre-existing conditions for the travellers, you have to bear in mind that with insurance there are a lot of exclusions in the policy that they can't all go through, hence why it is important to read the policy carefully and why they give you a 14 day cooling off period.
Every insurance differs, so you have to make sure it fits your needs, price is not the only deciding factor.
How much for annual multi-trip? I found them much better value. It probably won't be cheaper (if it's available at all in these circumstances), but you can use it for other holidays.
Maybe you can get the price down by cutting out all the frills (when I used to take out travel insurance, it was only for medical cover in places like the USA; anything else, I could take care of myself).
Important if you want cover for cancellation/curtailment of your own holiday caused by you rushing to a relative's sickbed.
Regarding final para. I also heard about this recently. I told my neighbour who,is going on hols to Australia soon. They have an adult daughter who has been seriously ill and is now in a wheelchair but doesn't live with them. She said they wouldn't cut their holiday short if anything happened to her so they wouldn't be mentioning it on their insurance forms. I thought that was a bit daft.
One thing I would say is that I would get him to check with his GP what conditions he needs to declare in case there is any doubt.
Also we only went on holiday within Europe. We have been to the USA in the past prior to him having so many medical issues (he had had his heart attacks though) I think the USA is a risky place to go to unless you are 100% confident the insurance is good enough. You would literally be bankrupted if the insurance refused to pay out for any reason!
I think we used to pay about £200 insurance when we went to USA but the last time we went was 2008 so I don't think the quote is too excessive.
When we went to Australia last October it cost us £179 for 3 weeks , for both of us.
We`re now off to visit new grandchild in the States and insurance for a week is £380 !! no choice but to pay it
when I went abroad last year, I called my insurance company (i have permanent insurance), they completely didn't want to know about a pre-existing medical condition as it was managed by meds, I did say that I thought everything had to be disclosed and he said no, not unless it's something that they could be forking out for if the condition took a turn for the worse?! I was quite happy to pay a surcharge if necessary to add it soon but they really didn't want to know. weirdos.
It's perfectly true. When my mother-in-law was alive, I told our annual travel insurer that she was in her 90s and suffered from Alzeimer's,; this was in response to a question on the proposal form.
The company promptly excluded her from the "cancellation and curtailment" part of the policy. This we accepted, and bore that risk ourselves.
Certain pre-existing conditions are automatically covered, again they will be detailed in the policy. Usually things like Diabetes Type 2 & 3, epilepsy and many others. Again read the policy, so you know for certain, don't always take somebodies word for it on the phone.
Also if any conditions change while you have the policy, the insurance company needs to be informed.
I believe that's the actual motto of the UK Insurance industry.