Cancer and travel insurance

[jasmin26]

My sister has just been diagnosed with cancer and is due to go on holiday next week to Cyprus. Her travel insurance is through her TSB bank account which she pays a monthly fee for. How will this affect her insurance ? TIA.

[daffy654]

She must inform the insurers of her diagnosis and ask if they cover for anything that may occur that is related to this pre-existing condition.

[jasmin26]

Thanks Daffy i thought that may be the case but her and her husband are still digesting the news so probably havent even thought about it.

[pinkgin]

http://www.staysure.c...linsurance/over65.php
Your sister may well be younger than this.
My husband has had cancer AND a knee replacement but they still insured us a very affordable price.

[ubasses]

If she already had the travel insurance before she booked, and did not know she had the cancer she should be covered. I assume she will wish to cancel, but they would probably insist on that anyway as a cancellation will cost them less than possible medical bills and repatriation by air ambulance should get worse.
Get her to phone them as soon as possible and discuss the options.

[maclarencat]

She needs to tell them or her insurance will be invalid. Depending on the type of cancer there is usually an additional fee to pay

[jasmin26]

Ubasses, do you mean the holiday company or doctors will insist they cancel the holiday ? My sister and brother in law still want to go away .

[rsvp]

I bank with Nat West and dip in and out of their Advantage Gold Account because it offers me (among other things) travel insurance for about £14 per month (I usually got abroad for more than the statutary 30 odd days and therefore pay a premium but it is still cheaper for me.) I''ve had cancer, been treated and declared clear so maybe it is a different scenario to your sisters. Just be very up front with whoever you insure with.

[jasmin26]

Thanks rsvp my brother in law will get in touch with them next week and take it from there.

[237SJ]

Don`t worry jasmin. Nobody is going to insist that your sister cancels the holiday. Insurance companies require the customer to made a medical declaration if they have any kind of condition that could affect their cover. The questions that are asked are standard across all companies. Some medical declarations can be done online and some are phoned in. It depends on the insurance company. The main concerns of insurance companies are conditions where the customer could keel over with a heart attack or stroke (high blood pressure, high cholesterol etc). When your sister declares her cancer, she will be asked how long ago she was diagnosed, whether her disease has spread to the lynph nodes or beyond, what kind of treatment she is getting etc. They will give her a price for her insurance based on the answers she gives. She certainly won`t be uninsurable (unless she is in really dire staits medically which is doesn`t sound like she is). She`ll probably just have to pay an additional premium.

[ubasses]

The insurance Company, they usually go for the option that will be cheapest for them. If you get ill between deposit and final payment they will often make you cancel at that point to avoid paying out full price. They may accept letter from Doctor saying she is fit enough to go away. But she must tell them because it will invalidate the insurance if anything happens.

[jasmin26]

She only found out on Tuesday that she has breast cancer and that it is also in her lymph nodes in her arm pit. They have had the holiday booked for months now and all monies have been paid. They will look into it next week and see what happens from there. Thanks for your answers.

[237SJ]

My mum`s breast cancer was in her lymph nodes in the armpit too. Still no problem. In my experience, the insurance companies would be more interested if the cancer had spread beyond the lymph nodes in the armpit.

[jasmin26]

237SJ, thank you .much appreciate you answering.