Holiday Insurance with poor medical history, advice needed

[G1BB0]

my mum turns 60 next year and is going to spain with family in March. She has had 3 heart attacks, 1 mini stroke and 1 large stroke

so she wants insurance (just in case), nowt wrong with her now apart from slight speech issues but mobility is fine etc and not on any major medication. Struggling to get decent quotes, cheapest so far for 1 week is £158! now I know she is high risk but can anyone suggest any companies to contact who maybe specialise in this sort of thing?

google is not overly helpful as all want 3 million questions on a form which I dont mind doing but not over and over again

thanks in advance

 

[DaveM]

Might sound daft this. But get her to check with her bank they might cover her. I bank with Natwest. Have a Natwest Advantage Gold Acc. Holiday medical cover is in with it free. So is car breakdown with Green flag to. May be worth checking out.

 

[jpenno]

A lot of the inclusive policies with banks wont cover pre existing problems, my father in law has numerous health issues and his best quote was from the halifax. BUT the £158 isnt that bad when you consider her previous history and the potential risk to the insurer, they are not only covering her for when she is there BUT also the risk for the next four months that she might be ill and have to cancel.

 

[G1BB0]

good point jpenno, I said she should just go, she went to the USA last year with no issues and I know insurance was around £100 for that for 3 weeks. Then again all insurance has gone up in the last 12 months so maybe its about right

 

[PhilTheFragger]

If shes going to Spain then she should get a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) which will give her standard NHS treatment if needed, but is not a replacement for insurance.

as with all things insurance, the bigger risk you are perceived to be the larger the premium.

Lets put it into perspective

Say she goes to spain, without cover. has a major problem out there, has to spend a month in hospital, then a special flight to get her back to the UK, you could be looking at a bill of thousands

makes £150 premium seem insignificant,

I dont like insurance, its a racket, but sometimes its necessary when viewed against the alternatives

Fragger

 

[G1BB0]

one of them do I dont I moments, chances are she will be ok but the off chance something happens then yeah, £158 now will be a very small sum compared to what it would cost without.

Will ring around later and see if I can get anything slightly cheaper

thanks for the input

 

[Gazp]

If you haven't already done so, try Age UK I hear they are good at covering existing conditions

 

[MadAdey]

It is risky as hell going away without insurance. Years ago my brothers old girlfriend went to Spain without insurance. She had a problem with her appendix while she was there and she was a fully fit 20 year old girl who does martial arts so no health issues. Fortunately her dad is minted so could afford the thousands of pounds it cost to get her fit enough to fly home and be admitted into an NHS hospital. For £158 is it really worth risking it? I think that is not a bad quote either considering the history of health.

 

[19thagain]

G1BBO, pay the going price for the cover required. Cheap and nasty is not the cover you want if a problem occurs.

The mother of a playing partner of mine went to Benidorm for a week, cover in her opinion too costly to take out, had the misfortune to have an anurism (spl?) and months later she is still in hospital .... in SPAIN!!

The family cannot afford to take her home in the air ambulance so they take turns of flying out on 'cheepo' flights for even a day so that mother can, at least, hear English being spoken and catch up with family news.

Phil ask that family if insurance is a racket and if £158 is too much to pay for the CORRECT cover!

 

[Crazyface]

I've just returned from the USA. I was quoted, are you ready for this, £950, to insure my son. We took a chance, and got away with it. We thought that we wouldn't allow him to do anything strenuous, but at one point he leapt out of this wheelchair and started to do a wild body popping type dance then stopped suddenly as he usually does, as his heart does not allow him to do any for more than 30 seconds at most. He returned to his wheelchair and had a what we think was a "seizure". This scared us all to death, and himself, as he has never had anything like this before. Luckily he recovered quickly. So what am I saying? I dunno. But it's bl00dy risky to go without insurance.

 

[mouth]

http://www.sladdininsurance.co.uk

Not connected to them in any way except for as a customer.

Me and my Dad both have a history of heart and health problems and when we went to the USA a couple of years back we were a little worried about insurance and happened across these guys. Came in a lot cheaper than everyone else with the same if not better cover. They will also insure the rest of the family on the same policy which could make it a little easier overall.

Gotta be worth having insurance. Even at £158, it only needs one visit for payback.