Holiday Insurance

[Dave]

Before I enter the hell that is price comparison websites and ending up at ultra-specialised sites….

Does anyone have any good recommendations for cheap but adequate holiday insurance for a simple Europe package holiday with wifey and two small kids. I’m not planning on going abroad again this year but if there are any annual policies that are close in price I’m happy to consider those.

After doing a quick email check I went with Fortis last year through Manor insurance at £34 for 14 days for all of us, which in retrospect doesn’t seem too bad. However, I’d be interested in others feedback.

Thanks in advance.

[Annette A]

I’ve used Karma in the past – they only ask a basic question on medical (ie ‘do you have only one of the following ailments’ – and Diabetes is one of them) and its pretty cheap too (just looked up a family of 4 for 15 days to Europe and it quoted £31 for a single trip).

[Dave]

Oo, thanks for the tip. Just looked at them and they are a little cheaper with the usual excesses.

* Of course any recommendations for insurance are just that and anyone taking out a policy must do so on their own conviction and only after fully reading the policy wording to check that it is suitable for them. Insurance policies are a chuffing nightmare and there’re good reasons that any professional advisors are governed by the FSA. All I’m after here is a “well we use xxx”

[Anonymous]

I always go with Endsleigh for travel, they tend to have the best prices I can find plus having diabetes is not an issue.

[Annette A]

You do have to watch Endsleigh – they have an exclusion that says you’re not covered if: “there has been a change in treatment (including medication dosage, surgery, tests, investigations or diet) in the last 12 months” which can be read to say ‘we’ll find a way out of paying for anything medical related by claiming you’ve changed your morning insulin dosage 11 months ago…’

[Anonymous]

My advice would be what ever you do DON’T go with the one Diabetes UK use – ‘All Clear’. What a nightmare!!

I took cover with them and had to make a claim – nothing to do with my diabetes.
My mother-in-law was rushed to hospital with pneumonia 3 days before we were due to go on holiday. She fell into a coma and was given only a 30% chance – it was awful and we decided, understandably, that jetting off to go snowboarding was not an option so we cancelled.

I phoned the claim line before cancelling and asked if I’d be covered – they said that although they couldn’t give a 100% answer until the claim had been submitted and assessed, that the situation was ‘the kind of thing that would be covered’.
Thankfully my mother-in-law made a full recovery and is now absolutely fine. But when we submitted the claim ‘All Clear’ refused to pay a penny. Why? Well, my mother in law is Type 2 diabetic, because of this they wanted access to her medical history. Understandably her GP said that as the diabetes was not the subject of the claim and due to patient confidentiality he couldn’t discuss her diabetes with them. The consultant who treated her completed the claim form and stated on it that in his option the pneumonia was not related to her diabetes.
The claim was by me for my holiday so we really didn’t understand why her medical history was being investigated anyway.

They refused to pay out saying her diabetes would make her at more risk so without the access to her medical records they could not pursue the claim any further.

….my gran had heart disease, so my mum is therefore at risk of it too. So does that mean their holiday insurance won’t cover me if she had a heart attack and I had to cancel my holiday? …..
My husband cycles to work, so he’s at risk of getting hit by a bus, will their insurance not cover me if I cancel my holiday if, heaven forbid, this were to ever happen then!
*blood boils over!*
I shudder to think what ridiculous excuse they’d come up with for not paying out if a claim ever had to be made for something relating to me or my diabetes.

Have since used http://www.getmy.com/travel/ as I found them to offer a good level of cover at a reasonable price…. Just find it really annoying that you only ever get to find out how good an insurance company are when you have to make a claim.

[Author]

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