I had a medical scare in the US – with no travel insurance
MEDICAL emergencies abroad are expensive – and make up the largest portion of travel insurance payouts.
But many holidaymakers with health conditions take the risk of not buying travel cover simply because they are scared off by the high premiums quoted.
Daniela O’Brien suffers from asthma and a nut allergy. She was so fed up with being quoted skyhigh premiums – usually £600 plus – that a couple of years ago she took the risk of travelling to the US without cover.
The 33-year-old commercial lawyer, from Prestwich, Greater Manchester, was in San Antonio, Texas, when she suffered a reaction to something she ate and went into anaphylactic shock. She says: ‘My husband called the emergency services while a first aider used my Epipen to inject me. The paramedics wanted to send me to hospital but I was afraid we would not be able to afford the thousands of dollars required on top of the £450 we had to pay the paramedics. My husband sat up all night to make sure I was OK.’
Recently, Daniela saw a Co-op Insurance travel policy promising cover for people of all ages and health conditions. She says: ‘I want to visit my parents who have bought a house in the Italian lakes so I was looking for European cover. It costs £103 for me and my son Sebastian for an annual plan – and it will cover my health conditions. I was so relieved as I do not want to travel without cover again.’
Cancer sufferers are being offered reductions in premiums by specialist travel insurer AllClear after it found medical expense claims were lower than expected. A single trip policy to France for a 66-year-old diagnosed with lymphoma in the last five years would now pay £156 – 12 per cent less.
Anyone struggling to find affordable cover can try a specialist broker. Use the British Insurance Brokers’ Association’s Find a Broker service on 0870 950 1790 or visit biba.org.uk.