How cancer sufferer Eileen cut her £3,000 travel cover bill to £134
WHEN Eileen Lomas was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2015, she wasn’t sure she’d live to see all her children get married.
But, two years on, she’s well on track. The last of her four children to tie the knot — her eldest son Michael, 37 — is getting married in Canada in April. And Eileen, cancer-free for almost a year now, cannot wait.
Yet, despite her doctor saying she is perfectly fit to travel, the 60-year-old has been refused cover by more than 20 different insurers.
The cheapest quote she could find was £676 with ITHC. One firm quoted a staggering £3,000 for a two-week trip, she says. Even specialist insurer AllClear, which says it is set up to help travellers who have difficulty getting cover, says it would charge her £1,591.
It’s a common problem for cancer sufferers, who often find the struggle to get travel cover prevents them going on holiday.
Some families have turned in desperation to fundraising websites such as JustGiving to ask friends, family and even strangers to help with the exorbitant costs.
One fundraiser is currently trying to raise £1,400 so that a loved one can visit the U.S. However, there is another, little-known lifeline they can use. Money Mail found that Eileen could get cover for just £134 with specialist firm Insurance with.
Fiona Macrae, who set it up in 2007 after struggling to get travel cover following her own cancer diagnosis, says it can offer lower prices because it uses a more sophisticated medical screening system.
This gives it a clearer picture of a customer’s health, meaning the insurer has a better idea of the risk involved, and can, in many cases, lower the price. Major retailers are slowly cottoning on, with Boots now using the same ‘ Protectif ’ screening system to assess its own travel insurance customers.
Cancer charity Macmillan wants other insurers to adopt similar practices. Duleep Allirajah, head of policy at Macmillan, says: ‘We hear all too often of the problems people have accessing travel insurance, even when their doctor has advised they can travel, they are in remission or have had the all-clear.
‘Being asked for sensitive medical information again and again, only to get a very high premium or be told you’re “uncoverable” can be distressing for someone trying to regain a sense of normality.
‘ We want insurers to make their products fairer and more transparent for those who’ve had a cancer diagnosis.’
One in two people will be diagnosed with cancer during their life, according to Cancer Research. But medical advancements mean that more people are living with the disease for longer. Many are able to return to work and live a relatively normal life — and want to go on holiday.
Former gym instructor Eileen was diagnosed with bowel cancer, which had spread to her liver and lungs, in May 2015. After two operations and a gruelling three- month course of chemotherapy, she is now in remission.
And, aside from a scan every three months to check the cancer hasn’t returned, she has no more treatment planned.
Eileen, who lives with her husband Nigel in Formby, on Merseyside, says: ‘I’d expected to pay a little more for insurance, but never dreamed it would be so problematic. A week of innumerable phone and online applications was the most soul-destroying thing I’d had to go through for some time.
Ms Macrae, from Insurancewith, says many insurers fail to ask the right questions. ‘Instead of asking what condition a customer has, we first ask what medication they are taking, as this tells far more about a customer’s health,’ she says. ‘We’re looking for stability. So, if someone is having three-monthly scans, we’re looking for no sign of significant tumour growth. Or if they are on medication, that any side-effects are under control. ‘We ask customers lots more questions, too, because the more information we have, the better we can tailor prices to that person’s individual risk, rather than just err on the side of caution.’ On top of this, the insurer works closely with doctors and charities to keep up-to-date on any breakthroughs in treatment. By contrast, the majority of price comparison sites and insurers use a system called Healix, which is faster but asks fewer questions. Lara Suttie, of Healix, says: ‘We ask a series of simply worded questions that customers can understand and answer confidently. ‘In a dream world, our doctors and nurses would love to ask lots of complex and technical questions, but then customers wouldn’t be able to answer them without a report from the GP or specialist.’