Travel Insurance

Has anyone used or had any experience of Columbus Direct Travel Insurance?

Thanks in advance

mumofmadboys

We are going to USA for 2 weeks later in July to visit our son.. I need to get some travel insurance but am shocked how expensive it is. The cheapest price is about £300 . Is that what most people pay for USA? We are fairly fit for our ages (70 and 67). My DH is on meds for benign prostate problem and I am on one tablet for high blood pressure and a statin. Any recommendations of companies please.

That's because even a short trip to USA generally requires
to cover up to £10 million. Medical expenses in USA are extortionate.

Very glad I've found this thread.
We have a few health issues between us, declared them all and last year got a very good quote from AllClear for £400 annual cover including cruises.
We went on a European coastal cruise last September and also a repositioning transatlantic from the Caribbean back to the Med in March this year.
All went well with no claims, so we were very surprised to see our renewal quote email arrive offering to insure us for another year, for the princely sum of £2000!!!!
Needless to say we have yet to purchase, and are looking around, especially as other half has now seemingly developed another issue, result of a recent routine blood test and he's had no concerns with this issue before.
Might be that following the upcoming investigations, we'll decide to holiday in September in UK once school holidays are over. `we will use our touring caravan which we normally use for mini breaks locally, but might go further afield for longer periods of time which could be fun. We'll still need insurance but hopefully it wont be as much! 🤞🏻

Used Stay Sure for last 5 years and when had to make a medical claim they were great and the claim was honoured without any quibbles. I was expecting the next year's cover to shoot up but it didn't.

It’s always wise to check that the terms of insurance that comes with packaged bank deals haven’t changed. Ours did, years ago, first the upper age limit dropped then it downgraded from worldwide cover to Europe only. We’d noticed the emails telling us this, but friends hadn’t. Two of them swanned around the US and Canada for a month with no cover at all, unbeknown to them. Fortunately they got away with it!

Because we have the NHS, we none of us realise how much medical treatment can cost. If you have to have your appendix removed in USA it will cost over £30000. Every tablet has to be paid for. Every x-ray and every visit from the doctor. Travel insurance also covers you for repatriation should it be required. I’m afraid that if you can’t afford it, you shouldn’t travel. The majority of travels are incident free but you need to know you will be taken care of if the need arises.

Thànk you! You too!

Have a fabulous time mum
I’ll be out there the last week of July - can’t wait!

Thank you all for your wealth of experience. I used Insurewith in the end which gave a very competitive quote of £237. I am very grateful to you all. Hopefully we will remain well and not need to test the policy!!

For anyone thinking of Nationwide I just want to say that when I had to cancel a holiday with my sister because she was taken ill, their Insurance paid the full amount within three days of receiving my form.

In contrast to her insurance with Saga, who still did not accept the severity of her illness and asked for more doctors letters - right up until the day she died.

PLEASE remember,sorry for shouting but, if you have travel insurance from your bank you must still contact them if you have anything extra that may not be covered in their basic package.
We pay on monthly DD but always ring them before we go to Aus for 6-8 weeks. We have to pay extra, last time was £240 but better than finding ourselves stranded.
Australia has a reciprocal health agreement with the U.K. but we , luckily, have never had to test it. Anyway there is always the possibility that an incident would happen in the stopover airport.

We use Nationwide Flex Plus Account which gives you travel insurance, car breakdown etc for £18 per month. They were very reasonable when I had a heart attack and we travel a lot. Only around £150 extra for the whole year policy and the age limit goes to to 80. Apparently they are very good at claims and are a Which best buy.

We've been on a few cruises, including two World ones, and are going on a third next Jan-April. We understand the cost to be so high cos of the fact that you are often in the middle of the ocean when you might fall ill and that means a helicopter to the nearest hospital, which could be a very long way off. The nearest hospital might not even be on your booked route, so I imagine getting you back on board (if that is possible) would also be prohibitive.

We switched to Nationwide a few months ago and their quote for our upcoming cruise is just over 1/3 of what we paid for the last World Cruise, so well worth the monthly fee of £19 for the bank account. I have had two TIAs and suffer from Atrial Fibrillation, DH suffers from Peripheral Neuropathy. DH will be 79 when we travel (me a mere 74) and I believe they won't cover him after he is 80.

We have used Staysure in the past, with competitive rates, but not since we developed the latest two health problems.

Thanks all. I hope to sort out insurance tomorrow. I am very grateful for everyone's input.

Try Insurewith. They are usually very good for us with a number of health issues between us. Including advanced prostate cancer.

My foolhardy friend, with who I have been on couple of cruises always makes a big fuss about taking travel insurance. She says if anything happens to her when we’re abroad, her children can easily afford to pay for her medical expenses. This was her mantra every time, and every time I say, there’s no way will I allow her to travel with us, unless she discloses her insurance details.
I was under the impression that TAs will not book your holiday, unless you give them the insurance details.
She is now planning to go with her son and GD to visit her brother in USA. Hope she is covered well .

Nanna8 - I’m not sure that cruise quotes are expensive because of American owners.🤔 We’ve never been asked which ship we’re sailing on when buying travel insurance, simply which ports we’re visiting and whether we have any health issues. We’ve been on British (P&O/Fred Olsen) and US (Celebrity) ships. However, everything onboard American ships is expensive!! 🙄

I think you’ve got to do your own research Etoile with an online search. If you’ve read the thread, you’ll see my post - Virgin, £115 for 5 days.
Another poster has since recommended paying too much, but they’ve just quoted me £155 for the same cover.

I’m with my bank , Nat west and had to pay extra when my DH was 70 last year . He has high blood pressure and high cholesterol all controlled with meds .
Just a heads up. It seems that some insurance companies want to know the medical conditions of parents or children in case you need to cancel due their ill health . A friend had to cancel her holiday when her elderly mother fractured her hip in a fall . Her mother wasn’t travelling with her but The insurance company refused to pay because her mother had other health issues, although not related to the fall .

Pretty reasonable for US and N America/Caribbean in general.

Sorry, RedRidinghood, did not see your post, I see you use the same. I should add that I fell and broke my hip whilst in Australia and all my hospital costs were covered under the reciprocal arrangement that exists between Uk and Australia. I had absolutely first class treatment, everything was very, very good, even the food! I only had to claim for GP appointment and tests after I left hospital, the ambulance charge for taking me to the hospital, and some additional travel expenses due to having to change plans. I received repayment in full and very promptly with no hassle whatsoever. Highly recommend.

You can get quotes through a cash back firm; I renewed my annual policy last month through TopCashback and got a 21% cashback.

I would be very grateful if you could let me know the name of the company as we are searching for travel insurance that we can afford. My husband is 81 and has COPD. I am 79 and a half. We are both on various tablets including statins and tablets for high blood pressure. Many thanks.

Try a bank account with included travel insurance
We are with the Co-op
Costs £15/ month

We two paid just under £2,000 last year for 11 days to NY and back but we are 79/84 and both have several issues to declare. That was with Staysure and I couldn't find a better option at the time. The US is very expensive on medical bills so I doubt we shall go again.