Travel Insurance

irishrover99

Hi all.

I am thinking about heading away for a short trip in Feb/March and i'm concerned that i won't be able to get cover that will cover me if anything happens to my Father while i'm away. My father is 83 has has just recently been diagnosed with Epilepsy and has had 3 seizures in the last few months(since August).

My Father will NOT be travelling with us but it is incase of cancellations or returning early due to anything happening to him.Fingers crossed nothing does obviously but my Mother passed away this Feb gone while i was in Thailand with the Wife and Kids and it cost a lot to get home and cancelled hotels ext ext. The Insurance company did not pay up due to her been in hospital for a few months. I had booked the flights before she went into hospital but the insurance after she went in. I was told right up till the day i left that she would be fine and she passed away 4 days after i left.

After contact with a Insurance companies they have said they won't cover me in the event of something happening to him because of the Epilepsy.

Anyone any ideas of someone how would cover me.

Cheers

Atlantic Dawn

There are insurers who would cover some travellers with pre existing conditions but I am unaware of any that would cover you for conditions already known about a relative as full details will not be available with them being a third party.

I suppose you need to price worst case what it will cost you to get home and be prepared to pay that, at that time of the year if your going to a European destination you would be able to get a direct or indirect flight home from on the day you want or the day after for €300 or so, if you were in US probably nearer €1000.

i71jskz5xu42pb

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

I suppose you need to price worst case what it will cost you to get home and be prepared to pay that.

Or just book flexible tickets. Granted you'd be tied to that airlines schedule & and seat availability.

Not sure what the deal is with hotels though. Lots of rates that can be cancelled pre trip, but I don't know how they work it during the trip.

irishrover99

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

at that time of the year if your going to a European destination you would be able to get a direct or indirect flight home from on the day you want or the day after for €300 or so, if you were in US probably nearer €1000.

Thanks for the reply. For the four of us it cost 1500+ to get home from Thailand last year plus we lost on hotels and that so was just perhaps chancing my arm to see if any policies would covered such a case. The destination was Disneyland Paris and most likely a package holiday so i can imagine the tour company would not change dates or refund money in the event of a cancellation. Thanks for your info

irishrover99

Cora Late Bankroll wrote: »

Not sure what the deal is with hotels though. Lots of rates that can be cancelled pre trip, but I don't know how they work it during the trip.

I had booked my hotel with Agoda so you can cancel up to a couple of days before your stay but as i was already on the holiday they wouldn't entertain me and said i should contact the hotel which i never bothered with as i just wanted to get home.

Peregrinus

In general, I'm afraid, they won't cover you if you need to come home on account of a condition that a family member was known to have had when the holiday was booked and the insurance bought. And of course if your family member is elderly, frail and/or chronically ill, if they do have to go into hospital (or worse) it is highly likely to be on account of something connected with an existing and known condition.

Holiday close to home, I'm afraid, is the best advice I can offer you in these circumstances, so that if you do have to bear unexpected costs they are less likely to break the bank. This particular period of your life might not be the optimal time to explore the further reaches of the globe.

irishrover99

Peregrinus wrote: »

This particular period of your life might not be the optimal time to explore the further reaches of the globe.

That is what i've been thinking.

munchkin_utd

Insurance is to cover unexpected events, not things which are very probable, like a chronically sick elderly person already admitted to hospital not overcoming an illness.

If you really need to get out of dodge, you could book flights to somewhere cheap to get back from, like say UK or the near continent (Paris, Bruges etc), or even drive with the ferry which is very cheap to modify the reservation, book hotels on a flexible rate in batches of a few days at a time so you can leave midstay, or even use that as a chance to move from city to city.
Theres so many ways to get a meaningful trip sorted in a flexible way and maybe it could be a chance to explore places that you wouldnt otherwise have seen.