Travel Insurance 5 years later

[SandyD]

Found myself feeling quite upset this afternoon after an hour on my mobile trying to get travel insurance from QBE for a 6 week overseas trip in September.

After answering so many personal questions about my health - I've been clear of treatment for cancer since April 2012 but visit my oncologist and surgeon annually plus have a mammogram and untrasound to check all is clear.

So becaue I had cancer and declared it I'm charged an $150 on the premium! (they also refused to cover eye problems after catarract surgery 6 months ago even though its listed as covered in the PDS).

Have others had this happen to them? Seems quite discriminatory to me or do I need to just suck it up and accept thats the way it is now?

[Katekat]

Sorry to hear of your experience @SandyD 

Have you tried shopping around? Some might have better options.

Can anyone assist Sandy? Have any of you had similar experiences?

[chrissst]

When I stopped my treatment for cancer and I was told I was in remission, as far as I was concerned I did not have cancer anymore, so I don't put it down on the travel insurance documents.

[CathV]

I have a kidney transplant, have hearing aids (am hearing impaired) and have recently had head and neck cancer. I travel frequently. I get free general travel insurance through the C'wealth Bank (partnership with Allinez) if I buy airline tix with my platinum creditcard. I once enquired about the insurance because applying online said I would have to pay extra for coverage (this is when there was a different insurance agent in the partnership with the bank). I thought, no way! So I've gone with general travel insurance since then with no problems.

Where are you planning on going? If you have a medicare card, there are agreements with other countries such as the UK and countries in Europe that you can use their services for free.

[SandyD]

Thank you for the response. I travelled to Canada, UK and China when I wrote the post. Been to Bali and Nz since and it wasn't an issue though we needed to pay for "existing conditions".

Tried to get a credit card to get the free insurance but was told I'm a bad credit risk because I am not working (retired with considerable super) even though I have never had a problem paying bills and saving.

Travel Insurance to me  is also about insurance in case you need to cancel last minute and recovery of lost or stolen goods while trvaelling. 

We tried a number of providers but couldn;t find a better deal. Maybe next time I just dont mention cancer.

Thanks Again

Sandy 

[CathV]

I'm glad you had no issues with your latest travels. If you have no problems paying bills on time, I think you would be OK to lend to. Have you tried different banks? You might have better luck this time, what with the banking enquiry making them try harder to win custom.