At Insurancewith, we believe there is always life after a diagnosis and know just how important it is to get away during such a difficult time. Not only does travelling improve your mood, help you feel more relaxed and positive and increase your confidence, but it also allows you to spend precious time with your loved ones.
That’s why, so long as your condition is stable, we can offer affordable travel cover tailored to your individual needs.
So, to put your mind at ease, we’ve found and answered the most common questions asked when planning a getaway with a cancer diagnosis.
At Insurancewith, we don’t set a time frame on how soon after a diagnosis you can travel. We look at how stable your condition is and see if we can offer you cover based on that.
We simply ask a few more questions to better understand your lifestyle and medical circumstances. That way, we can provide you with the best premium and a policy to suit you. To find out more and receive a quote click here.
Yes, you can! The word ‘terminal’ isn’t as doom and gloom as people seem to believe that it is. Lots of people are living with terminal diagnoses every single day and we believe any diagnosis (terminal or not) shouldn’t prevent you from going on holiday, or mean that you have to pay thousands of pounds for cover.
At Insurancewith, we simply ask a few more questions to better understand your stability, lifestyle and medical circumstances. That way we can provide you with the best premium and cover. To find out more and receive a quote click here.
At Insurancewith we ask that you declare any existing medical conditions, no matter how big or small.
We also ask that you declare any medications you take. This way, we can ensure that all conditions are recorded on the policy and that you won’t find yourself in a situation where you aren’t covered for an existing condition.
Yes – it’s really important that you let us know of any changes as soon as possible. By notifying us we can ensure the change is recorded on your policy, which will protect you in the event of a claim.
The kinds of changes you need to tell us about include: new medication, a change in regular medication, deterioration of a previously stable condition, referral to a specialist, investigation of an undiagnosed condition or awaiting treatment/consultation.
If a sudden change in health causes you to cancel your holiday, you can start a cancellation claim by following the process here.
Absolutely. At Insurancewith we recommend that people planning to travel together go on the same policy in the event that they need to make a claim that effects everyone going on the trip.
For example, if a woman with a medical condition is on an Insurancewith policy, and her husband and child are on a separate policy with a different provider, and they needed to make a claim due to something happening to the women with the medical condition, the other two may not be covered. We always use the example of a lady looking to go to Asia, but her immune system was compromised because of her medical condition. She changed her flights and ended up going somewhere else and could claim this back from Insurancewith, but because her husband and child weren’t on the same policy, they weren’t compensated for changing their flights too.
All we ask is that the traveller with a medical condition declares all existing conditions and the other traveller also declares any underlying conditions too. This way, both parties are protected in the event of a claim.
At Insurancewith, your safety is our priority and if something should happen whilst you’re away, we want to guarantee that in an emergency we can get you home as soon and as safely as possible. This is easier in some destinations rather than others, for example, getting someone home from America is harder and takes longer than driving someone back from mainland Spain.
Desired destination and stability of your condition could also affect the cost of the policy. However, we may advise you of alternative destinations if we feel the country you wish to visit just isn’t safe.
When travelling to some parts of the world, you may require vaccinations to protect you from common diseases. For example, the yellow fever vaccination is recommended when travelling to Brazil (and multiple other countries). However, cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy can often weaken your immune system and reduce the effectiveness of the vaccination.
Some vaccinations aren’t always compulsory, so it’s always best to seek advice from your doctor prior to booking your holiday.
Sometimes a cancer diagnosis requires daily medication, so here are a few things to bear in mind when travelling with a prescription:
Flying with a serious medical condition can understandably be nerve-racking.
However, most airlines are fully equipped to help assist customers with special requirements, and even have dedicated consumer help page on their website to allow travellers who require assistance to plan and arrange support well in advance.
So, if you’re after a little peace of mind, we recommend giving the airline a call and getting those arrangements in place.
Airline assistance includes anything from:
Whilst a holiday is the perfect time to sit back and relax, it’s important to keep active and move frequently, especially if you have a medical condition.People with cancer have a much higher risk of developing blood clots, infections and lymphoedema, so we recommend taking short, regular walks and doing small movements whilst enjoying the sun.Long-haul flights are also known to cause swelling, so little movements like wiggling your toes or walking down the planes aisle can help keep your blood circulation flowing.
Some cancer treatments can leave your skin a little more sensitive to the sun. In order to protect yourself, there are a few steps you can take:
Although chemotherapy works wonders in killing and removing the bad, cancerous cells, in the process it also destroys some of the good cells. This is why it is important to fuel your body and give it as much strength as possible. Here are a few tips on how to nourish your body whilst away:
Cancer treatments can often lower your immune system, causing you to be more prone to infection and more likely to catch a virus. That’s why practicing good hygiene is so important, especially since aeroplanes and other methods of transport often used on holiday are full of bacteria.
To eliminate any risks of infection we advise to:
At Insurancewith, we understand the complexities of a cancer diagnosis, even after you’ve received the all clear. That’s why our medical screening tool Protectif is designed to capture and evaluate every individual’s circumstances.
An individual’s answers to our medical screening tool could still affect a premium, however, it is best to be honest and have peace of mind knowing that you’re fully covered for your trip, with the fairest of premiums.
At Insurancewith we ask that customers always declare a previous cancer diagnosis, even after they’ve received the all clear. The chances are that a previous diagnosis won’t affect your premium, but you will have fully disclosed your medical history and therefore be fully covered.
If you are looking for cancer travel insurance, take a look at our dedicated cancer travel insurance page here.
