Travel Insurance -Insurers Discriminate Against Those Who Battle Cancer

>premiums or else flatly refuse the travel insurance all
together. So, as a result of the insurer’s
People who have had cancer in the past are stillreluctance to offer a reasonable policy to cancer
struggling to get travel insurance, as this articlesufferers, one in 20 in the survey chose to simply
explains.travel anyway and one in ten decided to cancel their
Dealing with the ugly disease cancer is one of thetrip all together because travel insurance was not
most distressing things anyone can face in theiravailable to them.
lifetime. First the person has to come to terms withSays a spokesperson for a well-known Cancer
the fact that they have the life threatening illness,Support Charity: “The insurance industry needs to
then they undergo a long and grueling process ofrecognise that not all cancers are the same and treat
chemotherapy which takes its toll not just onpeople accordingly.”
themselves but on their entire family. And then, onceThe charity predicts that because at least one million
their chemotherapy treatment is over, there ispeople have been given the bad news that they
always the chance that the cancer will againhave the disease at some stage in their lifetime, the
resurface.problem with travel insurance is one that is likely to
So you can imagine how soul destroying it can be forget worse.
those who, having battled the illness for some time,The Association of British Insurers (ABI) will tell you
want to go on an overseas trip as a way to putthat travel insurance is available for those who have
their difficult experience behind them only to find thathad or currently suffer from cancer. But the problem
they are discriminated against when it comes to anyis that this unavailable from the mainstream
travel insurance policy. You have a situation wherecompanies offering the cheap deals.
some people who have had cancer are paying moreSome specialist insurers will offer policies, but at a
for their travel insurance than for the cost of theircost. For example, one company charges a
flight. Many just take a gamble and travel without48-year-old woman who had breast cancer five
any cover because they cannot get insurance at all.years ago £248.70 for a 17-day worldwide policy.
A survey by the charity ‘Cancerbackup’For someone without any health concerns the cost
has revealed that nine in ten people who have cancerof the insurance is as little as £20.
struggle to get travel insurance. Seven in ten find theA spokesperson for a large broker said, “The exta
attempts to get the insurance distressing. Inclusive incosts can be worth it because when someone is
these results are the people who have suffered fromfeeling low, a holiday can be just what they need.
cancer in the past and are now free of the disease.They sympathise with people being refused travel
The results also show that seven in ten people wereinsurance outright. Being refused insurance can have a
fit to travel, yet were quoted with significantly highterrible impact on their morale”.