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Borderline ovarian tumor and travel insurance

kateg1983
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Hi Everyone,

I have a holiday booked travelling to Las Vegas and Mexico on Sept 19th till 9th October this year.

I have an ovarian cyst removed and the resuls have came back and it was a borderline tumour. It has all been removed and the scans have shown it has not spead and there are no tumours elsewhere. My treatment regarding this is over, however, I am going into hopsital in October to have the ovary, from which the cyst grew, removed as a preventative measure and to preserve my future fertility. With the cyst being borderline and more surgery due, albeit preventative,  im not sure what to do about insurance.

I have been to many travel insurance comparison websites and called a lot of companies but they simply dont understand about a borderline tumour. I've been told that it is not benign but it also isnt malignant by the hospital but the insurance companies say it has to be one or the other and i have to choose. So I suppose my question is, do travel insurance companies regard borderline tumours to be cancer when I have been told they arent? Do i say I have ongoing treatment when the op in october is preventative? Im quite stuck. I have been to the travel insurance part of the site but the companies I have contacted werent able to help.

 

Kate

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    Hi Kate,

    This is always a difficult one. If you fail to declare anything on the form it gives the iinsurance company a good excuse to opt out in the event of a claim. Have you explained your predicament to your GP or your consultant? They should be able to advise you.

    I may be wrong, but I expect that the companies may treat your condition as cancerous until all the surgery is complete. Have you tried Stay Sure? I have many co-morbidities as well as two bouts of primary cancer, but they cover me with annual insurance (not for the USA). They were significantly cheaper than any of the other companies.

    Please let us know where you eventually get your insurance from, as this will be helpful to the many others who have this problem every year.

    Kind regards,

    Jolamine xx

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    Hi Kate I just searched for information on what I do when I have had a borderline tumour removed and want travel insurance and your post came up! I am in the exact same position - did you get anywhere with this? I don't know what to put down on the conditions declaration! Many thanks Mary
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    I have had the same issue, I had a borderline ovarian tumour removed together with a total hysterectomy and removal of ovaries etc as a precaution. Phoned several insurance companies and they all insist on tumours being either cancer or benign. I then phoned my GP who accessed my pathology report, and he went through it carefully pointing out that all the testing on the tumour and organs they removed showed no signs of malignancy. He couldn't advise me though what to declare, as clearly borderline means just that, and his suggestion was to give them the name of the tumour. But there is no place on the online form (or when you phone them and speak to them) where you can declare additional information, it's all tick box exercises, very frustrating. In the end, I arranged insurance through M&S and decided to tick ,benign, given that there were no signs of malignancy anywhere. It occurred to me that it looks to them that I still have the tumour because again the form does not let you explain that it has been removed, so maybe that's why the quote wasn't cheap (single trip for just under a week to an EU country was £37!). I didn't feel comfortable declaring it as cancer, as I know insurance companies share details to prevent fraud, and I didn't want to end up having cancer on my insurance record when I don't have cancer. Who knows what would happen if I had to make a claim on it, they would probably try and wriggle out of covering me, but at least my medical records should show the conversation I had with my GP.
  • Offline in reply to Uschi

     

    Hi Kate,

    I hope that you managed to get away on holiday with a valid inurance document. I am just curious to hear how you managed in the end and what company covered you?

    Look forward to hearing from you.

    Regards,

    Jolamine xx

  • Offline in reply to Jolamine

    I hope you all got sorted,  I am in the situation where I bought travel insurance for the year with Staysure because I have other medical conditions and after a smear I was sent for further investigations I have a cyst on my ovary but after 3 scans the consultant is saying she's not concerned so sending me for a scan in 4 months which is great but Staysure are saying they will not insure me for the cyst because I don't know if its benign. I have 2 big once in a lifetime holidays coming up before my next scan that, I can't cancel I bet the insurance company wouldn't pay out for that, has anyone else been in this situation and what did you do

     

  • Offline in reply to Smu19

     

    Hi Smu,

    A very warm welcome to our forum. I am sorry to hear that Staysure will not cover your insurance for your cyst. It sounds as if your Consultant is happy that it's not cancerous, when they are not sending for you for a scan for another 4 months. It might be a good idea to contact your consultant and ask for a letter, stating that the cyst is not cancerous. This should encourage Staysure to stand by their insurance. 

    I hope that you manage to get this covered and that you have a fantastic time on both of your holidays.

    Please keep in touch and let us know how you get on. We are always here for you.

    Kind regards,

    Jolamine xx

  • Offline in reply to Jolamine

    Hi Jolamine,

    Thanks for replying so quickly, I will try this and let you all know how I get on

  • Offline in reply to Smu19

     

    Hi Smu,

    I hope that you make some progress.

    Kind regards,

    Jolamine xx

  • Offline in reply to Jolamine

    Hi Jolamine,

    Thanks for the great advice, I had already contacted the consultants secretary and they contacted the consultant who wrote me a letter saying the cyst is benign so I have good news on 2 fronts I am insured by paying another £29 and my cyst is benign 

  • Offline in reply to Smu19

     

    Hi Smu,

    I am delighted to hear that you eventually managed to get confirmation that your cyst is benign and also to discover that you managed to get insurance cover. All you need to do now is to go away and enjoy 2 memorable holidays.

    King regards,

    Jolamine xx

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