New parent to daughter 12 with type 1 diabetes going on holiday need advice on travel insurance

[sharon murphy]

Hi iam a mum to a 12 year old daughter diagnosed in September out of the blue she is very sporty and thought weight loss and thirst was due to starting high school and doing more sports ,the school has been great but so surprised at how little I knew or other people it has been a major shock for us as lost her dad my husband of 32 years to a brain tumour last year and still struggling with this she has been amazing doing her injections within a day and great with her diet I feel I struggle more than her at the moment ,was supposed to be going to Florida September last year thankfully due to hurricane didn’t go daughter got took in same day we were due to fly seriously ill loads of ketones we are now going in three weeks panic about everything her sugars are very much all over the place want to make sure I have a really good travel insurance can anybody recommend a good one sorry so long first time in a forum thanks any advice on traveling will be greatly appreciated

 

[Pigeon]

Hi Sharon and welcome. Wow, what a tough time you've had, but it sounds as though you are both doing brilliantly! Florida will be a lively treat for your daughter. There was a thread about travel recently, see https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/travel-abroad-with-type-1.70587/#post-778621 for some tips. About insurance, I never had to claim so don't know who to recommend in that way, but I tend to just go with one of the bigger companies like LV or Churchill, just make sure the pre existing medical conditions are covered. It's a bit more expensive than normal, but not too bad. There are special companies for medical conditions etc, or Diabetes UK offer insurance, but in my experience it's very expensive. Hope you have a great trip, ask away with any questions you have!

 

[Radders]

I get my travel insurance from All Clear. I’ve had to claim twice due to needing emergency treatment for serious hypos. Both times the companies paid out no question, although I couldn’t tell you who the underwriters were. I must admit that I don’t really shop around any more because I got fed up of being turned down once they asked about pre-existing conditions and couldn’t face going through it all again!

 

[HOBIE]

Please Enjoy your Holi. SM 🙂

 

[Randomdiabetictype1]

Also a tip is make sure you also take a travel letter incase you get stopped at airport security. But this is unlikely to happen but it's handy to have just incase because i've been overseas a lot and never been stopped for my diabeties stuff but then i've never been to US. The hardest thing i find with travelling. Is time zones.

 

[Deleted member 18634]

Hi Sharon, Diabetes UK have a partner ship with Insuremydiabetes/Allclear which you might want to check out:

https://www.diabetes.org.uk/how_we_help/financial_services/travel_insurance

They also offer a 10% discount if bought online and they will give a contribution to Diabetes UK 🙂

 

[SB2015]

Hi Sharon

You have both had a lot to manage but it sounds as if you are both diong brililantly. Well done.

Another thing to remember for the holiday is to take double the amount of your daughters Diabetes stuff. Don’t forget to take even more extra test strips. I have no doubt she will be busy and enjoying very different activities to her normal days, possibly eating foods with more carbs, having lots of fun. Consequently insuiln needs may change.

On insurance I went through DUK website and had no problems, even when all my insulin got frozen in the hotel fridge where the door of the freezer compartment was missing!!!