Travel Insurance, Finally

I finally got my travel insurance sorted out today. It hasn't been an easy experience. Aside from the airline requiring a fit-to-fly certificate, I of course needed specialist insurance cover as none of the major companies I contacted would touch me. All is not lost in the longer run though - Norwich Union said that they should be able to cover me if my diagnosis was not in the last twelve months. It has been ten months which ruled them out - but perhaps next time I take a trip they may be a viable option.

What Norwich Union did do is put me in touch with Staysure - a specialised insurance provider which required that I go through a long telephone-based medical questionnaire on a premium rate phone line. Once done I did get six months cover at £191, which was only about £30 more than I was being quoted for normal cover by the big companies. It's a fair bet though that a smaller non-specialised company would have been cheaper than that.

In the end, while I needed specialist cover, Meniere's is clearly not so bad that I needed to pay a premium on top of their standard charge. But I'm glad that I took it out because I really couldn't take the risk of not having any cover while on my travels, and there is always a chance that in the event of a serious attack I will require some medical intervention - or some will be sought before I have the chance to assure those around me that my condition is nothing to be too worried about.