Yes - she has an oxygen kit booked with her ticket (as per the advice from her GP in the UK).
I was charged 36€ by the pharmacy for a one-week hire of the nebuliser plus a two week supply of the bronchodilator drug prescribed. I can return unused drug packs for a full refund, and my friend can then submit the amount paid for a partial refund via the NHS.
you can phone the secretary of the consultant who is seeing her to get the costs. They would usually be much lower than say private care in the UK as they are all standardised for the Securité Sociale. probably a per diem cost for non surgical care in a hospital. I hope she is in a hospital (public) and not a Clinique (private). What is an ALD?
ALD = affection de longue durée
And given by your doctor.
My travel agent bloke recommends Staysure, and I trust his judgement on most matters related to travel.
I took out insurance with them for my trip to France a couple of weeks ago, and the online form did involve a lot of questions about pre-existing conditions (all of which they were happy with in my case - basically high blood pressure and mild asthma) so they do ask before they issue the insurance.
It may be that the OP’s friends had more generic travel insurance (such as the “free” policies that some banks and building societies include if you have an account with them) where it would be necessary to really study the small print carefully to see if it’s fit for purpose.
No doubt he does but my warning stands - there are many conditions which they will not cover. These are revealed when completing Staysure’s online application form.
Yes indeed they won’t cover everything, nor will most insurers, and you find that out when completing the form - but that was also my point - with Staysure (and many others) you can’t take out their insurance without completing the questionnaire - so they know about your pre-existing conditions and the insured is therefore not going to be left high and dry if something flares up when on holiday.
I am guessing that the issue here was a generic travel insurance policy and the insured assuming that they would be covered for PECs.
Insurance companies are notorious for wriggling out of things, unfortunately you do need to read all the small print, tedious though it is, and ask questions if in any doubt about the extent of the cover.
As I understood it, the fact that you have declared pre existing conditions and been issued a policy does not always mean that those pre existing conditions are covered. So if you have high blood pressure you would not be covered for any treatment you need in connection with that but you would be covered for things unrelated to that. You do have to look carefully at the exclusions.
There are ways to search suitable policies, like this
Thanks for info .Pleased it worked for you. But I doubt any mention of, say, heart or liver issues will enthral Staysure or other UK travel insurers
Or lungs…
Few of us get to “advanced” age without a few bits malfunctioning and the premium for travel insurance escalates dramatically based on age. The agressive manner these travel policies are sold is in conflict with expecting people to list all their ailments before pressing the button.
When I mentioned to my pal who was CEO of AVIVA in Ireland that I was making a claim, he laughed and said good luck with that. Fundamentally travel insurance can be a scam. The best advice I’ve seen (too late for me and the years of wasted mulittrip policies) was from Which Travel, check the companies pay out rates.
Aggressive? Which companies do you approach?
Choose a company, declare all necessary medical conditions as required and pay the premium. The more likely a claim the higher the premium.
It’s surprises many people that insurance works on the basis of good faith and full disclosure. Why would they provide cover for a medical condition of which they had no knowledge or assessed a risk?
You do know that some of us are waiting (with bated breath) for the final instalment… of this saga… 
Final costs when you know them… and, of course, an update of your friend’s condition… are needed, please… 
Thank you Stella. I suspect it will be a few months before the bill arrives but I will update the thread. In the meantime she is much improved after her care at CHU Poitiers. They changed a couple of the drugs she was taking and that has been successful. She has been back at my place (with no further dramas) since Tuesday, and we’ll be setting off for Poitiers airport this afternoon for her return flight.
As a holiday, it was perhaps too eventful…
Wishing her god speed and an uneventful flight home.
b33jay your faith in insurance companies is truly touching.
I saw Staysure and, for older people, an insurance arranged via Saga get good reviews. I became wary of Staysure after taking their annual policy.
Out of the blue, about halfway through the year, they sent a form demanding an update on the health questionnaire I’d very extensively completed - with mostly nothing to report - when the policy was taken out and the price for annual cover for the year was paid.
In particular this mid-policy term letter and form demanded to be informed if even a GP visit had taken place since the annual policy started - and had to be positively confirmed even if no change/nothing new, by returning tbe signed form.
I checked the policy and there was nothing that said you had to give any interim updates or information or confirmation. Of course, you would have to if you needed to claim. And there was no clause saying they could terminate the policy if there was a claim or any change, and nothing about having to inform them of anything during the year that had been purchased, other than if you were making a claim.
This reminded me of when midway through a policy year, my UK motorbike insurance co wrote to policyholders saying they would no longer include coverage for leathers (ie your expensive motorbike riding clothing) from that mid-policy year date forward. I told them this coverage had been priced by them and purchased with the policy and I insisted that the coverage remained for the rest of the policy year as purchased. They backed down.
It sounds like Staysure couldn’t be relied on not to try to change coverage for someone midyear if you mentioned any change at all, or even a GP visit even if it didn’t involve a claim, so I would be wary of them. But they may be the best of a bad lot.
If you do buy from them cashback sites were giving up to 25%, and if you renewed their 3rd approach to try to get you to renew had a notable discount
I’m travelling at the moment Karen but I’ll respond to b33jay when I’m back at base. After my recent experience with travel insurance I think, by and large, it’s a scam, and I’m not alone 
A further update.
My friend arrived back in Scotland last night after an uneventful flight with Ryanair. She could have got by without the oxygen but used it anyway as a precaution.
Thanks to everyone who has expressed concern and help. 
I have no more faith in insurance companies than most. The only claim I have ever made, on a car policy, was settled, without debate, to my satisfaction.
However, you are missing the point. Failing to provide details gives the insurer the opportunity to decline or dispute cover on the basis of failing to disclose.