Chickenpox and travel insurance over there

[minnie29]

Originally Posted by hutton5

Try not to worry so much. On the last day of our Florida trip my son came out in red spots, he had stepped in an ant nest thing so we assumed it was from that, we went to Disney springs to check In and the guys there on check in desk noticed the spots and pointed out it looked like pox! I explained that my son had been playing outside a few days before and had came in screaming his bottom half was covered in ants, so he was full of bites. They weren't convinced and wouldn't let us check in until we had seen a doctor, this was one of our first trips to Orlando so didnt have a clue where or what to do. We went to the pharmacy and it was confirmed to be chicken pox, we rang virgin and explained. They said one adult could stay with my son but the rest of the family had to return home, I do the driving over there but my husband wouldn't leave me so we said we would just all stay and pay for the rest of the family ourselves, we explained we didnt want to be stuck in a hotel room as there was 5 of us so virgin told me to go back to the villa we had just come from and they would sort it out. A few days later my daughter came out in pox. It didnt ruin our holiday it was an experience lol being in the villa made it so much easier I couldn't imagine being cooped up in a hotel room. Virgin were so amazing helping us out. In the end they told me not to worry about paying for any flights they would sort all the family flights. I couldn't have got thru those few weeks without their help, i actually remember buying flowers for the staff at the virgin office, there was a lot of running back and forward to hospitals (daughter was only 3 so pharmacy wouldn't see her) Bill's from doctors, prescriptions, the extra car hire, extra food etc. But we just made the most of it. We never forgot the time we got stuck in Orlando lol x

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Wow! They treated you really well. Did you have to pay and then claim the money back? Or did they sort the cost out. I worry about having to pay out for doctor, hotel and not having enough to cover it. We only have 2 Credit Cards with a small limit on them x

[hutton5]

Originally Posted by minnie29

Wow! They treated you really well. Did you have to pay and then claim the money back? Or did they sort the cost out. I worry about having to pay out for doctor, hotel and not having enough to cover it. We only have 2 Credit Cards with a small limit on them x

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We didnt pay out anything for the flights or the villa, but each doctors trip we had to pay ourselves. our insurance company wasnt great after paying out so much I remember calling them and telling them I couldn't keep doing it so they paid from then on. Food etc was out of our pockets, the car hire we also had to pay ourselves, insurance company said it wasn't necessary. When we got home I put in a claim but the insurance only paid for so much. I was so glad we had credit cards with us. The biggest costs was the hospital for my youngest, the pharmacy wasnt actually that expensive. I do remember when we went out anywhere after the kids were past the contagious stage and the docs confirmed it was safe to finally leave the villa, the spots were still showing and everyone stared so bad at us, as if we had the plague lol people actually got up and moved away from us in restaurants etc. I understand people don't want to catch pox but it was very embarrassing for us.x

[Mel49]

Originally Posted by minnie29

Wow! They treated you really well. Did you have to pay and then claim the money back? Or did they sort the cost out. I worry about having to pay out for doctor, hotel and not having enough to cover it. We only have 2 Credit Cards with a small limit on them x

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In our case we had to pay the costs, keep receipts and claim costs on return. Try not to worry about this as worst case scenario you can contact the Credit Card Company, explain the problem and they can increase your limit temporarily. Or alternatively contact them to see if you can have the limit increased before you go just in case.

[minnie29]

Thanks - you Dibbers are fab! Knowing we’d probs have to pay and claim back is s huge help as I can try and sort CC increase before we go x

[Th1nkT1nk]

I don’t have any words of wisdom for you but I really hope it all turns out ok for you. Just to reassure you a bit though, my dd is now 7 and her classes have had c pox 2 or 3 different times and but still hasn’t had it,... hopefully your little one will be safe from it this time 🤞🏼

[Guest]

Is it too late for you to get the vaccination? I believe that you can be vaccinated after exposure but I don’t know the timeline for it being effective.

I really feel for you. I was in exactly the same situation a few years ago and we couldn’t cancel because she was fine before we left. My daughter ended up coming out in spots about a week after we got home so I think she actually caught it in Florida!

We had to claim on insurance when she got ill the day before we flew home on another occasion. The insurance sorted flights and hotel for all 4 of us. I’m not sure if they screwed up, but no-one suggested that only one parent should stay. I had to pay for car rental, food and doctors out of my own pocket. They refunded everything when we got home and we were only down about £200 overall.

[minnie29]

Originally Posted by Th1nkT1nk

I don’t have any words of wisdom for you but I really hope it all turns out ok for you. Just to reassure you a bit though, my dd is now 7 and her classes have had c pox 2 or 3 different times and but still hasn’t had it,... hopefully your little one will be safe from it this time 🤞🏼

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That's good to hear - I really hope she misses this outbreak.

[thefergies]

Yeah hope it all works out. The better insurers will not leave you in the lurch whereby you are left to pay everything as not everyone can do so. The emergency assistance companies can and do speak to hospitals and guarantee costs but it can vary. The key thing is to make the assistance company aware as soon as you think costs may arise. Unfortunately, if something happens whereby you spend 3 or 4 days confined to hotel there is no "loss of enjoyment" cover. Let's hope it doesn't come to that. Fingers crossed for you.

[minnie29]

Originally Posted by Hollie04

Is it too late for you to get the vaccination? I believe that you can be vaccinated after exposure but I don’t know the timeline for it being effective.

I really feel for you. I was in exactly the same situation a few years ago and we couldn’t cancel because she was fine before we left. My daughter ended up coming out in spots about a week after we got home so I think she actually caught it in Florida!

We had to claim on insurance when she got ill the day before we flew home on another occasion. The insurance sorted flights and hotel for all 4 of us. I’m not sure if they screwed up, but no-one suggested that only one parent should stay. I had to pay for car rental, food and doctors out of my own pocket. They refunded everything when we got home and we were only down about £200 overall.

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The plan from when we booked was to get the vaccination. I just left it too late, kicking myself now! spoke with Superdrug who said if she’d already been in contact with children over the last couple of weeks then she could already have it anyway. They only had appointment for today anyway, and that took her over the 3 days from when she’d last been in nursery. (I’ve heard that 3 days after contact with the virus that the vaccine can still work). I hear conflicting things from boots and Superdrug. DH would have to fly back anyway, he’s self employed and so he’d have to get back for work. I’m just praying that she hasn’t picked it up, or if she has the rash appears b4 we go x