When Sarah Sullivan booked a solo holiday to Switzerland in late 2024, she saw it as a chance to finally put herself first. “It had been a really difficult couple of years,” the 54-year-old from Hertfordshire says. “My children had left home for university; I’d been caring for my elderly mum and I was exhausted. I needed a week to myself to unwind.”
Like millions of travellers every year, Sullivan bought travel insurance in a matter of minutes. “I’ve always been really sensible,” she says. “I wasn’t trying to save money or cut corners. I declared the health issues I knew about – high blood pressure and mild arthritis – and thought I was fully covered.”
What she didn’t mention was that she’d recently started taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT). “It honestly never occurred to me. Menopause isn’t an illness. Half the women I know are going through it.” That assumption, she says, would end up costing her thousands.
Shorts
Halfway through her holiday, Sullivan fell awkwardly and broke her ankle. “The snap was sickening, and I panicked. Being so far from home alone, with no one I loved around to help was terrifying.”
