Travel insurance for UK residents that can include cover for Medical Conditions.

If you have a pre-existing medical condition and need travel insurance, it’s essential that you declare your medical condition in order to try to have it covered by the policy.

In our experience of providing travel insurance over the years, we’ve discovered that many people think that it is not really necessary to declare a medical condition because it may not be serious or it’s being controlled by medication. This is not the view that insurers would take!

It is true that conditions such as asthma, high blood pressure or cholesterol can, these days, be properly regulated. However, they’re still regarded as a pre-existing medical condition because they were present when insurance was taken out.

According to a recent study, 60% of people are not honest about their medical history when applying for insurance! This may not be deliberate but for the reason mentioned above.

How do insurers define what is a pre-existing medical condition and what are they interested in?

The definition of a pre-existing medical condition, strictly speaking, is one that exists at the time of taking out a travel insurance policy. However there’s more to it than that.

Travel insurance policies may differ  in their precise wording but generally, insurers also want to know the following (the list is not exhaustive):

• if you’ve had any recurrent or chronic conditions
• if you’ve previously sought or received treatment for a condition (how far back they’re interested in may vary)
• if you’ve been in hospital as an in-patient
• if you’re currently or have been taking medication for a condition
• if you’ve had surgery

Why do they want to know all this?

If an insurer is agreeing to insure someone and potentially need to pay out thousands of pounds in a claim, they want to know the situation of the person they’re insuring. No insurance company will blindly insure anyone in whatever circumstances. Would you agree to guarantee to give money to someone you didn’t know if they needed it in whatever circumstances and whenever? Of course not!

Insurers therefore need to know something about who they’re insuring before they agree to provide cover. This is especially the case if someone has any pre-existing medical conditions or fits into one or more of the situations in our list. If you have a medical condition it could, potentially, require you to seek treatment when you’re away and, subsequently, make a claim. The original condition could give rise to a new one. For example, high blood pressure could give rise to a stroke or heart attack.

What will happen if I tell them about my medical situation?

In order to decide if the policy is able to cover you, you will be asked a series of questions about your medical circumstances. This information is handled in a professional and confidential manner – the companies providing this service for insurers (medical screening service companies) discuss people’s medical situations every day and understand the need for discretion and confidentiality. They also understand that it can be difficult and embarrassing.

Having gone through the medical screening, they will then be able to tell you if the policy can include cover for your situation. Sometimes, depending on how the policy is set up, an insurer will feel unable to include your medical condition(s). They may be able to refer you to another insurer who could help.

What if I don’t disclose my medical situation?

If you don’t and you then need to make a medical claim, there is a danger that if you make a medical expenses claim, it would be declined. This could be because you’ve taken out an ‘ordinary’ travel insurance policy that is just not designed to cover medical conditions or if you haven’t declared a medical condition and had it accepted for cover.

If you don’t declare a pre-existing medical condition or travel without travel insurance, you really are opening yourself up to potentially enormous financial risk, running into many thousands of pounds. It’s just not worth it.They therefore need to be assessed so that any medical claims, directly or indirectly related to them can be met.

It’s So Easy Travel Insurance is a company that specialises in travel insurance for people with medical conditions.

To obtain a quotation and book online as well as seeing details of our travel insurance, please click on the tab Our Insurance above.