Travel Insurance For Those With Pre-Existing Conditions

Every travel insurance policy covers different things but all would offer a varying degree of cover on:

Medical cover
Unforeseen illnesses, injuries or accidents will be covered under the medical section of your policy, which is absolutely crucial as you have pre-existing medical conditions. This covers the cost of receiving treatment overseas – including dental emergencies in most cases – and repatriation, the cost of having to fly you back to the UK.

On a slightly more morbid note, most policies cover cremation costs or the repatriation of a body should you or someone else covered under the policy die during your holiday.

Cancellation
Travel policies also cover cancellation if you can no longer go on your holiday or you need to come back early. However, there needs to be a valid reason for you to abandon your trip. Being made redundant, having to do jury service, or having to take care of a seriously ill family member are among valid reasons.

But if you decide you no longer fancy a trip to the Canary Islands because you would rather go to the Maldives, or you want to return to the UK because you forgot to put EastEnders on series record, your claim will probably be rejected.

Baggage and personal belongings
Your travel policy will also cover you if your stuff is lost, stolen or damaged while you are on holiday. Almost everything you take overseas, including computers, phones, cameras and expensive clothing is included – but always check the policy limits. Many providers will also cover you for the loss of a passport, cash or a driving licence.

However, policies can vary greatly both in the amount covered and in the excess – the amount you have to pay towards the claim yourself. For example, items such as cash or expensive goods can be subject to an additional higher excess.

Personal liability
Personal liability protects others and their property from accidents you may cause while on holiday. For example, the personal liability element of your insurance would cover you if, during a skiing trip, you crashed into another skier and injured them. Insurers will typically cover you for up to £2m, which is generally more than enough.

Delays
Travel schedules are often the victim of adverse weather, so delay cover is one of the more important aspects of travel insurance. Most policies cover against more than just storms, with many including events such as industrial action and mechanical breakdown.

If your flight's been delayed for more than three hours or it's been cancelled you may be able to claim compensation of up to £470 directly from the airline but the reason for the delay or cancellation must be the airline's fault, so bad weather for example, won't count.

This compensation is only for EU-regulated flights. An EU flight is where the flight departed from an EU airport, regardless of the airline OR where an EU airline landed at an EU airport. Under this law, EU airports also include those in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. See our Flight Delay Compensation guide for more info.

If this doesn't apply – perhaps because you flew both from and to an airport outside the EU – you can also try making a claim on your travel insurance policy. Insurers typically pay out for each 12-hour period you've been delayed, but the payouts are often tiny compared to what you can get from your airline so always go down that route if you can.

Like all insurance policies, there are a number of things that providers will not pay out for. Here are the most common:

Alcohol-related injury
You may be on holiday to unwind but if you are injured while you are more than just a little tipsy, your insurer is likely to reject your claim. The same goes for drugs. Insurers have different classifications of 'drunk', with some using blood alcohol limits, so check your policy carefully before you buy.

Medical conditions
Most insurers will cover you if you have pre-existing medical conditions, especially if it is not severe. If you have a minor health condition, such as mild asthma, you may able to get cover fairly cheaply but if you have a more severe condition, such as cancer, buying insurance will either be more expensive or you may be declined cover entirely.

However, if you fail to tell your insurer and then need treatment for that condition, or a related condition, you won't be covered. So, if you have asthma and don't tell your insurer and, during your holiday, you have an asthma attack or any breathing-related difficulty, you are unlikely to be covered.

You may also struggle to get a claim paid if you ignore advised medication or jabs needed to enter a country. So, if you go to Kenya and decide against getting jabs for Diphtheria, Hepatitis A, Poliomyelitis, Tetanus and Typhoid do not expect your insurer to foot the bill if the worst happens.

Dangerous sports
If you are going on an adventure holiday, or you are planning to take a winter sports break, you must get extra cover or a specialist policy. Taking to the Alps for a spot of snowboarding with just a basic travel insurance policy in your bag is a risk not worth taking. If you get injured you could end up paying £10,000s in medical bills.

Unattended possessions
Travel insurance will cover your personal possessions when you are abroad but it doesn't mean you can be gung ho with your stuff. If you leave your items unattended and they are then stolen, your insurer will not pay for their replacement.

Travel to dangerous countries
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) outlines which countries are unsafe for travel. If you travel to a country on the FCO's list your cover is likely to be invalid. Check out the FCO's current travel advice for more.

Insurers will classify your trip as either European or worldwide. Worldwide is often further broken down to either include or exclude the US, with cover that includes the latter usually more expensive due to the high cost of medical treatment in the US.

However, some insurers include destinations such as Egypt and Turkey in Europe, while others offer European policies with the option of including or excluding Spain (which is more expensive and may increase your premium). As always, check your policy carefully to make sure you are getting the right cover.

Annual travel insurance policies will cover you for trips in the UK but there will be restrictions, especially to medical care, so make sure you check your terms and conditions carefully before you buy.

You will be able to claim for cancellation, lost luggage, lost money and the other common travel insurance benefits and the number of days per trip is likely to be the same as any overseas holiday taken under the policy. However, insurers have different definitions of a UK trip.

For instance, LV* covers UK trips but only if you have pre-booked your accommodation or are more than 25 miles from your home or your journey involves a sea crossing, Aviva* will cover you if your trip includes at least two nights in pre-booked accommodation and Holidaysafe* annual policies cover any pre-booked holiday in the UK as long as it as at least three days long.

In addition, because you will typically be entitled to NHS treatment in the UK, the medical expenses limit (which can be as high as £10m for trips abroad) will be greatly reduced for UK trips.

An excess is the amount you have to pay towards any claim you make. For example, if you cancel a trip and are entitled to £3,000 back from your insurer but have a £500 excess you will only receive £2,500.

However, many travel insurance products have separate excesses for different sections of the policy. For instance, some providers may make you pay an excess on both stolen cash and luggage. So if your suitcase was nicked and your wallet was inside you would have to pay an excess on both.

If you have a group policy you may also have to pay an excess for each person for any loss that impacts your entire party, such as cancellation. It is important to check all excesses so you know exactly what you will have to pay if you make a claim.

Most travel insurance policies are designed to cover package holidays, as historically that's how 90% of us booked our holidays, and not all providers have kept up. This leaves them ill-equipped to cover DIY trips, where flights and accommodation are booked separately.

The biggest issue is a lack of cover for knock-on consequences. If a policy covers scheduled airline failure, for example, and the airline goes under, you'll typically be able to claim for the flights and any consequential losses, such as hotel costs. Without this cover, you'll lose the money you paid for it.

To beat this, you need a policy that specifically covers 'indirect loss' or 'scheduled airline failure'. Check the small print as more insurers are including this cover as standard or as an optional extra.

Remember, package holidays feature extra ATOL and ABTA protection, which you don't get on DIY trips. If you're booking a DIY trip, if the additional fee isn't too expensive, book on a credit card (repaid in full to avoid interest) and then you get Section 75 protection for anything costing over £100.

As with any insurance product, check all the terms, conditions, exclusions and inclusions before you buy. Travelling without the right cover can leave you seriously out of pocket. As a traveller with pre-existing medical conditions you MUST check that all conditions you have now or have had in the past are declared and covered.

Remember to check your excesses too. High excesses may result in a cheaper policy but should only be considered if you can afford to front a large portion of the costs of any claim yourself.

Annual cover will insure you for an unlimited number of trips over a 12-month period. However, you may be restricted for the number of days you can be on holiday for per trip – it is often 31 days but can sometimes be as low as 17 or as high as 90.

Technically, no – but you'd be ill-advised not to bother as travel insurance covers you for far more, including medical costs, cancellation, delay, repatriation, baggage loss and theft.

An EHIC should be seen as an extra to travel insurance not a replacement.  Travel insurance covers far more scenarios, as well as possessions, delays, repatriation and more.  Plus even using an EHIC you may need to pay, and travel insurance will cover that (and often using the EHIC means you don't pay the excess).

Equally many travel insurance exclusions don't apply with EHICs.  So If you've been drinking you'll still be treated (not an excuse to push it); or if you've got a pre-existing conditions, it still works. Though medical tourism – going abroad to get treatment – is prohibited.

We've heard reports that some travellers, which was also confirmed  by the European Commission, that EHICs were refused in some tourist areas of Spain for public health care. It only affected a minority of travellers in a few areas. See which countries have been affected and what you should do.