Travel Insurance For Pre-Existing Medical Conditions

If you are planning on travel, then you need travel insurance. It is as simple as that.

If you have pre-existing medical conditions, then you still need it, even if it is more expensive.

Why? Because it covers so many things that you may not think of, and without it, you are really risking it and I am going to explain why.

If you were on vacation and you got ill and didn’t have insurance or hadn’t declared your medical conditions, you will have a hefty bill to pay. I once had a $20k+ bill from a USA hospital visit that lasted just 1 day.

You must declare your conditions otherwise they can invalidate your entire travel insurance because of it. With some insurers, you can often declare and choose not to cover if you don’t wish to pay more.
But either way, don’t risk it and make sure you take out travel insurance.

For myself, I always make sure that travel insurance has a few things. Pre-existing medical condition cover, cover for gadgets, enough coverage for if I needed to cancel my trip, travel disruption cover for if there was a volcano or other events that cancelled my flight, and finally, enough medical cover in case the worst happened.

There are 2 companies I highly recommend and I have used them both myself, Cedar Tree especially.
Cover For You, Cedar Tree, Medical Travel Insurance and Admiral.
You can also compare travel insurance and get quotes using Topcashback. Sign up with my link and get £10 FREE once you hit £10 cashback, which you could possibly do at once by taking out travel insurance via Topcashback.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when looking for travel insurance:

GHIC/EHIC Cards
A lot of UK travellers think their GHIC card is enough and skip travel insurance altogether, but it isn’t enough. The GHIC only gives you access to state healthcare in certain countries at the same level as a local, and that is it.
It won’t cover lost luggage, repatriation home, cancellation, your gadgets, and it doesn’t work outside of Europe. It is more of an add on to your insurance.

Disclose all pre-existing medical conditions
Make sure you disclose all of your pre-existing medical conditions when purchasing travel insurance. Failing to disclose a condition could invalidate your entire policy!
If you are finding insurance too expensive after you declare your conditions, keep looking as some insurers will let you declare your medical conditions, but choose to exclude cover for them. This will save you money and give you peace of mind that you are covered for everything else.

Shop around and use comparison sites
Not all travel insurance providers offer the same coverage. It’s important to compare policies and prices to find the best option for you. Use comparison sites as well as checking directly on the providers websites as not all are on comparison sites.

Check the levels in cover
Every policy is different and they all have different levels of cover. You need to make sure that it covers what you need. Think of if you needed to cancel, if you got ill, or if you had to go home because of an emergency at home. Things like this. Look at how much they are covering, would that be enough for you?

Travel disruption?
One thing I always add on is travel disruption. This is great if there was some event that means your flight or holiday would be cancelled. This is not usually included by default and something people don’t think of.
I remember flights being cancelled due to ash from a volcano, and my insurance covered me as I had disruption cover.
It is also worth knowing that travel disruption is different from flight delay cover. Flight delay cover kicks in if your flight is delayed by a certain number of hours and gives you a set amount to cover food and expenses while you wait. They are two different things so check your policy has both.

Don’t forget the electronics!
Make sure you check the level of cover for your electronic items that you are taking with you. Many have a very low single item limit and offer “gadget cover” which increases the single item limit.
With mobile phones, drones, laptops and tablets, everyone is carrying more and more expensive items. Make sure that you are covered for them!

Annual or single trip?
Annual is always better value and covers you for many trips. If you think you might be going away again, it really can be worth spending the extra money on annual insurance.
Ironically this year, annual insurance was cheaper than single trip for me with my pre-existing conditions!

Read the policy carefully
Make sure you read the policy carefully to understand what is and isn’t covered. Ask the insurer if you’re not sure about something, don’t assume anything.

Keep your policy updated
Always update your policy if you develop new health issues or have been treated for anything lately. Even something simple such as an ear infection! I had to do this with mine and it was super easy to update my Admiral travel insurance policy online in a few minutes.
Always declare them otherwise you are invalidating your policy.

Activities
If you are planning on skiing, snowboarding, hiking, scuba diving, or even something like a jet ski on holiday, your standard policy may not cover you for it and you may need to get activity cover which is usually an add on. Always check what activities are included before you purchase travel insurance. The same with cruises.

A final tip is to save your insurer’s 24 hour emergency number in your phone. It sounds simple but so many people don’t do it.

It is important to have travel insurance and to make sure it covers what you need.

I do recommend getting prices with Cover For You, Cedar Tree, Medical Travel Insurance and Admiral as they often have the best prices and have good customer service.
Also use Topcashback to get cashback with some travel insurance companies and also you can compare quotes on their site too!

Just make sure you read what they cover and make sure it is best for you.