Travel Insurance · Medical Conditions · UK 2026

Does travel insurance cover pre-existing medical conditions?

Yes — most UK travel policies can cover a pre-existing medical condition, but only once you have declared it and the insurer has screened it. Undeclared conditions are the single most common reason a medical claim is refused, so the declaration matters more than the price.

What you must declare Travel insurance hub

£200

FCA signposting trigger from Jan 2026 (was £100)

2 years

Typical medical-history window screened — longer for heart conditions

£5m+

Emergency medical cover to look for on a declared policy

Quick answer

Does travel insurance cover pre-existing conditions?

Yes, if you declare it. A pre-existing condition is only covered once you have disclosed it and the insurer has accepted it through medical screening.
Declaring does not always cost more. Stable, well-managed conditions such as controlled blood pressure often attract little or no extra premium; serious or recent conditions can add a lot.
Three outcomes are possible: the condition is covered as standard, covered for an additional premium, or excluded — meaning any claim arising from it is not paid.
Non-disclosure is the big risk. If you leave a condition out, a related claim can be refused and in some cases the whole policy treated as invalid.
If you are declined or heavily loaded, FCA rules require the firm to point you to a directory of specialist insurers — the MoneyHelper directory or the BIBA Travel Medical Directory.

Cost

What declaring a condition typically does to the premium

Every insurer screens and prices differently, so there is no fixed tariff for a condition. The table below gives an indicative sense of direction for a two-week European trip, assuming the condition is stable and being managed. Age, destination, trip length and your wider medical history all move the number, often by more than the condition itself.

Condition (stable and managed)	Usually coverable?	Indicative effect on premium
High blood pressure, controlled on medication	Commonly, with no exclusion	Often little or none — roughly £0–£20
Mild, stable asthma	Commonly	Often little or none — roughly £0–£20
Underactive thyroid	Commonly	Usually none
Type 2 diabetes, stable	Yes, after full screening	Modest — roughly £10–£50
Mental health condition, treated and stable	Commonly, once declared	Small to moderate
Heart condition — angina, past heart attack, stent	Often, sometimes via a specialist	Significant — often £50–£200+
Stroke or TIA history	Often via a specialist insurer	Significant — often £60–£250+
Cancer — in treatment or recently treated	Usually specialist insurers only	Substantial — often £100–£500+

Indicative directional ranges for orientation only — not quotes, and not a prediction of your own price. Insurers screen on your complete medical history, and two people with the same diagnosis can be priced very differently.

For the wider picture on what travel cover costs before any medical loading is applied, see our guide to travel insurance costs in the UK for 2026, or the age-specific breakdown for travel insurance for over-65s.

Disclosure

What counts as a pre-existing medical condition

Insurers define this broadly. In practice a condition is pre-existing if, before you bought the policy, you had seen a doctor about it, been diagnosed with it, been treated for it, taken prescribed medication for it, or were waiting for tests, results or treatment. Most UK insurers screen the previous two years of medical history, though cardiovascular conditions, strokes and cancer are frequently disclosable for much longer — sometimes for life. The usual triggers to declare are:

Any ongoing or long-term condition — diabetes, asthma, high blood pressure, arthritis, epilepsy, heart or lung disease, cancer.
Anything you take regular medication for, including conditions you think of as trivial or fully controlled.
Recent treatment, surgery or hospital admission, typically within the last two years.
Anything under investigation — a referral, a scan, tests you are awaiting results for, or symptoms not yet diagnosed.
A terminal diagnosis or a condition you have been advised not to travel with, which will usually be excluded.

The rule of thumb is simple: if you are unsure whether something counts, declare it. There is no penalty for declaring something the insurer does not need, and a great deal of downside in leaving something out.

Process

How medical screening works

Declaring a condition triggers a medical screening — usually an online questionnaire or a phone call, run by the insurer or a specialist screening service. You will be asked what the condition is, when it was diagnosed, what medication you take, whether it has changed recently, and whether you have had hospital treatment or are awaiting any. Answer from your records rather than memory where you can; approximate answers are where disputes start.

The screening produces one of three outcomes. The condition may be accepted as standard, with no change to the premium. It may be accepted with an additional premium — the loading. Or it may be excluded, meaning the policy still covers you for everything unrelated, but not for any claim arising from that condition. An exclusion is not the same as a refusal; many travellers knowingly accept one for a minor condition, though it removes exactly the cover people most often need.

Two further points are worth knowing. Screening is a snapshot: if your health changes between buying the policy and travelling — a new diagnosis, a change of medication, a hospital referral — most policies require you to tell the insurer, and cancellation cover may respond if you can no longer travel. And a GHIC or EHIC card is not a substitute for any of this. It gives access to state healthcare in the EU and some other countries on the same terms as a local resident, but it will not pay for private treatment, and it will not fly you home.

If you are declined

Declined, excluded or quoted a large loading

A mainstream insurer saying no does not mean cover is unavailable — it usually means you are outside that particular insurer's appetite. A specialist medical travel insurer will often quote where a comparison site will not.

Since April 2021 the Financial Conduct Authority has required firms selling travel insurance to signpost consumers with serious pre-existing conditions towards a directory of specialist providers, rather than simply turning them away. The obligation is triggered when a consumer is declined cover, has the condition excluded, or is quoted a significant medical loading. From 1 January 2026 that loading threshold rose from £100 to £200, and the FCA has said it will be reviewed every five years in line with the Consumer Prices Index — so fewer, more serious cases now reach the referral point. Two directories meet the FCA's criteria: the MoneyHelper travel insurance directory, run by the Money and Pensions Service, and the BIBA Travel Medical Directory from the British Insurance Brokers' Association, which has handled several hundred thousand enquiries since it was recognised.

If a quote still looks unaffordable, it is worth checking what is driving it before abandoning cover altogether. A narrower destination band, a shorter trip, a higher voluntary excess, or dropping add-ons you will not use can all move the price. What is rarely worth doing is travelling with the condition excluded and hoping — medical repatriation from outside Europe routinely runs into tens of thousands of pounds. More context on cover levels and what shapes premiums sits on our travel insurance hub.