The Perils of travelling without insurance
However, in the vast majority of cases, you are unlikely to receive any health care without either a valid
travel insurance policy or the means to pay privately. When one considers that, in a worst-case scenario, such as an acute cardiac episode, the cost of the primary health care may run into tens, if not hundreds of thousands, spending money on travel insurance seems a no brainer. Add to that the possibility that you will need to be flown, possibly in a specially adapted medical aircraft, many thousands of miles home it becomes even more obvious. Add to that of course, the fact that, once again, you will need cover for theft or accidental damage or cancellation and the message has to be clear. Never travel without adequate insurance cover.
Before ascertaining whether your condition is covered it is absolutely essential that it is disclosed to the insurance company. The reason for this is that, even if you do not wish to be covered for your particular pre-existing condition, it is possible that the insurance policy could void any subsequent claim on the grounds of material non-disclosure.
Pre-existing health conditions
Sadly, there are those amongst the travelling population who have had the misfortune to have some for of health problem in the past. Often, fortunately, these do not affect the premiums that we are likely to be asked to pay for travel
insurance.
However, there are a multitude of medical conditions that insurers will simply not cover for travel insurance purposes. For travellers suffering from certain pre-existing conditions some companies will not offer cover at all. For others, suffering from the same or a similar condition, the travel
insurers might be willing to offer cover but without insuring
against claims arising out of the pre-existing condition.
Finally, for certain conditions, certain insurers will provide a policy that covers the pre-existing medical condition but with an increased premium, which can often be
quite large. Nevertheless, the cardinal rule must always be that when you obtain travel insurance you must disclose all medical conditions to the insurer so that they cannot later claim a non-disclosure. It is then up to them to decide whether to offer you insurance to cover the pre-existing condition and, is so, on what terms.
Conclusion
Hopefully, this brief article has given the reader some small insight into the need to provide for your travel insurance, not only when holidaying abroad but even when staying at home if you want full peace of mind about yourself, your belongings and your travel arrangements. The simple message is that, although nine times out of ten you might be lucky and get away without sufficient insurance, the one single occasion that it goes wrong could result not only in a ruined holiday but a ruined life. Travel insurance, even though it can be expensive, is worth every penny.