Travel Insurance with Cover for Pre-Existing Medical Conditions

When we refer to the term “existing medical condition” at Cover-More, we mean a disease, illness, medical or dental condition or physical defect that, at the relevant time*, meets any of the following criteria:

• It has required an emergency department visit, hospitalisation or day surgery procedure within the last 12 months.
• It requires prescription medication from a qualified medical practitioner; regular review or check-ups; ongoing medication for treatment or risk factor control; or consultation with a specialist.
• It has been medically documented involving the brain, circulatory system, heart, kidneys, liver, respiratory system, or cancer; or required surgery involving the abdomen, back, brain, joints or spine that required at least an overnight stay in hospital.
• It is chronic or ongoing (whether chronic or otherwise) and medically documented; under investigation; pending diagnosis; or pending test results.

*On a Single Trip policy, relevant time means the time of issue of the policy. On an Annual Multi-Trip policy, relevant time means the first time at which any part of the relevant trip is paid for or the time at which the policy is issued, whichever occurs last.

A recent study by the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed 47 per cent of Australians have one or more chronic conditions so, before travelling, you should consider speaking to your GP to discuss with whether or not travelling with an existing medical condition is the right thing for you.

Having travel insurance cover for pre-existing medical conditions is also very important to consider when travelling.

Yes, there are travel insurance products that can cover existing medical conditions, but it’s important to disclose any EMCs before purchasing travel insurance to ensure you can have cover in the event something goes wrong with your existing condition(s) before you travel (in the case of having to cancel a trip) or while you’re away.

If you don’t declare your pre-existing medical conditions to your travel insurance provider, you risk being left out-of-pocket should the unexpected occur.

At Cover-More, claims which in any way relate to, or are exacerbated by, an existing medical condition or related new infections are specifically excluded from our travel insurance policies unless your EMC is approved by us prior to travel and where required, any additional premium is paid.

If you choose to declare some conditions and not others, or choose not to declare any conditions, you run the risk of a claim being denied by us. This means if you need to cancel your trip there would not be any cover for any prepaid travel costs that you can’t get a refund on, or you would have to pay the cost of your medical treatment and/or other associated costs if illness or a mishap occurred while travelling.

Yes, we can provide cover for many existing medical conditions to help keep you travelling.

If you have an existing medical condition (EMC) and, for example, take medication to keep that condition in check, it doesn’t mean you can’t purchase our travel insurance with medical conditions cover.

It does, however, mean you should tell us about all your EMCs, including anything for which medication is prescribed so we can complete an online health assessment. If your EMC is approved following the health assessment, we can offer you cover.

We automatically include the existing medical conditions listed in the table below provided that at the time you take out your policy:

• all your existing medical conditions are on this list;
• you have not been hospitalised or required treatment by a medical practitioner in the last 12 months for any of the listed conditions;
• you are not under investigation for any of the listed conditions;
• you are not awaiting investigation, surgery, treatment, or procedures for any of the listed conditions; and
• your condition meets the criteria outlined in the PDS.

This means the conditions we automatically include (shown below) only apply if you do not have other existing medical conditions beyond those on this list.

If your existing medical condition falls outside the criteria under the conditions we automatically cover in the PDS, we may still be able to cover you for an additional premium, subject to the outcome of a short medical assessment. You can get a quote online to complete the online medical assessment.

Conditions we automatically cover* in our Cover-More travel insurance plans:

*Additional criteria applies to this condition for automatic coverage to apply. Please see the PDS for full details.

Please tell us about all your existing medical conditions.

Once we know what your pre-existing medical conditions are, we may be able to cover them for an extra premium.

You can then choose whether to pay the required extra premium and add the cover to your policy – or you can choose not to get cover for your existing medical conditions.

You can complete our medical assessment by generating a quote online.

Please read and answer each question.

When adding each existing medical condition, you will need to provide complete and accurate information so we can correctly assess the risk. If you don’t include information about all your EMCs, it may jeopardise the outcome of your claim if you need to make one.

If we can approve your health assessment, we will show you the premium to add cover to your policy for the EMCs. You must pay the quoted extra premium to add cover for your EMCs. An approval number for this cover will then be listed on your Certificate of Insurance as proof of cover.

If you have any difficulties with the process or want a quote for cover, please contact our team for assistance on 1300 72 88 22.

Our plans do not provide policyholders with cover for claims which in any way relate to or are exacerbated by:

• medical conditions that are undiagnosed or awaiting specialist opinion;
• conditions involving drug or alcohol dependency;
• travel booked or undertaken against the advice of any medical practitioner;
• routine or cosmetic medical or dental treatment or surgery during the journey, even if your existing medical condition has been approved; and
• conditions for which you are travelling to seek advice, treatment or review or to participate in a clinical trial.

Finding travel insurance with medical conditions cover can be tough – but we aim to make it as easy as possible.

If your existing medical condition doesn’t meet our criteria and is not covered, it is possible to still get a Cover-More travel insurance policy for your trip.

However, this would mean that cover for claims which in any way relate to, or are exacerbated by, any existing medical conditions you may have or related new infections are specifically excluded.

Our other benefits, such as protection against lost or delayed luggage, rental vehicle insurance excess, personal liability, and more can still be covered.

Please refer to the PDS for further information on what we can and can’t cover before deciding if our Cover-More travel insurance is right for you.