Travel Insurance For Pre-existing Medical Conditions
If you become sick while travelling, medical costs can quickly escalate if you don’t have suitable cover. While we automatically provide cover for a wide range of pre-existing medical conditions, it’s important to understand whether you are eligible for cover based on your individual situation.
What is a pre-existing medical condition?
A pre-existing medical condition is a medical condition (including a dental condition) that you were aware of or should have reasonably been aware of at the time a travel insurance policy is issued or paid for.
This includes any conditions which are known, under investigation or awaiting diagnosis when purchasing a policy.
Can you get cover with a pre-existing medical condition?
If you have a pre-existing medical condition, your eligibility for medical travel insurance will depend on a range of factors. It’s important that you understand whether your individual condition:
- is automatically covered
- needs to be assessed, or
- cannot be covered
We automatically cover a wide range of pre-existing medical conditions without the need to undertake a medical assessment, provided you meet any relevant conditions as listed in the Combined Financial Services Guide and Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) and:
- you have not been hospitalised and/or required treatment and/or prescribed medication by a registered medical practitioner in the last 6 months
- the medical condition is not under investigation or being monitored and/or awaiting surgery, treatment or a procedure.
Pre-existing medical conditions we need to assess
Some pre-existing medical conditions are not covered automatically. When you buy a policy, you complete a Health Declaration and based on your answers, you may need to declare some Pre-existing Medical Conditions for further assessment before we can approve and issue your insurance. Your cover may also be subject to special conditions, limitations, excesses and amounts payable depending on your age, how long you will be travelling for and the destination/s you are travelling to.
Pre-existing medical conditions we can’t cover
There are some pre-existing medical conditions which we are unable to cover.
This includes medical conditions:
- that you should have told us about and that we need to assess
- where you are travelling against the advice of a Registered Medical Practitioner
- in respect of travel booked or undertaken after a diagnosis of a terminal illness
- where you are travelling to obtain medical or dental treatment or review
- where you are travelling to participate in a clinical trial
- where you have a drug or alcohol dependency and the pre-existing medical condition is directly related to or exacerbated by that dependency.
Pre-existing medical condition travel insurance FAQs
Simply call our customer service team on 1300 123 413 and we’ll request any information we need to process your policy application.
It’s important that you let us know if you will be more than 26 weeks pregnant at the time of travel, have had any complications with your current or a previous pregnancy, are experiencing a multiple pregnancy or have a medically assisted pregnancy, or you won’t be covered for any serious or unexpected pregnancy-related complications. Please refer to the relevant PDS for more information about travelling while pregnant.
Our travel insurance won’t provide coverage for any unapproved pre-existing medical conditions or medical, hospital, ambulance or dental costs incurred in Australia (or in Australian waters) if they are covered by Medicare or Australian private health insurance. However, it is still a good idea to have travel insurance to provide cover for other events not related to your medical condition.
If you’re not sure if you’ll be covered, it’s best to let us know about your condition by calling our customer service team 1300 123 413 and we can advise on whether our travel insurance will cover you.
If your health circumstances have changed since you purchased your policy, it’s important that you let us know before your intended departure date by calling our customer service team on 1300 123 413. Knowingly travelling while unfit to do so may impact your cover.
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All benefits and covers are subject to the terms, conditions, limitations and exclusions listed in the Combined Financial Services Guide and Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) and on other policy documentation, including the schedule.