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What Counts As A Pre existing Medical Condition?

Pre Existing Medical Conditions

Dear Essential Travel,
We're planning a family holiday to Turkey later this year, and my parents are hoping to come with us. The only problem is that my mother, who is in her 60s, has had a heart condition for a number of years. Would this count as a pre existing medical condition? Jane Pusey, West Lothian

Stuart Bensusan, Essential Travel.co.uk's Insurance Specialist replies:

Dear Jane
I'm sorry to hear you mother hasn't been well. EssentialTravel.co.uk is the nation's leading specialist travel insurance provider and so we're well aware that when a loved one is unwell you've already got a lot on your plate without adding travel insurance to it. That's why we try to keep our screening system - which is all online - as simple as possible.

We're delighted to be one of very few providers who can offer travel insurance to individuals with pre existing medical conditions via our online medical screening process. To determine whether your mother does, in fact, have a pre exisiting condition, she would be asked the following:

  • Are you aware of any medical reasons that may cause you to cancel or curtail your trip, such as your own poor health or that of anyone else in your travelling party?
  • Have you ever suffered from any chronic or recurring illness for which you have received treatment or been a hospital in-patient (e.g: any heart-, lung-, blood- or diabetic-related condition, cancer, etc)?
  • Are you waiting for the results of tests or investigations for a medical condition?
  • Have you been advised not to travel by a doctor?
  • Have you been diagnosed as having a terminal illness?
  • Are you receiving, recovering from, or on a waiting list for in-patient treatment in a hospital or nursing home or taking any prescribed medication?

If your mother answers yes to any of these questions, then the likelihood is that she does fall into the pre existing medical condition category. However if, for any reason, she was still unsure, she may like to check out our Medical Screening FAQs or contact us - we would only be too happy to help.

I hope this helps. Enjoy Turkey! Stuart

PS. To see if you are eligible for travel insurance despite a pre existing medical condition please click here.