Posted on 16 May 2018

74-year-old Joyce Kettle's cruise holiday has become a cautionary tale: She suffered breathing difficulties while on a cruise off the coast of Mexico and was airlifted to Cancun where she had an emergency operation. It soon became evident that her travel insurer would not cover the cost of the treatment and her family had to raise £50,000 to pay the hospital.

Kettle's insurance, it transpired, only covered her for travel in Europe.

Her situation chimes with a recent travel insurance conference in Bristol, which discussed the importance of understanding the small print and giving travel insurers accurate information about pre-existing health conditions.

Dr Paul Beven, managing director of Healix Risk Rating, said at the ITIC conference: “You wouldn't want to have the warning ‘Failure to disclose a pre-existing condition puts your house at risk' on every page, but it's important to get the message across.”

Understanding what is included in a travel insurance policy is crucial. Reading the policy document can reduce the risk of misunderstandings and unexpected costs later on.

Among the most common pre-existing conditions that must be communicated to the insurer are high blood pressure, high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes.

Traveller health questions also reveal asthma, osteoarthritis and depression are common pre-existing conditions.

According to the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA), last year 27 per cent of UK holidaymakers went abroad with either no cover, or insufficient cover.

It is estimated that annually 9.9 million holidaymakers risk having their claim repudiated by an insurer because they have not told them about pre-existing medical conditions - or because they undertook activities that were not covered under the policy.

Mark Tanzer, ABTA's chief executive, said: “Every year we see cases of people falling into difficulty due to travelling without sufficient travel insurance.

“While not declaring existing medical conditions or taking part in activities that aren't covered are easy mistakes to make, they can be very costly, leaving holidaymakers and their families with expensive medical bills.”

The Foreign Office has launched a campaign to make travellers more aware of the importance of being properly covered before they leave the UK. The British Government warns holidaymakers that it will not cover the cost of medical treatment overseas, nor provide or organise medical evacuation.

While the average holiday insurance claim is £1,296, in some cases medical treatment and repatriation can cost hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Learn about starttravel.co.uk's Worldwide Cruise Travel Insurance.

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