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Get a quoteTravel insurance: are you declaring your medical conditions correctly?
We found that 91% of travel insurance policies require you to report changes in your health after buying cover
Dean is an award-winning personal finance writer who’s spent over 15 years helping consumers navigate the tangled and fascinating world of insurance.
If you have to make a claim on your travel insurance, it's increasingly likely to involve your health.
According to data from the Association of British Insurers (ABI), medical expenses claims were the most commonly made in 2024 – accounting for a third of claims that year – up from 29% the previous year.
But millions of travellers could be risking invalid claims by failing to declare medical conditions when they buy cover. Here, we break down how people are affected, areas where policies are least clear, and how medical conditions affect your premiums.
Millions don't declare medical conditions
After surveying 2,002 travellers in March and April this year, travel insurer Admiral has estimated that 5.8 million travel insurance holders don't disclose all their medical conditions when buying travel insurance.
A quarter said they didn't disclose conditions because they believed it would increase the cost of their cover. This is despite a quarter saying they'd previously been ill or faced a medical emergency while abroad.
- Find out more: 160 travel insurance policies, rated.
How much does it cost to declare a medical condition?
In new Which? research, we examined 160 policies from 47 insurers.
Almost all can cover at least some pre-existing medical conditions (PEMCs) – or in other words, conditions that predate your buying your insurance or booking your trip.
However, virtually none do so automatically. For PEMCs to be included, you need to declare them. The insurer then decides whether it can add them to your policy (and by how much).
We asked comparison site Go.Compare what customers using its service paid when adding conditions and how this has changed. The table below shows average prices paid in 2025:
| Policy type | Premium without conditions declared (2025) | Premium with conditions declared (2025) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single trip | £13 | £29 | £18 (120%) |
| Multi-trip | £38 | £92 | £54 (142%) |
| Backpacker | £159 | £213 | £54 (34%) |
Based on the median premium of travel insurance sales made through Go.Compare during 2025.
Backpacker travellers face bigger premium hikes
While premiums in general have risen over the past three years, the extra you pay for declaring PEMCs has stayed fairly stable for single-trip and multi-trip customers, but it appears to have widened for owners of backpacker policies (these cover you to travel on extended trips for up to 558 days).
Backpacker customers who haven't declared conditions have seen their premiums rise by around 17% between 2023 and 2025. Meanwhile, those with covered PEMCs have seen a 26% price increase.
Importantly, these figures are averages – and you may pay significantly more or less depending on your particular circumstances.
Rhys Jones, Go.Compare's travel insurance expert said: 'The cost of a travel insurance policy can be influenced by several factors, including a person's age, destination, trip length and medical history. When a medical condition is declared, insurers will consider the likelihood of a claim, which may result in a higher premium, but the size of the increase will vary depending on the type and severity of the condition.'
- Find out more: best travel insurance for medical conditions.
What happens if you don't declare?
According to the ABI, the average medical claim payout in 2024 was £1,528, but medical expenses vary hugely depending on the type of incident and local treatment costs.
Without adequate cover for your conditions, you could be staring down a medical bill of tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Costs of medical treatment aren't the only area of travel insurance that stand to be affected if your medical conditions aren't covered. For example, travel insurance can also help if you need to scrap or change your plans for medical reasons – but this safety net is absent if your conditions aren't included.
| Country | Painkiller prescription | Stitches for a cut | Escorted Repatriation to the UK | Heart Attack/Bypass |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | £1,250 | £2,500 | £37,000 | £150,000 |
| France | £40 | £120 | £7,000 | £7,000 |
| Spain | £200 | £750 | £7,000 | £38,000 |
| Thailand | £500 | £850 | £20,000 | £40,000 |
Data source: Admiral – estimated average costs for treatments and medical assistance.
- Find out more: how to claim on your travel insurance.
Many travellers are unsure what to declare
While some customers make an intentional gamble when not disclosing their conditions, Admiral's survey also suggests many are unclear about what needs to be disclosed and when.
Some 21% of respondents believed they only needed to declare conditions they’re still being treated for. In reality, insurers generally ask for details on any condition you’ve had in the past two to five years and sometimes longer, depending on the condition.
Meanwhile, 17% didn't realise antidepressants should be declared, while 16% said the same about ADHD medication, while 15% incorrectly think that only chronic conditions (such as diabetes or asthma) need to be mentioned.
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When do you need to update your insurer?
Buying cover isn't the only time you may need to update your insurer about your health.
For 91% of the policies we examined, insurers expect customers to report any changes in health that have occurred since taking out the cover. But, confusingly, what constitutes a 'change in health' can vary by insurer.
In some cases, this could mean new conditions or a change in an existing one (for example, the condition worsening or new medication). But with other policies, even a GP visit or doctor's advice may need to be reported.
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Find out moreShould you use a specialist medical insurer?
While most insurers will cover some medical conditions, they take different stances on which ones they will cover and how much extra it will cost. Medical specialists have more appetite and expertise than other insurers for medical risks that non-specialists would be prepared to cover affordably. So, if you've been struggling to find reasonably priced cover because of a PEMC, it's worth checking them out.
Specialist policies accounted for three in 10 of the policies we reviewed, and yet 11 of our 24 Best Buys were from medical specialists.
You can see how each one fared in our analysis, along with lots of other tips for finding affordable cover, in our medical conditions guide.
- Find out more: we've compared the medical specialists on cover.
