Travel insurance for EB and pre-existing conditions
Travel insurance can provide financial cover for many eventualities and situations that you could encounter on a holiday or whilst travelling abroad. This could include medical expenses related to your EB, or expenses for someone else that you are caring for/travelling with, who has EB. These expenses could include paying for medical treatment whilst abroad or medical repatriation, should you, or the person you are caring for, need to get back home quickly in a medical emergency.
Trip cancellations, lost luggage, and other unexpected events that may occur before or during a holiday or trip are also usually covered by travel insurance.
Find out more below.
What are the different types of travel insurance?
There are usually two types of travel insurance:
- Single-trip insurance which covers you for a single trip.
- Annual/multi-trip insurance covers you for more than a single trip but usually within the same year.
For more information, please visit this explanation on the GoCompare website.
Why have travel insurance?
It is highly recommended to have travel insurance particularly if you have a rare medical condition such as EB and you are planning to travel abroad because it could help cover what could potentially be very high costs associated with specialised healthcare, treatments, and emergency medical needs related to EB. If you were holidaying or travelling in the UK, the likelihood is that these costs would be covered by the NHS but that isn’t always the case when you travel outside of the UK.
Having travel insurance will help ensure that you, or the person you care for, has access to the necessary specialist medical services that EB often requires, and it will give you financial protection and in doing so provide you with peace of mind.
What information you may need to provide
When applying for travel insurance, especially if you have a pre-existing medical condition like EB, you may need to provide most if not all the following information:
- Travel Information. Date of your trip, including expected return date, destination(s), and the type of trip, e.g., holiday/travelling, business, adventure.
- Medical Information. Details about your EB, any current treatments, medications, and medical history, the contact information of your healthcare provider, and confirmation that you are fit to travel which can sometimes require a note from your GP.
- Travel Activities. What you are planning to do whilst away including any planned activities, especially if they are higher-risk activities such as skiing or scuba diving.
- Travel insurance history. Details of any previous travel insurance claims plus information about your current or previous travel insurance policies.
- Type of cover. Including any specific cover needs, e.g., medical evacuation, trip cancellation, or lost luggage.
IMPORTANT: You must provide accurate and detailed information about your situation and your EB to ensure that the travel insurance policy you take out covers you for any issues that could arise during your trip. Failure to disclose importance information when taking out your policy could lead to the insurance company not paying out in a situation when you need to make a claim.
Best travel insurance for people with EB
Please note DEBRA does not endorse or recommend specific travel insurance providers, but our members have found the MoneyHelper service helpful in securing travel insurance cover that meets their needs. MoneyHelper does not provide quotes but can signpost you to Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) accredited insurance providers who may be able to help.
MoneySuperMarket also provides quotes from 50 trusted UK travel insurance providers including providers who include cover for people with a pre-existing medical condition. For more information, please visit the MoneySuperMarket website.
If you are struggling to find suitable travel insurance that meets your needs, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) may be able to offer support. For more information, please visit the ABI website.
Please let us know if you have any recommendations of good travel insurance providers and policies that could suit the needs of other people living with EB. Also, we’d love to hear from you with any learnings you may have from your travel insurance search so that we can share these with other members of the EB community. You can contact us by emailing feedback@debra.org.uk