Travel insurance for epilepsy.

Feel confident in your travel insurance when you have epilepsy

With travel insurance for epilepsy, you can relax on your travels knowing that should something go wrong, we’ll always aim to put things right.

Flexibility to change details online

When you buy a policy from us, you can manage it yourself by logging in to your My Avanti account. Here you can:

• access policy documents
• update traveller details
• change your single trip dates (limits apply)
• renew an annual policy if you have no changes to make
• and more.

If you have questions about Covid-19 and how it affects your holiday plans, visit our Covid-19 help page.

Why having travel insurance can help when you need it

While John¹ was on holiday in the USA, he had a fall and needed emergency hospital treatment. After telling the hospital that he had up-to-date travel insurance, he was seen to straight away.

He contacted our 24-hour medical emergency helpline and we reassured him that we’d take care of payments directly with the hospital.

With no need to worry about the medical costs, John was able to concentrate on the most important thing — getting better.

With personalised travel insurance like John’s, you can leave the worry at home, knowing you’ll have our support day or night, whenever you need it.

How to buy travel insurance 

Sorting travel insurance might feel like a hassle – but with us, it doesn’t have to be. 

1. Get in touch

 Tell us about your trip so we can get things moving. 

We’ll ask: 

• where are you going? 

• when are you travelling? 

• do you need cover for a single trip or multiple trips? 

2. Simple medical screening

This part’s important. We’ll guide you through a short medical screening to understand your health needs. You’ll need to tell us about: 

• any conditions you’ve had symptoms, treatment or tests for in the last 2 years 

• any heart or circulatory conditions, past or present 

You can do this online, or over the phone if you’d rather speak to someone. 

3. Get your quote

Once we know a bit more about you and your trip, we’ll walk you through your quote. 

Choose from our three levels of cover and add any extras like cruise and winter sports cover if they suit your plans. 

If we can cover your medical conditions, they’ll be included in your quote – so you’ll know exactly where you stand before you go. 

Get a quote

Do I need to tell you about my epilepsy when I’m buying travel insurance?

It’s important you let us know about your epilepsy, and any other health conditions when getting your travel insurance. That way, if something goes wrong on your holiday, you’ll have the care you need to get you back on your feet.

If there are any changes to your health, it’s important you let us know as soon as you can, so your policy will be up-to-date to reflect your new medical conditions.

If you forget to tell us about any changes to your health, this may affect the validity of your travel insurance policy. If your policy isn’t accurate, this may mean any potential claims may not be accepted if you needed us further down the line.

I’m the only one in my family with a pre-existing medical condition. Is it better for us to have insurance together or separate policies?

Choosing between having individual policies, or having a group policy, is entirely up to you. But having family travel insurance can be more straightforward.

A big bonus? If one of you has to cancel your holiday due to a medical emergency, the whole family should be able to claim back the full cost of their holiday too (as long as it’s within your policy limits).

What questions will you ask about my epilepsy?

So we can understand the nature of your epilepsy and how it affects your daily life, we’ll take you through some questions. There’s nothing to worry about, we’ll go through the questions at a pace that suits you. We’ll never rush you.

Here are some of the questions we may ask:

• How long ago was your first fit/seizure?
• If awake, do you tend to lose consciousness during a fit/seizure?
• How many fits/seizures, causing loss of consciousness, have you had in the past four weeks?
• How many fits/seizures, causing loss of consciousness, have you had in the past six months?
• How many unplanned hospital admissions have you had for epilepsy/seizures in the last year?
• How many different medicines do you take for epilepsy/seizures?

Is my epilepsy covered by my Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC)?

If you’re planning a holiday to Europe, you’ll need to take a free GHIC (or an EHIC) as a condition of our travel insurance.

When the United Kingdom left the European Union, the GHIC replaced the EHIC as the means for accessing free or subsidised healthcare in selected European countries. Before you travel, make sure you check that your destination is covered by GHIC, just so you’re ready if you do need any emergency or necessary treatment for your epilepsy during your trip.

Remember, your GHIC is not the same as having good health conditions travel insurance. For example, it won’t cover you if you need to cancel your holiday.

Your GHIC helps reduce your medical costs where subsidised healthcare is available. If you can use your GHIC and have to pay a subsidised fee for your treatment, we’ll remove the excess fee on medical emergency claims for you.

I’ve bought travel insurance covering my epilepsy already. Do I need to tell you if my condition changes?

Yes, it’s important that you keep us in the loop if your medical condition changes, or you’re diagnosed with something new. That way, your policy will be up-to-date when you travel, so you can go away knowing you have the protection you need.