High blood pressure - Pre-Existing Medical Conditions – 1Cover (2024)

You can get travel insurance for your hypertension* if:

• You don’t also suffer from a cardiovascular disease and your most recent heart-rate reading is less than 165/95; and
• your hypertension has been stable (ie. you haven’t had to change your medication) for more than 12 months^; and
• there is no planned surgery, treatment or specialist review; and.
• you have not had hospital treatment of your hypertension in the past 12 months^.

If you don’t meet the above conditions, then you might:

• You can obtain travel insurance, but if you want your high blood pressure to be covered, you’ll need to pay an additional premium; or
• You can obtain travel insurance, but it will mandatory to purchase coverage for your high blood pressure; or
• Your condition won’t be covered at all, but you can still purchase travel insurance.

Please note, there’s a possibility we might not be able to cover you at all, but we will tell you this after you have disclosed your condition and we have made an assessment.

How do i let you know about my hypertension?

If you think you need to let us know, then the process is simple and quick. You don’t need to call us and you don’t need to provide doctor’s certificates or other documents. All you need to do is fill out a simple questionnaire when you’re purchasing a policy online.

You’ll be asked about pre-existing conditions during your online purchaseand if you select ‘yes”, you’ll fill out the questionnaire. This is where we’ll ask you everything we need to know about your hypertension

Once you’ve filled out this questionnaire, you’ll immediately find out your travel insurance options.

beforeYou take off

• Planning is key to ensuring your condition is controlled while you're away from home. Have a pre-trip check-up. Just before you’re due to depart, visit your doctor for another check-up to make sure your condition is still under control and it’s safe for you to travel.
• Go to the doctor or pharmacy​and stock up on more medication than you need for the trip. If your trip is delayed on the way home,you’ll want to have extra on hand.
• Ask your doctor to write a letter that details your condition and medication you’re taking. Keep this with you at all times while you’re travelling.
• Make sure your medicines are packed in your hand luggage in case​your luggage is lost/stolen or there are delays.
• If you're travelling to a new time zone​you'll need to adjust the time you take your medication. Check with your doctor.
• If travelling by plane, reserve your seat and print out our boarding pass in advance if possible. This helps maximize your chance of getting a seat with good legroom and eases the stress of check-in. Be sure to check in well ahead of time.
• Tell anyone you're travelling with about your condition and the plan for when you experience symptoms
• Check which adventure activitiesyou can take part in. Bungy jumping, scuba-diving and sky-diving could be problematic if you have high blood pressure. Ask your doctor before you leave.

While you're away

• If you’re travelling in a new time zone, you'll need to adjust the time you take your medication. Check with your doctor about this.
• If you lose your medication or run out of medication while you’re away, you might consider visiting the emergency room of the nearest hospital.
• Reduce stress. Travelling is fun but it can also be stressful. Give yourself plenty of time to do everything you need to at the airport so you’re not running around at the last minute.
• Move around. Staying seated for prolonged periods may increase the risk of developing blood clots and leg swelling. Stand up and stretch at least every two hours. Also, avoid alcohol and sleeping pills.
• Pack your own snacks. Processed airline snacks can be full of salt, and too much salt is not ideal for hypertension.

• Do I Need to tell you if I have high blood pressure?

• In some cases we may automatically cover high blood pressure (please see the top of this page). But it's best to disclose your conditionif you’re not sure.

  If you don’t let us know about your high blood pressure and you don’t meet the conditions for automatic cover, your policy could be voided, or your claim reduced if something happens to you that’s linked to your hypertension.

• What if the person i’m travelling with has hypertension?

• If you’re travelling with someone and they’re named on the policy, you will need to make sure that, where necessary, their medical conditions are declared. For adult travel companions, you’ll need to declare their condition if you have their permission to do so, and are aware of their health and medical conditions. If you don’t have permission, they will need to do it themselves.

  Hypertension may be automatically covered if the terms of auto-cover are met (see top of this page). If the person you’re travelling with doesn’t meet the automatic cover criteria, their hypertension will need to be disclosed when you’re buying a policy.

• I think my hypertension is covered automatically. Do I still have to disclose my condition?

• If you meet all of the criteria for automatic cover for hypertension, you do not have to disclose this condition when you’re buying a policy.

  See Also

  Life Insurance with a Pre-Existing ConditionHow To Get Pre-Existing Conditions Covered By Travel InsuranceWhat is a pre-existing condition? | healthinsurance.orgHow to Fly Safely with High Blood Pressure | Staysure™

• How does hypertension affect my frequent traveller policy?

• Cover for hypertension on a Frequent Traveller policyworks in the same way as single trip policies. Your condition may be automatically covered if you meet all of the auto-cover criteria or you will need to complete a medical assessment to determine if we can offer cover, and under what conditions.

  If you’re diagnosed with hypertension part way through your Frequent Travellerpolicy, your new condition will be considering a pre-existing condition for the remainder of your policy.

  Unless you meet the criteria for automatic coverage, you’ll need to disclose your hypertension before you go on further trips.

• What if i have hypertension as well as other pre-existing medical conditions?

• If you have other pre-existing medical conditions that are not on our automatically covered list or they do not meet the criteria for automatic cover, you will need to disclose them.

  If your hypertension meets the criteria for automatic cover, you will not have to add it into your medical assessment when disclosing your other conditions.

• What if i forgot to tell you about my hypertension?

• If you forgot to disclose your condition and your policy has not started we may be able to add it to your policy. You can call our Customer Care Teamto carry out an assessment for your condition.

  Please be aware that depending on the outcome of the assessment you may need to pay an additional premium, and we can’t guarantee that we will be able to cover your condition.

  All terms, conditions and limitations will apply in the same way as if you had declared the condition when you purchased the policy.

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