Some medical conditions can increase travel insurance premiums by more than 1,000 per cent, research has found.
The consumer champion Which? sought quotes from 12 well-known providers for three real people: a 67-year-old with type 2 diabetes, a 40-year-old with epilepsy, and a 41-year-old with bipolar and personality disorder, who had all had an unplanned hospital admission during the last five years.
For the traveller with bipolar and personality disorder, premiums with one insurer rose by an eye-watering 1,159 per cent after declaring the condition — from £38.48 to £484.52 — while, on average, the seven insurers increased their prices by 715 per cent.
Only two out of seven standard insurers were willing to provide cover. All five of the companies specialising in cover for people with pre-existing medical conditions did offer to provide cover.
Sam Richardson, deputy editor of Which? Money, said: “Our research found significant disparities in price depending on the insurer, so it’s vital that consumers shop around and compare as many policies as possible before making a decision.
“While comparison sites are a great starting point, these won’t always include specialist providers – so it’s essential to obtain these quotes separately before making a purchase.”
Data shared with Which? by comparison site Compare the Market showed that customers who bought a single trip policy in February 2025 paid roughly double when declaring a medical condition, while for annual policies, pre-existing conditions typically add around £50.
For its study, Which? selected the cheapest European annual policy available with £5 million medical cover, £2,000 cancellation cover, and £1,500 cover for baggage with gadget protection.
Declaring bipolar and personality disorder led to a £531 difference between the most expensive policy and the cheapest, both from specialist providers.
However, Which? found more competitive options for the individuals with diabetes and epilepsy at regular insurers.
Declaring epilepsy saw an average increase in premiums of 23 per cent, with average prices rising from £67 to £77. While the individual with diabetes saw the smallest overall increases in price, with quotes rising six per cent on average – from £129 to £136 – their cover saw significant variations in the quotes offered from £76 to £169.
In a survey of over 9,000 people who own or have bought travel insurance in the last two years, eight in 10 felt declaring medical conditions affects the cost of their insurance with a quarter believing that it had a major impact.
“Though it may be tempting to omit a condition in order to get the price down, it’s never worth the risk,” said Sam Richardson.
“Failing to declare something in advance could see your policy invalidated and in the worst cases, leave you with a bill in the thousands of pounds.”
Medical risk evaluation company Protectif told Which? that it had seen as many as 82 per cent of applicants declaring a pre-existing medical condition between 2022-2025.
Which? also found that the standard of cover dramatically differed between travel insurance policies.
The consumer company reviewed 153 travel insurance policies offered by 55 providers and ranked their ‘policy score’ according to almost 70 features of the cover.
Here, scores ranged from 19 per cent to 88 per cent, demonstrating the vast differences in the quality of cover available according to Which?.
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