Medical information

It's important to declare your disability or illness when arranging travel insurance, even though standard travel insurance doesn't cover any illness or health problem that existed or was diagnosed before your holiday began.

The travel insurance company may ask for specific details, or your doctor may need to complete a form stating that you are fit to travel. You may be asked to sign a form stating that you are not awaiting treatment, for example.

Equipment

If you need to take expensive disability (mobility) equipment with you, make sure that it is insured for loss or damage. 

Mobility aids - including wheelchairs and scooters - are unlikely to be covered by standard travel insurance policies. You may have to pay an extra premium. Sometimes your household insurance may provide cover for these items. 

Specialist insurance?

Most travel insurance companies offer cover to disabled people that meets their needs. However, some insurers do not cover disabled people who have a severe medical condition or a history of mental illness. You may need to arrange cover with a specialist insurer.

A specialist insurer may be right for you if you are travelling outside the UK for a long period of time.

Your rights as a disabled person

The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) aims to end the discrimination that many disabled people face. Part 3 of the Act places duties on service providers, which includes travel insurance and travel companies providing services within the UK.

Companies have a duty to ensure that, as a disabled customer, they do not  treat you less favourably than other customers, for a reason related to your disability, unless they can justify that treatment. So for example, they must not unjustifiably refuse to provide a service to a disabled person that they are prepared to offer other members of the public, nor must they provide the service on worse terms or to a worse standard.

However, the law allows travel insurers to apply special conditions or premiums to disabled people in a particular set of circumstances. For example they can charge a disabled person a higher premium if they can show that there is a greater risk in insuring a disabled person than a non-disabled person.

The travel insurance company can only justify this difference of treatment of a disabled person if:

• the decision is based on information which is relevant to the assessment of the risk being insured
• the information (such as statistical data, or a medical report) is from a source on which it is reasonable to rely
• the less favourable treatment is reasonable when this information and all other relevant factors are taken into account

The special rules on travel insurance are explained in Chapter 9 of the Code of Practice  - Rights of Access document published by the Disability Rights Commission. The commission closed on 28 September 2007, but the website is still available. The document can be downloaded from the Disability Rights Commission's website in various formats.