Travel insurance is the least interesting subject on this site and the one where getting it wrong costs the most. Two things make it different for us: pre-existing conditions, and the wheelchair itself. Standard policies handle both badly by default.
Declare everything. Genuinely everything.
The medical screening questions are tedious and the temptation to skim them is real. Resist it. A claim for a chest infection abroad can be refused because of an undeclared, completely unrelated condition — insurers can and do void policies for non-disclosure. Every condition, every medication, every “oh, and” goes in. If the screening makes the quote enormous, that is information too: it means you need a specialist insurer, not a smaller lie.
The specialist market is better than people expect. There are insurers and brokers who deal with disability and serious conditions all day, and a directory of them is maintained for exactly this purpose — the British Insurance Brokers’ Association helpline will point you to members who cover your situation. The premium is often less frightening than the mainstream comparison sites suggest, because a specialist is pricing your actual risk rather than panicking about a list of words.
Insure the chair like the vehicle it is
A powered wheelchair can cost as much as a small car, and a standard travel policy’s baggage limit will not come close — single-item limits of a few hundred pounds are typical. Check, specifically:
- The single-item limit, against what the chair would actually cost to replace. Not what you paid — what it costs now, with your seating and controls.
- Mobility equipment cover as a named section, or a standalone wheelchair policy alongside the travel one. Some home contents policies extend to the chair away from home; some don’t leave the country.
- Hire costs while yours is repaired — the bit that keeps the holiday going.
- Airline damage interplay: the airline is liable first when they break it, but their liability caps are low against a powered chair. Your insurer needs to pick up the rest, and the photographs-at-the-gate habit is what makes that claim smooth.
The GHIC, and what it is not
For Europe, carry a GHIC — free from the NHS website (never pay a middleman site for one). It gets you state healthcare on local terms in the EU. What it does not do is fly you home, cover a missed cruise, or repair a wheelchair. It is a supplement to insurance, not a substitute, and every year people find that out the hard way at altitude.
Your turn: if you have experiences of your own — the places that got it right, and the ones that got it badly wrong — tell us in the comments below. Every report helps the next traveller.