Tommy Lloyd
Author: Tommy Lloyd, Managing Director

Tommy has over 15 years experience within the insurance industry, and his primary focus is helping travellers find the right cover for their medical conditions.

Originally posted: 1st Sep 2022

How to get your Lupus cover

To make sure we help you find the right travel insurance we’ll ask you a few quick health questions when you’re completing your quote, for more information on this check out our guide on telling us about your health conditions.

If you suffer from Lupus, you’ll need to tell us about this health condition if you’ve seen a medical professional (such as a GP) or been prescribed medication within the last 2 years.

When telling us about your Lupus you will likely be asked some of the following:

  • How long ago was the diagnosis made?
  • Do you take medication or your treatment?
  • Do you have any of the following complications of this condition? (for example - angina, asthma, or kidney damage)
  • Do you have any shortness of breath on exertion?

This will also help us understand if you need to tell us about discoid or systemic lupus and any associated conditions (if you have any) such as Sjögren's Syndrome, Anti-phospholipid Syndrome (sticky blood), Kidney Damage and Hypertension.

Travel insurance providers will then see what cover they can offer you based on your current health, how lupus personally affects you, as well as taking into consideration your travel plans, such as where you’re travelling to and for how long.

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Is lupus travel insurance expensive?

Not necessarily. In our experience, if lupus is stable and well managed with no other health conditions, getting travel insurance can be easy to get and may not cost any more than you would pay for a standard policy.

The cost of lupus travel insurance cover may be higher than normal, if you have other medical complications, or are travelling to destinations that operate a high level of privatised healthcare such as the USA, Canada, Spain, Canaries Islands and Malta for example, as it will be more costly to cover medical treatment in these countries.

If you’re having difficulty obtaining cover, you can chat with our online team, and we’ll do our best to help you find a policy.

What does lupus travel insurance cover?

The level of cover you can expect varies depending on which travel insurance provider you choose.  Once you’ve added lupus to your quote, we’ll only show your policies which will take your condition into account.

A typical travel insurance policy might usually include:

  • Emergency medical expenses and repatriation - if you’re hospitalised, or even need to be brought back to the UK for treatment as a result of your condition. 
  • Lost, stolen or damaged personal belongings - this could include any medication that you’re taking with you to treat your anxiety.  
  • Cancellation and curtailment - if you suddenly decide to cancel your trip, or end up cutting it short.
  • Travel delay - this won’t always be included, so check your cover
  • Personal liability - if you cause accidental damage to another person, or someone else’s property - cover is provided.

Travelling with lupus

Although additional considerations may need to be made, travelling with lupus should never put you off travelling abroad. First and foremost, it’s highly recommended that you avoid travelling altogether if you are in the middle of a flare-up, or feeling unwell in the lead up to your holiday.

As lupus is a chronic condition, preparation is key – and you should therefore carefully plan your trip to suit you best, and ensure you remain comfortable at every possible stage of your holiday. Before you plan however, you need to consider what vaccinations and immunisations you might need. This all depends on your destination.

It is unlikely that you will need any jabs if you’re travelling to countries in Europe, North America or Oceania. However, if you do require a vaccination – you should not receive vaccines that contain live organisms if you suffer from lupus.

Mountains over lake

Does flying affect lupus?

Some people who suffer with lupus do experience a worsening of joint pain whilst flying. This is often attributed to high air pressure in the aircraft cabin.

This is somewhat unavoidable if you do fly, however most airlines enable you to do a pre-flight check in, where you can manually select your own seat on the plane. It may be best to do this as far in advance as possible to ensure you get a more comfortable seat i.e. extra legroom, or aisle seat.

Make sure you have a doctor’s note that enables you to take your medication aboard an aircraft should you need it, and ensure you keep this on your person or at least with a responsible guardian every day.

If you require advice about travelling with lupus, please visit LUPUS UK for guidance.

Optional extras

Also, feel free to add any optional extras that you need - such as gadget cover, cruise cover or winter sports cover.  

This may slightly bump up the cost of your cover, but it’s definitely something to consider when shopping around, especially if you have different types of holidays planned.

Gadget cover

Cruise cover

Winter sports cover

Get cheap quotes from specialist lupus travel insurance providers

Use our straightforward quote comparison tool to find the cover you need. It literally takes minutes – there’s no need to fill out any paperwork and it’s all online.

You can compare Lupus cover across a range of specialist insurance providers, all in one place - so there should be plenty of choices. 

Once you’ve got everything sorted - so you can get on with the good stuff and start planning your trip.

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Frequently Asked Questions

A pre-existing condition is a diagnosed medical condition that existed before taking out a policy. We'll ask a series of questions about the medical history for you and any travellers on your quote. If you answer yes to any of these, you will need to tell us about the traveller's conditions. This could be a condition that a traveller has now or has had in the past. If you are not sure what conditions you need to declare, we have online support available to help you 24/7!

It is simple and quick to do! After you've told us about your trip details and answered some medical history questions you can add your pre-existing conditions, one by one, for each traveller. You'll only need to enter your details once, it's all online and there's no need to call, or provide details of your conditions in writing.

Once you've declared all of your relevant pre-existing medical conditions, we'll only show you quotes based on the conditions you have told us about.

No, we are unable to provide cover with any of your pre-existing medical conditions excluded.
Nearly all insurance policies will come with cancellation cover included. Cancellation cover will start as soon as you buy your single trip policy, or your policy start date for an annual trip (so you may want to start this cover as soon as possible). Cancellation cover will help you with the cost of your trip, including flights, accommodation and, in some cases pre-paid excursions. The cover limits will be the amount per person.

* Price is based on 1 traveller aged 61, who has declared Lupus and is travelling to France for 7 nights. The price is correct as of October 2023. Prices may vary according to your individual requirements.


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If we're unable to help you find cover for a pre-existing medical condition, the Money Helper Directory has listings of companies that may be able to assist you. Further details can be found on their website.