Heart disease is a broad term for a range of conditions that affect the heart. Heart disease could mean: blood vessel diseases, such as coronary artery disease; heart rhythm problems (arrhythmias); and heart defects you’re born with (congenital heart defects).
Heart disease is often used interchangeably with the term ‘cardiovascular disease’. Cardiovascular disease generally refers to conditions that involve narrowed or blocked blood vessels that can lead to a heart attack, chest pain (angina) or stroke.
Heart disease is considered a pre-existing medical condition. This doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t get travel insurance, but you do need to disclose your condition when you’re booking your travel insurance. You’ll also need to disclose your condition if you’ve had or have stents, previous heart attacks, if you have a pacemaker, an aortic valve replacement, or have had a stroke.
It’s important that we know about your heart disease so that you’ll know whether or not you’re covered if something happens to you because of your condition.
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.
*based on heart disease being your only pre-existing condition
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 purchase and if you select ‘yes', you’ll fill out the questionnaire. This is where we’ll ask you everything we need to know about your heart disease.
Once you’ve filled out this questionnaire, you’ll immediately find out your travel insurance options.
A heart condition is basically any condition related to the heart that affects its operation or the blood vessels it connects with. A heart condition can affect the heart muscle, the valves, the heart’s rhythm or the blood vessels. Common heart conditions include the following:
Heart disease affects one in twenty adults and is one of our largest health problems. With so many people affected, there are obviously a lot of people travelling with this condition - and so can you. But it’s important that you plan ahead and take all the necessary precautions, so that you too can have a safe and healthy trip.
Please note, the below is general advice only is not intended to replace the advice or information from a registered body or your doctor.
If you already had your policy in place, declared your condition, and you had paid any additional premium (if required), and you weren’t reasonably aware of a reason to cancel your trip, then you may have a provision to claim for cancellations.
Cover for heart disease on a Frequent Traveller policy works in the same way as single trip policies. You will need to complete a medical assessment to determine if we can offer the cover for your heart condition when you apply for a quote
If you have other pre-existing medical conditions that are not on our automatically covered list or they do not meet the critieria for automatic coverage, you will need to disclose them.
Generally, yes, you will need to pay an additional premium to cover your heart condition. We will tell you once you have completed your medical assessment during your policy purchase.
Yes, you do need to disclose your condition each time you travel. If you travel often it may be beneficial to take out one of our Frequent traveller policies.
For some conditions and circumstances there may be an instance were we are unable to provide cover. We take in to account a number of factors including, but not limited to, where you are travelling to, the duration of the trip, and the condition itself. This allows us to balance the risk of the situation.
You should make sure that you declare your condition, because if a claim arises related to an non-disclosed condition, you generally won't have a provision to claim under your policy.
If you forgot to disclose your condition and your policy has not started, we may be able to add it. You can call our Customer Care Team to 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. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to cover your condition even after you have declared it on an existing policy.
All terms, conditions and limitations will apply in the same way as if you had declared the condition when you purchased the policy.
We over cover to people of all ages, but you will need to complete a medical assessment to determine if we can offer cover for your heart condition. Your medical assessment can be completed online while you’re purchasing your policy, or you can contact us.
A pre-existing medical condition is something that must be disclosed when you’re purchasing travel insurance. Find out what they are and how they affect your travel insurance.
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Repatriation is the process of returning a person home after a medical emergency or at worst case death. Being covered for repatriation is important so read the ins and outs.
It’s important that you have all the right vaccinations before you travel. From malaria to meningococcal, find out what you need to know about vaccinations and travel insurance.
The Heart Foundation is a charity dedicated to fighting the single biggest killer of Kiwis – heart disease. Their website has a plethora of information on every aspect of heart disease.
The Heart Foundation has a whole section dedicated to travelling after a heart attack. Find out what they have to say about people in this position.
IAMAT are a non-profit organization who help travellers plan a healthy trip, and connect travellers with reputable English-speaking doctors. They are a useful point of contact for anyone travelling with a health condition.
Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand developed a 2 page medical information sheet for information on flying "After a heart attack, or coronary artery stents".
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