Travel Insurance

I would like some views in finding travel insurance as I have real issues with this.  Am I wrong in thinking that Autism/Asperger's is a developmental condition - something that you were born with and therefore not a medical condition?  I have tried to get information from the Government's disability rights issues department but their response was that there was no definitive answer!  I do not feel you should have to declare ASD unless you have accompanying health issues, but don't want to risk not being covered should there be an accident.  I have found that the minute you mention ASD the price goes up massively.  My daughter is not ill she just has Asperger's!  I have found within  the travel insurance industry that there is no consistency.  At one end some do not even need the information to be able to give you a quote and at the other end the price can double once you mention it.  I queried one travel insurance company recently who emailed back informing me that Autism is a recognisable medical condition.  Any views from parents out there would be most welcome - and if the NAS would like to add their comment too I would be pleased to hear it.

Thank you 

  • Dear Brandy,

    A friends of mine is a student in Germany but everyone has to get an health insurance - he has asthma disease and most of the health insurance companies billed him very expensive because of of his disease. Then I think, I am not sure - he started paying a company for health insurance. I think the health insurance company was called Mawista but I am not sure - I have to ask him. There are companies that do offer the same price for insurance as for everyone else - but you have to make a bigger research and call them to ask.

    Hope I helped you.
     

  • Thank you to Muckworm and Mum of 3 - I can see both points of view, but I wish the Travel Insurance industry would clarify this.  Are they, for instance, going to charge a University Professor with ASD the same amount as someone else with ASD who is not so capable?  I will definitely shop around but there are huge inconsistencies out there!

  • Hi there.

     

    I have a diagnosis of High Function Autism and although I think it is a registered disability (I don't know for certain) I do not personally consider myself to be disabled in any way other than socially. For this reason I have never declared or seen the need to declare my autism on travel insurance policies. It never occurred to me to mention it, as I would the stomach problems I have which I always declare.

    I suppose if it were likely to result in a medical problem arising during a trip it would be advisable to declare it, if not, I'm not sure I'd bother.

    In my view, Autism/Asperger's is not a medical condition, it is a developmental disorder, it is not a mental illness either.

    For me, it is a gift, given that I have brain power that others can only dream about (sorry if that sounds like bragging, I don't mean it to but it is true). But sadly society sees Autism as 'a problem' so we all get labelled as sub human almost.

     

    My suggestion is to ask yourself whether your child's Aspergers is likely to cause a medical situation and act accordingly.  I suppose you could talk to your GP or pead. registrar, see what they say, although in my experience they are useless at these things.

    Hope that helps a bit. Maybe others know more than me about this.