Do I need to disclose my DS(15) recent autism diagnosis on travel insurance and...

[Choirsinger7]

will it make any difference to the cost of cover or what they will generally cover? He is able to function quite well, goes to a mainstream school, etc although not sure that would be relevant anyway. Thanks

Why would that affect an accident or emergency care ?

Yes I think you do. They need to know about any diagnoses usually within the last couple/5years. If an accident or emergency accured and you didn't tell them, they could easily refuse to pay. Might be worth just calling x

I don’t think it would but am new to this and was wondering whether if we didn’t disclose it (because DS finds it a sensitive subject) the ratbags might claim our travel insurance is invalid as we didn’t give full disclosure. Not sure what we are required to do…

What difference does disclosing make to you? It is only between you and the insurance company don't know what the issue is.

The insurance company putting up the insurance cost for something that we are unlikely to claim for as it does not really create issues for him on a day to day perspective.

I had to disclose my daughters diagnosis and it asked a follow up question "Is she able to communicate?" It added £1.27 to our single trip European policy for context.

We have a big holiday coming up and I've declared DD's autism diagnosis which was confirmed after booking. I don't think it made any difference at all to the price. The only extra question was whether the autism had caused us to cancel a holiday or leave early in the past.

Do declare it. They just ask if it causes issues or not. If it will make travelling easier for him get a sunflower lanyard and contact the special assistance at your airport. There are levels of assistance and sometimes it just means you don't have to queue/ can go through fast track security without paying extra.

I don't think a pre existing condition adds anything or much to travel insurance. I have a physical condition not an illness and my insurance is never higher, but I always declare it

Do a quote with a insurance thing declaring it and see how much it will be.

You need to declare it because if he fell and hurt his knee and tried to claim for hospital treatment and you hadn't declared it they would not pay out. It's really important to declare every tiny thing.

Yes, absolutely declare any medical conditions. They aren't asking your opinions. They are asking the facts which you need to be truthful about. They will tell you if it is something that doesn't need declaring, then you have lost nothing apart from 10 minutes of your time.
I wouldn't have thought it would have any cost implications for you. My son has type 1 diabetes (so things can go really wrong, when they do go wrong!) and it doesn't increase our premium when declared.

I've never declared autism, but I did declare medication for anxiety. Autism (dd was diagnosed as a toddler so not new) isn't a medical condition as per my medical insurance company

Yes decalre it.
They ask follow up questions about how it impacts.
It didnt change our premium.

I declared it for my DD and it added a small amount - she’s also had mental health issues so it may have been that. Like others I just thought it wasn’t worth taking the risk of not declaring.

Because some autistic people are less able to assess risk and more likely to carry out risky behaviours. Some are non verbal or communicate differenty and couldnt communicate their leg hurt /they had a temperature etc so there are delays in getting medical care which makes things more expensivd to treat as things progress. Also sensory difficulties mean they might not even pick up on early warning signs thenselves. There can be difficulties treating things so for instance they might need sedation for simple blood tests. Its a huge spectrum disorder so for some individual there can be additional costs/risks and others none.

I've declared my diagnosis. Insurance companies will try and wriggle their way out of paying. If you don't put it on, it's an undisclosed condition. I'd just do it.

if the insurance premium goes up it is not in order to directly “treat you DS’s autism”, it is due to a perceived higher risk that he may come to harm due to his condition. That is why you must disclose it, otherwise it may be used as an excuse/reason for them not to pay out.

you might believe he is at no greater risk of being I’ll or injured, and that may be true for him, but these things are based on stats of a wider population. So you may find it unfair but that’s sort of how insurance always works, as frustrating as it may be!

I used to work for a screening company. It wasn't necessarily the diagnosis that upset the score its stability. So 2 people with a heart bypass. One several years ago no admissions recently minimal medications versus one 6 months ago, several admissions recently and more meds would score very different.