Does Allianz Cover Pre-Existing Conditions? Waiver and Exclusions

Allianz travel insurance does cover pre-existing medical conditions on most of its plans, but only through a Pre-Existing Medical Condition Exclusion Waiver that you have to qualify for. The waiver has four requirements, and the one that trips travelers up most often is timing: you have to buy the policy within 14 days of your first non-refundable trip payment or deposit. Miss that window and any claim tied to a pre-existing condition will be denied, no matter how well you meet the other rules.

How Allianz Defines a Pre-Existing Condition

Allianz uses a 120-day lookback period. A pre-existing medical condition is any injury, illness, or medical condition that, within the 120 days before and including the date you buy the policy, caused you, a traveling companion, or a family member to seek medical examination, diagnosis, care, or treatment from a doctor; presented symptoms; or required prescribed medication.¹

A couple of details inside that definition matter. A condition does not have to be formally diagnosed to count. If you had symptoms in the lookback window but never saw a doctor, the condition can still be classified as pre-existing.²

There is one carve-out for ongoing medication. If a condition is controlled by a prescription and that prescription has not changed during the 120-day lookback, the medication alone does not make the condition pre-existing.¹ Any change in the prescription, or any sign that the condition isn’t controlled, voids that exception.

What You Have to Do to Qualify for the Waiver

To get the pre-existing condition exclusion waived, you must satisfy all four of the following:

Buy the policy within 14 days of your first non-refundable trip payment or deposit.
Insure the full non-refundable cost of the trip on the date you buy. If you add non-refundable costs later, those costs must be added to the policy within 14 days of being paid.
Be medically able to travel on the exact day you buy the plan. An expectation of recovery before departure doesn’t count.
Be a U.S. resident.

These rules are consistent across plans, but specific terms can vary by plan and by state.³

The “medically able to travel” requirement applies only to the people named on the policy, not to every family member whose health might affect the trip.¹ Even so, losses caused by a family member’s pre-existing condition can only be reimbursed if you have pre-existing medical condition coverage in place.⁴

Which Allianz Plans Include the Waiver

Not every plan carries the waiver. The single-trip plans that include it are OneTrip Cancellation Plus, OneTrip Basic, OneTrip Prime, OneTrip Premier, and OneTrip Emergency Medical. The annual plans that include it are AllTrips Prime, AllTrips Executive, and AllTrips Premier.⁵

Coverage amounts differ by plan. OneTrip Prime offers up to $50,000 in emergency medical and up to $500,000 in emergency medical transportation; OneTrip Premier doubles those figures.² A U.S. News comparison puts OneTrip Premier at up to $75,000 for medical, up to $1 million for medical transportation, and up to $200,000 for trip cancellation, with a Cancel For Any Reason option paying up to 80%.⁶

What the Waiver Actually Pays For

When you meet the requirements, coverage extends to trip cancellation for a covered health-related reason tied to a pre-existing condition, as well as the cost of medical care for a covered illness or injury during the trip, even when a pre-existing condition is the cause.¹

Watch the sublimits. Pre-existing condition claims often cap lower than the plan’s headline numbers. OneTrip Prime, for example, has a $100,000 maximum for trip cancellation overall but reimburses only up to $50,000 per person for cancellation losses caused specifically by a pre-existing condition.¹ Sublimits vary by plan, so read the plan documents before you buy.

What’s Still Excluded Even With the Waiver

Two categories are excluded regardless of whether you qualify for the waiver: normal pregnancy and mental or nervous health disorders.²

Normal pregnancy, morning sickness, and routine childbirth are not covered for cancellation or interruption. Unforeseen pregnancy complications like pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, or hyperemesis gravidarum can be covered if the complication is severe enough that a physician advises canceling or interrupting the trip. Some plans also cover trip cancellation if you discover a surprise pregnancy after buying the policy.⁷

The mental health exclusion has been the subject of enforcement action. The Washington State Attorney General’s office investigated Allianz for denying 560 travel insurance claims under a mental health exclusion between January 2014 and February 2023, finding that the company covered physical conditions like broken legs or heart attacks but refused claims involving PTSD, panic attacks, bipolar disorder, and dementia. Allianz was required to repay affected policyholders.⁸

For chronic conditions like heart disease, cancer, or arthritis, the standard 120-day lookback applies. Allianz recommends that travelers with chronic conditions, or those recently out of surgery or cancer treatment, get written approval from a doctor confirming they are medically able to travel before purchasing a plan.²

Why Pre-Existing Condition Claims Get Denied

The most common reason is a missed 14-day purchase window. Book a trip, wait three weeks, buy insurance: any pre-existing condition claim will be denied, however well you meet the other requirements. The same thing happens when you don’t insure the full non-refundable trip cost at the time of purchase, or when you add new non-refundable costs more than 14 days after paying for them.¹

The “medically able to travel” rule drives denials, too. A positive prognosis for the trip date is not enough. What counts is your fitness on the specific day you bought the plan, and Allianz may review your medical records and talk to your physicians to verify it.¹ Allianz has called telling a seriously ill customer their condition isn’t covered because these timing and fitness requirements weren’t met “the toughest situation” its staff encounters.²

Filing a Claim

You have 90 days from the date of loss to file. The fastest option is the Allianz website or the Allyz app, though you can also submit by email, fax, or mail. Expect to provide a Physician Statement Form, statements and records from your treating doctors, and documentation of any refunds you received from travel suppliers.⁹

Allianz may contact your physicians to verify both that the condition existed within the 120-day lookback and that you were medically fit when you bought the plan. If the claim is approved, payment arrives by direct deposit within two to five business days, or by check within 10 to 14 days.³

1
Allianz Travel Insurance. Existing Medical Conditions Coverage
2
Allianz Travel Insurance. Best Travel Insurance for Pre-Existing Conditions
3
Allianz Travel Insurance. Frequently Asked Questions
4
Allianz Travel Insurance. How Travel Insurance Covers Family Members
5
Allianz Travel Insurance. Existing Medical Condition Benefit
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U.S. News & World Report. Preexisting Conditions Travel Insurance
7
Allianz Travel Insurance. Pregnancy Travel Insurance
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Washington State Office of the Attorney General. AG Ferguson: Insurance Company Must Repay Every Penny to Washingtonians It Denied
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Allianz Travel Insurance. Covered Illness vs. Pre-Existing Condition