Travel Insurance for Dementia Sufferers

If you or a loved one has dementia, planning a holiday can become difficult.

We've created European travel insurance that allows you to see a quote after 4 questions and get cover without having to fill in a medical questionnaire.

Other insurers often require people with pre-existing conditions to fill in long and impersonal forms or ask you to call to discuss your condition. And many companies will refuse to cover with serious illnesses.

Our travel insurance can cover any medical condition, as long as you do not have a terminal prognosis of fewer than 6 months.

Getting travel insurance for dementia sufferers

Our Urgent Medical Travel Insurance can cover any medical condition, including dementia.

• Bought By Many's Urgent Medical Travel Insurance offers £500,000 for urgent treatment while you’re away that can’t wait until you’re home.
• If you need to return home for treatment, then we can cover the cost of the emergency flight. And if you need a loved one to come out and help you, we can cover their transport costs.
• There’s no upper age limit, so if you’re 60, 70, 80 or even planning your 100th birthday celebrations, our holiday insurance can cover you for dementia.
• Our cover is designed for people with severe medical conditions.

There is no lengthy medical questionnaire, you can see a quote after answering 4 questions. You will need to confirm that your doctor is happy for you to travel.

Some of the points about the Urgent Medical Travel Insurance that you should be aware of are:

• Cover is for Europe only
• We can only cover a trip of up to 28 days
• Cover must be bought in the 30 days before the trip
• We can't cover you if you’ve got a terminal prognosis of fewer than 6 months
• You’ll need to see a doctor to confirm they’re happy for you to travel but you won’t need them to complete any forms
• The policy doesn't cover sea or ocean cruises. It will cover a river cruise
• An excess of £300 is payable on claims
• The insurance does not cover baggage or cancellation

What companies will insure for dementia?

Some specialist insurers may offer full travel insurance policies for people with dementia that include cover for baggage, cancellation and medical emergencies.

Bought By Many's Urgent Medical Travel Insurance only covers medical emergencies up to £500,000. It's designed to be more straightforward, providing the essential medical cover for those with more advanced conditions.

Specialist policies that offer full cover may be expensive for severe conditions.

Some insurers won't cover the cost of transporting a companion out to you should you require urgent medical assistance, whereas Bought By Many will cover this cost.

Some mainstream travel insurers may not cover dementia because it's categorised as a pre-existing medical condition.

It may be tempting to not disclose your dementia on your holiday insurance application. However, it’s important that you do, otherwise, you may not be covered should you need to make a claim.

Our cover is designed for serious conditions but if your dementia is less advanced you may be able to find cover through our list of the best travel insurance for medical conditions.

About Dementia

Dementia is the name given to cover a range of progressive neurological disorders. The symptoms of dementia will gradually worsen over time, however, this can take many years.

Alzheimer's is the most common disorder, with around 60% of dementia diagnoses being caused by this. It’s more common in over 65s, with one in six over 80s likely to develop it.

Alzheimer's is caused when naturally occurring proteins in the brain, Amyloid (plaque) and Tau (Tangles) begin to malfunction. This leads to Amyloid plaque build-up on the brain cells. The Tau (Tangles) that enable effective communication between cells also clump together and cause death of the brain cells.

Join our Alzhiemer's Bought By Many travel insurance members group.

The other most common causes of dementia are:

Vascular Dementia: This is the name given to a group of conditions that affect the blood flow to the brain. It mostly affects over 65s and is the second most common form of Dementia.

Dementia with Lewy bodies: This is the third most common cause of Dementia in the UK, with one in six people over the age of 80 likely to be diagnosed with it.

It’s more common in the over 65 age group. Lewy bodies is the name given to the clumps and proteins that build up within the nerve brain cells. These Lewy bodies damage the nerve cells so that they’re unable to work properly or communicate with each other.

Frontotemporal Dementia: This is more common in under 65s, with two main types: Behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (also called Pick’s) and Primary progressive aphasia. The latter consists of Semantic dementia and Progressive non-fluent aphasia.

This form of dementia is caused when the nerve cells in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain die, and the nerve pathways are damaged. Abnormally forming proteins cause the condition, affecting cell communication.

People with dementia can also suffer from more than one type at the same time, this is known as Mixed Dementia.

Possible dementia diagnosis or early stage of dementia and travel insurance

If you're awaiting a possible dementia diagnosis, you'll need to let your travel insurance company know when you buy your policy.

If you've just been diagnosed with dementia, or you're at an earlier stage check out our list of the best travel insurance for medical conditions.

If you're suffering from an early or advanced stage of dementia, we can cover you for travel to Europe on our Urgent Medical Travel Insurance policy. There's no medical questionnaire and you can get a quote in minutes.

Thanks to DementiaUK for their helpful information on dementia.

By Tamara Labelle