Pre-existing conditions refer to the medical conditions of the insured or his associates (whose medical conditions can affect the travel protection plans and cause trip cancellations) that existed even before the plan or the policy come into force.

As a result, many travel insurance companies offer plans and policies that provide only limited or no coverage for medical expenses, trip cancellation expenses etc resulting out of pre-existing medical conditions. They are known as pre-existing conditions exclusions.

Many plans specify a time period called maximum amount of time. This refers to a specified period before the policy comes into force and any expenses resulting out of the medical conditions that existed during this period would be considered as exclusions. For instance, if the maximum amount of time is last five years from the effective date of the policy. The expenses resulting out of the medical conditions that were treated within that time period will not be covered.

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