The story is familiar: someone has had a 'bad knee' for years, two weeks before the holiday it swells up, the specialist recommends surgery or rest, the trip has to be cancelled – and the storno insurer rejects the claim because the condition had already been treated before the policy was taken out. The client feels, with good reason, that this is unfair: the acute worsening was unexpected, and there is a medical certificate to prove it. The wording of the policy conditions, however, is about something else, and as a broker I see that this is one of the most common and least known reasons for storno rejections. The article on being unfit to travel discusses when an illness makes the trip impossible; the one on other reasons for cancellation covers the non-medical cases. This article is about a single rule: medical history before the policy was taken out – why it exists, what exactly it means and what can be done about it.
- Trip cancellation cover (storno) is for unexpected, unforeseeable reasons for cancelling: Hungarian policy conditions therefore exclude illnesses already present at the time of booking and illnesses treated during a specified period before the booking or the purchase of the policy – one Hungarian product information document, for example, lists 'illnesses already treated in the year before booking' among the exclusions.
- An acute worsening of a chronic illness is not excluded from the outset: several sets of conditions accept it as a reason for cancellation if the illness was symptom-free for a specified period – in one set of conditions, for at least twelve months; in insurers' practice, 'treated' can also include check-ups, medication, injections and physiotherapy.
- This rule is stricter than the chronic-illness exclusion in the medical cover of travel insurance, and if you buy the cover after booking, a waiting period also applies; with a known health problem, read the exclusion clause of the conditions before buying, and if your claim is rejected, compare the written reasons with your own medical records.
Why is there such a rule at all?
The logic of storno is chance: the insurer provides cover for what happens after the policy is taken out and could not have been foreseen. Section 6:454 of the Hungarian Civil Code (Ptk.) also states, in general terms, that if the insured event occurred before the insurer's cover began, the corresponding part of the contract terminates; storno conditions set out a version of this idea tailored to illnesses. There is also a practical reason: storno is typically bought online, without a health questionnaire, so the insurer does not ask about your medical history when you take out the policy – the duty of disclosure under Section 6:452 of the Ptk. therefore hardly operates at that point. Instead of a questionnaire, the conditions apply a look-back rule: they do not look at what you said when taking out the policy, but at whether the illness that caused the cancellation existed and was treated during a specified period before the purchase or the booking. This rule is simple for the insurer but invisible to the client – which is why it comes as a surprise at the claim stage.
Anatomy of the rule: three layers
Hungarian policy conditions typically build this exclusion in three layers, with wording and figures that differ from insurer to insurer. The first is the pre-existing illness: one Hungarian insurer's 2025 storno product information document names among the exclusions 'illnesses already existing when the service was booked' and 'illnesses connected with a previous permanent impairment of health'. The second is the look-back period: the same document excludes 'illnesses already treated in the year before booking' – other conditions look back over a shorter period of a few months and count from the date the policy was taken out, not the booking date; the figure is in the policy conditions, not in everyday usage. The third layer is the symptom-free period for chronic illness: another Hungarian insurer's trip cancellation conditions accept an illness arising from a treated chronic condition as an insured reason if the condition was symptom-free for at least twelve months before the trip. Added to this is the waiting period for storno bought after booking: under one set of conditions, during the first five days cover extends only to cancellation due to an accident; under another, events are insured from the tenth day after the policy is taken out – which is also why what the article on timing the purchase says matters: it is worth taking out storno together with the booking.
What counts as 'treated' – and what as 'symptom-free'?
This is where most disputes are decided. In insurers' practice, 'treated' is a broad concept: it can include not only surgery or hospital treatment but also a specialist examination, a check-up, regularly taken medication, an injection, physiotherapy, being put on a waiting list, and even a complaint recorded by your GP. 'Symptom-free', for its part, does not mean that you felt well, but that your medical records contain no entry relating to this illness for the period in question. For a claim, the insurer – with your consent – typically requests your GP and specialist records and examines whether the illness that caused the cancellation appears in the look-back period. In the knee example, it works like this: if the cartilage wear has been known for years, but there has been no check-up, medication or injection in the last year and a half, the sudden swelling can be an insured event under several sets of conditions – provided that the specialist documents that you are unfit to travel. If, however, in the months before booking you had an injection or went to physiotherapy for the same knee, most conditions apply the exclusion, even if the worsening really was unexpected. It is not fairness that decides, but the documentation and the wording of the policy conditions.
How does this differ from the chronic-illness exclusion in the medical cover?
Many people project the rule of the travel insurance medical cover onto storno, but the two follow different logic. In the medical cover, Hungarian policy conditions typically cover an acute worsening of a chronic illness that is life-threatening or requires urgent treatment – often with a separate limit – and exclude what is planned, of a check-up nature or already in need of treatment before departure. In storno, the standard is stricter: the question there is not urgency but whether the illness existed and was treated before the policy was taken out, because storno pays for the fact that you could not even set off. That is why the same knee may receive medical treatment from the insurer if it worsens during the trip, while the insurer does not reimburse the cost of cancellation if it worsens before departure. The exclusion map shows these two columns side by side.
What you can do before buying – and after a rejection
- Before buying, if you have a known condition: read the exclusion clause of the storno conditions and look for the words 'before booking/purchase', 'treated' and 'symptom-free', together with the figures; if you are unsure, ask the insurer in writing and keep the reply.
- Choose between sets of conditions: the length of the look-back period, the symptom-free period for chronic illness and the waiting period vary by insurer – if you let me know, I prepare the comparison on these points too.
- Timing: take out storno together with the booking, so that the waiting period does not fall before departure; and with a recently treated problem, think through whether it is worth booking a non-refundable trip.
- After a rejection: ask for the written reasons for the rejection, citing the exact clause of the conditions; compare them with your own medical records to see whether the treatment referred to really falls within the look-back period and relates to the same illness that caused the cancellation; if not, you can lodge a complaint with the insurer and then turn to the Financial Arbitration Board (PBT) – the MNB (Hungary's central bank and financial supervisor) does not decide individual claim disputes.
The insurer pays only for what is an insured event under your contract, and with this rule the boundary of the event is drawn by the calendar and your medical history. If a storno case gets stuck at this point, I help where I can, acting on the client's mandate: I go through the policy conditions and the reasons given for the rejection, so that you can see what the case turns on and where the route leads – first a complaint, then the arbitration procedure; obtaining the documents and making the statements, however, remain in your hands.
Do you have a question about the exclusion clause in your own storno conditions? Request a quote – a free 20-minute consultation, no obligation. Book a time here →
Sources
- EUB Storno Insurance – insurance product information document (from 17 June 2025): exclusions – illness existing at booking and illness treated in the year before booking; waiting period
- Mondial Assistance (Allianz Partners) trip cancellation insurance – chronic illness if symptom-free for at least twelve months; purchase deadlines, waiting period
- Hungarian Civil Code (Ptk., Act V of 2013) Section 6:452 (duty of disclosure), Section 6:454 (insured event occurring before the start of cover)
- MNB – Financial Arbitration Board (PBT)
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- Cancelling Due to Illness: How to Document It So Your Claim Gets Paid
- When Should You Buy Cancellation Cover? At Booking – Here's Why
