Almost every carrier offers a waiver, so the waiver itself is not the comparison. What separates them is how long you have to claim it — 14 days at some companies, 21 at others — what the look-back period covers, and what else you must do to qualify. One carrier here sells no standard waiver at all. If you are insuring around a condition, the deadline matters more than the limit.
| What matters here | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-existing condition waiver | ×3 | Whether the exclusion is waived at all, and on what terms |
| Emergency medical limit | ×2 | What the policy will actually pay a hospital |
| Primary vs secondary medical | ×1 | Whether you claim first, or claim second and chase the balance |
| Where a carrier's guide does not publish one of these dimensions, it is scored on the weights that remain rather than penalised for the gap. Primary versus secondary medical is published by five of the nine guides; the other four are ranked on the remaining weights. | ||
What actually matters here
In rough order of how much it changes the outcome. The first one usually decides the rest.
The purchase window, first and above everything
The waiver exists only if you buy inside it. That is 14 days at Allianz and Faye, 15 at Berkshire Hathaway, 20 at Seven Corners and IMG, 21 at Travelex — and at WorldTrips and Travel Insured it depends which plan you pick. The full window map is its own page.
Whether the waiver exists on the plan you are pricing
Travelex's two lower tiers cannot carry a waiver at any price, so the window is irrelevant unless you are buying Ultimate. Freely sells no standard waiver at all — pre-existing cover is an option with its own terms, which is a different product.
The look-back period
The stretch of time before purchase against which a condition is judged. Seven Corners uses 60 days; WorldTrips uses 90 days in most states. A longer look-back reaches further back into your medical history.
The conditions attached to the waiver
Buying in time is necessary, not sufficient. Carriers commonly also require that you insure the full non-refundable trip cost and are medically fit to travel on the day you buy. Failing either can void the waiver you bought on time.
The medical limit behind it
A waiver only matters if the limit behind it is worth claiming against. Top-plan medical limits run from $75,000 to $500,000 across this shelf — entry tiers sit far lower.
The same nine, reordered for this
Every score here is already published in that company’s own guide on this site. This page only changes the weighting — Pre-existing condition waiver ×3 · Emergency medical limit ×2 · Primary vs secondary medical ×1.
The movement column is the point of this page.
These are the same nine companies in a different order, and several swing hard between one need and another. A carrier near the top here can sit near the bottom on a different page of this site — not because the scoring changed, but because the question did.
Which is the honest answer to “what is the best travel insurance”. There is no best. There is only best for something, and the something is yours to name.
The trap: buying early is not the same as qualifying
The commonest failure is not missing the window. It is clearing the window and still failing a condition attached to it.
You buy on day three, feeling organised. Two months later you add excursions and never tell the insurer, so the full non-refundable trip cost is no longer insured. At some carriers that is a waiver condition, not a formality.
Or a condition changes between booking and buying, and the fit-to-travel requirement bites on the day of purchase rather than the day of departure.
Read the waiver's conditions, not just its window. They sit in the plan document, never in the quote.
How to use this
This order is only useful while your window is still open. Miss the deadline and the waiver stops being something you can buy at any price — and the list above becomes nine policies that will all look back at the same medical history in much the same way.
It cannot price your trip. Premiums are filed at state level and vary by age, cost and dates, so two carriers a place apart here can be far apart on your own quote. Get both.
It cannot tell you what is sold where you live. Plans, names, limits and whole ranges change by state, and the shelf you actually see may be a fraction of this one. That has a page of its own.
And it cannot read the plan document for you. Every carrier here says the same thing in its own words: the certificate issued to you is the binding version. This page is a way of knowing what to look for in it.
Nothing on this site names a policy to buy. No company has paid to appear, and the ranking above weights judgements published openly in each guide — which you can disagree with, because the weighting is printed at the top.
See What Your State Does to Your Own Shortlist
This page catalogues the exceptions. The calculator applies them. Choose your state and it caps the limits, removes the ranges not sold to you, and marks the secondary-cover cases — then works out your purchase deadline from the date of your first deposit.
Work out my deadline →Straight answers
Does travel insurance cover pre-existing conditions?
Not by default. Most policies exclude conditions that existed during a defined look-back period — but most carriers will waive that exclusion if you buy early enough. That is what the pre-existing condition waiver is. It is included rather than sold separately at every carrier here except Freely, which offers pre-existing cover as an option with its own terms instead.
How long do I have to get the waiver?
Between 14 and 21 days from your first trip payment, depending on the company and sometimes on the plan. Allianz and Faye run 14 days across the board; Berkshire Hathaway 15; Seven Corners and IMG 20; Travelex 21. WorldTrips and Travel Insured give their cheaper plans 14 days and their expensive plans 21. Miss it and the waiver is gone at any price.
What is a look-back period?
The stretch of time immediately before you buy, against which the insurer judges whether a condition counts as pre-existing. Published windows differ by carrier and sometimes by state, and section one sets out the figures. A condition that was stable and unchanged throughout that window is generally treated differently from one that was investigated, medicated or altered inside it.
Do I have to declare my condition?
Usually not in the way people expect. Most of these plans do not ask for a medical questionnaire at purchase — the waiver works by waiving the exclusion for everyone who meets the purchase conditions, rather than by underwriting you individually. What matters is meeting those conditions, and being able to show you did if a claim is examined.
Ask us about cruise insurance
Tell us about the trip, and who's going.
What your booking is exposed to, which coverage types your group needs, and which deadline is closest to biting you.
Seabound Journeys is an independent travel advisory and does not sell insurance. Answers come from this guide and are general information rather than advice about your policy.
Sources and verification
Every limit, window and benefit named here was taken from that company's own published materials and is recorded with its source in the relevant guide on this site. The ranking re-weights scores already published in those guides — it introduces no new judgements, and the weighting it applies is printed in full at the top of the ranking so you can disagree with it.
Every limit, window and benefit named on this page was taken from that company's own published materials and is recorded with its source in the relevant guide on this site.
The ranking on this page RE-WEIGHTS judgements already published in those guides for this particular need. It does not introduce new scores, and the weighting is stated in full above.
Benefits, limits and availability all vary by state and by plan. The certificate issued to you is the only binding version.
Verified July 2026. Insurance terms change, ratings are revised, and carriers update plan documents without announcement. This page records what the sources said when it was checked and carries that date deliberately. The plan document issued for your state is the only binding version — nothing here replaces reading it.
Joey Boleslawski is the founder of Seabound Journeys and a CLIA-affiliated travel advisor with more than twenty years in the hospitality industry. He researches and writes every guide on this site himself, and books the sailings he writes about. The examples on this page were assembled from carriers' own plan documents, FAQs and disclosures, with secondary reporting used only where identified in the source notes above. More about how this site works →
The same nine companies, in a different order, because you asked a different question. Back to the ranking →
Ask about cruise insurance