Author: Faryal Bhatti, Marketing Manager, Norton Insurance Brokers
Key takeaways
- Any diagnosed mental health condition must be declared when you buy travel insurance, including anxiety and depression, and including conditions that are stable, controlled, or no longer treated with medication.
- Not declaring a condition can invalidate your entire policy, not just a mental-health-related claim. Under the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012, an honest mistake can still leave a claim unpaid.
- Declaring rarely means being refused. Specialist insurers cover mental health conditions routinely, and in Norton’s 2026 survey, 26% of people did not realise these conditions had to be declared at all, which is the real risk.
Quick Answer:
Yes. If you have been diagnosed with anxiety, depression, or any other mental health condition, you must declare it when you buy travel insurance, even if it is well controlled, even if you are not on medication, and even if it was diagnosed years ago. Declaring it is what makes your policy valid. It rarely means you will be refused: specialist cover is widely available, and most people who declare a mental health condition are still able to arrange comprehensive travel insurance.
According to the Norton Survey of the Year 2026, which surveyed 550 UK homeowners and insurance customers, 26% did not know that mental health conditions have to be declared on travel insurance. That is more than one in four travellers potentially carrying a policy that will not pay out when they need it. Mental health conditions are treated by insurers in exactly the same way as physical ones: as pre-existing conditions that must be disclosed. The good news, which gets lost in the anxiety around the question, is that declaring almost never means being turned away.
Do you have to declare anxiety and depression?
Yes. Anxiety, depression, and every other diagnosed mental health condition count as pre-existing medical conditions, and every UK travel insurer requires you to declare them. This holds whether you are managing a generalised anxiety disorder, taking daily antidepressants, receiving counselling, or were diagnosed years ago and have not needed treatment since. The condition does not have to be active or troublesome to be declarable. It only has to have been diagnosed.
The list of conditions insurers expect to see declared includes anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, PTSD, OCD, panic disorders, eating disorders, and stress-related conditions. If a GP or specialist has ever put a name to it, it belongs on the declaration.
Does a stable or well-controlled condition still need declaring?
This is where most people go wrong. A condition that has been stable for years, or that no longer requires medication, still has to be declared. The reasoning is straightforward from the insurer’s side: a diagnosis in your history changes the risk they are pricing, regardless of how well you are now. Most insurers apply a screening window of the last two years for symptoms, treatment, medication, or medical advice, but a diagnosis outside that window can still be relevant. If you are unsure whether something counts, the safe answer is always to declare it and let the insurer decide.
There is one useful distinction worth knowing. A general fear of flying is not usually treated as a declarable medical condition. But if that fear is a symptom of a diagnosed anxiety disorder you have declared, and a doctor advises you not to travel because of it, you may be covered for cancellation. The diagnosis is what matters, not the symptom in isolation.
What will the insurer ask about?
Medical screening for mental health conditions is more limited and less intrusive than people fear. You will not be asked about the content of therapy sessions or how you feel. The questions are factual and focused on risk:
