Hi Katejo...if you have questions just pm me but for anyone else out there confused how this works in general here goes:
The rule is: anything which is undiagnosed or if you have tests or treatment planned or pending to allow for a diagnosis is not covered under your travel insurance unless you disclose it to the insurer. Some insurers then have a blanket exclusion on pre-existing conditions because they make a policy choice not to go after that kind of business. However, there are insurers who cover pre-existing conditions and you must declare them when you take out cover or you must declare them before each period of travel if you already have a policy in place which covers pre-existing conditions. The way they deal with the disclosure is to possibly to load the premium (dependent on the condition) for the imminent or possible risk if they think there is one, it is not always the case.
The insurers primary interest is for cancer, heart stroke, psych or arthritic conditions over the last 5 years because these constitute the highest risk. They are also interested in conditions which have occurred in the last 12 months. Check you current policy wording under "medical declaration" to see if your current insurer takes on pre-existing conditions and then you will find out whether they will cover you when you come to renew. If they don't then your travel insurance will be invalid for that condition even if your waited until February for the cyst removal. If they do, then it needs to be declared at renewal.
if they don't cover pre-existing you need to find a travel insurer which covers pre-existing conditions. Cyst removal under a local which is harmless is unlikely to be a difficult condition to cover and should incur minimum loading if any. There will be insurers out there who have a list of conditions which they take as standard without any declaration.
If you travel on with a condition which is not declared on a policy which covers pre-existing conditions and something happens which can be linked to the medical history recorded at your doctors (which is where the insurer goes to check the claim) then the claim will be disallowed for non-declaration. If you travel on a policy which has blanket exclusion on pre-existing conditions without declaration, it won't be covered but then the insurer wouldn't have provided cover anyway.
Message is always - check you travel insurance terms and conditions for medical declarations very carefully and never take anything for granted
xx