Travel Insurance Explained

What travel insurance is actually for

The core job of travel insurance is to cover costs you cannot absorb yourself: emergency medical treatment abroad, evacuation to a hospital that can treat you, and the cancellation or curtailment of a trip you have already paid for. Everything else — baggage delay, gadget cover, a missed connection — is useful but secondary. If a policy is cheap because it caps medical cover at a low figure, it has cut the part that matters most and kept the part that looks good in a comparison table. Start by checking the medical limit before comparing price.

• Emergency medical treatment and hospital stays abroad
• Emergency evacuation or repatriation if you need to be moved to receive care
• Cancellation or curtailment cover for non-refundable bookings

What most policies exclude

Standard policies commonly exclude pre-existing medical conditions unless declared and accepted, injuries from activities classed as hazardous (skiing off-piste, scuba below a certain depth, some watersports), travel against official government advice, and claims where alcohol was a contributing factor. Many also exclude cover once you're pregnant past a certain number of weeks, or for professional and semi-professional sport. None of this is unusual, but assuming a standard policy covers everything you plan to do is the most common and expensive mistake.

• Declare pre-existing conditions honestly — non-disclosure can void an entire claim
• Check the activity list if you plan to hike, dive, ski or ride a scooter
• Confirm cover still applies if the destination advisory changes after you book

Single-trip vs annual multi-trip

A single-trip policy covers one journey and is priced for its length and destination. An annual multi-trip policy covers an unlimited number of trips within a year, usually up to a maximum length per trip (often 30 to 45 days). If you take more than two trips a year, annual cover is nearly always cheaper overall, and it removes the temptation to travel uninsured on a short weekend trip because buying a one-off policy felt like a hassle.

Excess, limits and how claims actually work

The excess is what you pay towards any claim before the policy pays the rest — a higher excess lowers the premium but raises your exposure on a small claim. Keep receipts, medical reports and police reports (required for theft claims in most countries) as you go, because claims are assessed on paperwork, not on your account of events. Photograph damaged items and get a written report for anything stolen before you leave the country.

• A higher excess is a reasonable trade if you can absorb small losses yourself
• Police reports for theft are usually mandatory, not optional, for a valid claim
• Keep all receipts — claims without them are frequently reduced or refused

When it's genuinely not worth buying

If your bookings are fully refundable, your destination has reciprocal healthcare cover with your home country, and you're not carrying valuable gear, the case for insurance is weaker — though medical cover abroad is rarely as complete as people assume, even with a reciprocal agreement. For any trip with non-refundable deposits, activities with real injury risk, or travel outside your home healthcare system, buying cover is a small cost against a large downside.

How to compare policies properly

Ignore the headline price and compare four numbers side by side: the medical and evacuation limit, the cancellation limit, the excess, and the baggage/gadget cap. A policy that's £15 cheaper but caps medical cover at a fraction of a comparable one is not the better deal. Comparison sites are a reasonable starting point, but read the policy wording document, not just the summary table, before you buy.

Frequently asked

Templates that pair with this