How to claim on travel insurance
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WHEREVER YOU’RE GOING, TAKE PEACE OF MIND WITH YOU.
Travel insurance can protect against unexpected costs while you’re on holiday. It means you’re covered for things like replacing lost luggage and paying for emergency overseas medical expenses.
An important element of this type of insurance is the cancellation cover which reimburses your travel costs in the event of trip cancellation. That’s why it’s important to buy cover as soon as you book a holiday.
If you didn’t have travel insurance, you’d have to pay medical bills yourself or be left out of pocket for lost belongings, which could work out pretty pricey.
This makes travel insurance as essential as your passport. Don’t leave it off your holiday checklist.
What’s included in your travel insurance policy varies. Check your policy terms and conditions to be sure.
The best type of travel insurance for you depends on how often you plan to travel, where you’re going and for how long.
Covers one trip that lasts up to 30 days. This policy type is available for individuals, couples, families and groups
Great for if you have more than one short trip planned within a year. Like with single trip cover, it’s available no matter your group size.
This covers one trip which lasts from two to 18 months. You can buy this cover for individuals, couples, groups and families.
Family travel insurance covers one to two adults, and up to eight children. They must live with you and be under 18, otherwise you may need a group policy.
Like standard travel insurance, but it also covers business-related risks like company equipment and the costs of sending a replacement colleague if you’re unable to travel.
Covers everything standard travel insurance does, but with a few cruise-specific extras including cabin confinement and missed ports.
Technically no. Travel insurance isn't a legal requirement, but it could give you peace of mind if you're travelling abroad. Especially if you’re going somewhere that has no free healthcare.
According to the National Accident Helpline, treating a broken leg in the USA could cost you £25,550 in medical expenses[2]. Without travel insurance you'd have be liable to cover these costs yourself.
Some countries need you to have travel insurance with Covid-19 cover to enter. Check the country's entry requirements before you travel.
To help us find you the right cover, we’ll need to ask you a few questions like:
Your name, date of birth and those of your travelling party
Do you have just one trip planned or multiple ones this year?
A week or two, or an extended trip?
Whether that’s somewhere in Europe, or further afield
Whether you have any activities or sports planned
You need to declare all pre-existing medical conditions you have
According to data from theidol.com, the average cost of a single-trip travel insurance policy was £15.93 for policies bought in April 2023.[5]
Annual multi-trip policies cost more at £47.72 and backpacker policies were more expensive again at £115.26.
It's not just the type of policy that dictates the price you might pay. The following factors are all considered by insurers when they calculate your premium:
If you need travel insurance for a pre-existing medical condition, you need to let the insurer know. Otherwise, they won't cover you for it. If it gets worse while you're away, and you haven't declared it, they won't help you with any medical costs or repatriation.
Read more about travel insurance for pre-existing medical conditions
Older travellers tend to have existing medical conditions, so travel insurance can cost more. You can still get the right cover at the right price by comparing policies.
If your child is travelling alone, you can get travel insurance just for them. For example if they’re going on a school trip and you want to make sure they have more cover than the school’s standard policy.
You can upgrade your travel insurance policy if you need to. You’ll have to pay more for any add-ons, so consider whether they’re worth the extra cost.
Some insurers cover adventurous sports as standard. But the riskier an activity the less likely your insurer will cover it. You might be able to get more cover for an extra fee.
Planning on jet-skiing or canoeing? Standard policies might not cover particular water sports, but you might be able to add it for an extra fee.
Like with extreme sports, not all insurers offer winter sports cover as standard. You'll probably need this if you plan on skiing or doing any other winter sports. It'll usually cover things like piste closure or an air ambulance if you're injured on the slopes.
If your trip is affected by incidents outside of your control, you should be able to recover the costs. Things like if public transport breaks down on the way to the airport or if you can’t make your flight due to a natural disaster.
This can cover your golfing equipment, plus a range of other sporting-related risks to bring you extra peace of mind while you’re aiming for the fairway.
Travel insurance tends to cover the cost to get an emergency travel document if your passport is lost or stolen. But this likely won’t stretch to cover the expense of replacing your passport so think about whether you’d want to add passport cover to your policy.
Phones, laptops and cameras might not be covered by standard travel insurance. Consider whether travel gadget cover could be worthwhile to protect your pricier possessions.
If you're abroad and a natural disaster occurs, you could be injured, have your travel disrupted or need repatriating. Natural disasters aren't usually covered as standard, so you may have to pay extra to get cover for travel disruption.
This can cover things like disruption to your plans and alternative accommodation if a terrorist attack happens.
Try these top tips to get the most out of your travel insurance:
If you’re only taking one holiday this year, single-trip travel insurance is usually cheaper. But if you travel more often, annual multi-trip cover could save you money. Compare both to check.
If you’re travelling with friends or family, it might be cheaper to buy group travel insurance.
There’s no point buying cheap cover that excludes all the activities you’ll be doing on holiday. Make sure you buy a policy tailored to your needs. For example cruise insurance, or cover for specific sporting activities.
Don’t add lots of optional extras that you don’t really need. For example, instead of adding gadget cover, could you leave your expensive electronics at home instead?
Travel insurance is sometimes included with packaged bank accounts or credit cards. So, if you’re already covered, don’t waste money buying another policy you don’t need.
Offered travel insurance by your tour operator or travel agent? You could probably get a better deal by comparing quotes online instead. Only 15% of Britons said they’d switch their travel insurance[3], meaning they may be losing out on savings.
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Page last reviewed: 15 August 2023
Page reviewed by Holly Thomas
[1]As of May 2023, there are 43 active travel insurers on the panel at theidol.com
[2]National Accident Helpline. How much will you be out of pocket if you break a bone?. Retrieved August 2022.
[3]YouGov. Which insurance policies are Britons most likely to switch?. Retrieved August 2022.
[4]We checked Defaqto on 11 May 2023 and found that 60% of 1,046 annual travel insurance policies will cover cancellation if denied boarding due to Covid-19 on an outbound journey, and 55% policies will cover cancellation due to self isolation.
[5]Average price paid for all travel insurance by policy type in April 2023 at theidol.com
[6]All data based on average median travel insurance quotes recorded by theidol.com between November 2022 to April 2023.