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Group travel insurance

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What is group travel insurance?

A group travel insurance policy can cover a group of up to 10 people travelling together.

You could choose cover that extends to your whole family, a group of friends or anyone you’re travelling with.

And you’ll usually get a discount for insuring everyone under the same policy.

Although anyone in the group with a pre-existing condition should think about taking out cover separately, or it could make the group policy more expensive for everyone.

Adult friends carrying snowboards in snowy mountains

What does group travel insurance cover?

Just like individual travel insurance, a group policy is designed to cover you against unexpected events that might affect your trip. 

This includes things like holiday cancellations, medical emergencies abroad, and lost or stolen money, possessions or baggage.

Some insurers will also cover a range of adventure activities or winter sports as standard, but others might have to be added to your policy for an additional cost. Always check the terms and conditions to be certain. 

You can also choose whether you’d like to be covered for European travel or if you’ll need a worldwide policy (including or excluding the USA, Canada and the Caribbean).

How does group travel insurance work?

Your group can be a mix of adults and children, or just adults. And everyone named on a group policy will be given the same level of cover.

Group travel insurance can be bought as single-trip, multi-trip or annual cover - handy if you’re planning several trips with the same group during the year.

However, you don’t always have to travel together. Depending on your insurer and whether you’ve bought annual cover, anyone over 18 named on your policy may also be covered to travel alone.

But some policies insist that children under 18 must travel with a parent or guardian.

Is a group policy better than individual travel cover?

Group travel insurance makes it quicker and easier to insure everyone in one go. It’s also likely to be cheaper than everyone taking out individual policies.

Plus, children are often included for free. And you may get additional benefits, like a higher level of baggage cover.

Having one group policy can also mean less hassle if you need to make a claim.

For example, if one of your group became ill and you needed to cancel the trip, you’d only need to claim once rather than everyone having to claim separately.

But it’s important to compare costs and policy details to find cover that’s right for everyone.

In some situations, particularly if one of you has pre-existing medical conditions, individual travel insurance policies may be a better option.

What won’t it cover?

There are some circumstances and situations that a group travel insurance policy is unlikely to cover, including:

  1. Travelling to certain destinations

    If you travel to destinations the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) advises against

  2. Members travelling separately

    Some policies won’t cover members of the group getting a different flight or arriving from different airports

  3. Group members over 65

    If you have elderly family or friends travelling with you, check the terms and conditions as they may need to take out separate specialist cover

  4. Pre-existing medical conditions

    If one of you has a serious health condition it can bump up the cost of a group travel policy or they may need to take out specialist insurance. It’s important to disclose conditions though

  5. If some of your party live in a different country

    You’ll usually only be covered if you’re all travelling from and returning to the UK

  6. Alcohol or drug misuse

    Injuries caused because of excessive alcohol consumption or from taking drugs won’t usually be covered

What level of cover do I need?

According to consumer group Which? you should look for policies offering £5 million medical cover per person and cover for at least £2,000 (or the value of your trip) for cancellation, curtailment and missed departure.[2]

Check your policy details to find out what you’ll be covered for in an emergency. For example - treatment, accommodation and returning home expenses.

You should also check the cover limits for baggage and belongings to make sure it’s adequate per person.

Getting cheaper group travel insurance

To get the best price for your travel insurance try to:

  1. Choose a higher excess

    Opt for the highest excess everyone can comfortably afford to reduce the premium amount

  2. Shop around

    Get quotes for a wide range of policies and check the terms and conditions

  3. Get free child cover

    Look for group travel insurance deals that cover children for free

  4. Compare policies

    Compare individual cover against a group policy to see which offers the best deal

What about package holidays or booking your own group travel?

If you’ve booked a package holiday, make sure its covered by ABTA or ATOL - check for the logo on the holiday company’s website and your documentation.

This can help provide you with a refund if the tour operator cancels your trip or goes bust, so you may not need to claim on your travel insurance.

On the other hand, if you’ve booked your own group travel it’s even more important to have the right cover.

Make sure you get a travel insurance policy that covers self-booking. And consider the type of policy you need, as well as the destination and cover limits.

If you’ve booked your flights directly with the airline you won’t get ATOL cover, so make sure your travel policy includes scheduled airline failure insurance (SAFI).

Frequently asked questions

You can get group policies that cover up to ten people. But if you want to cover more than this number on the same policy you may need to find a specialist insurer.

A group travel insurance policy might be worth considering if you can save money by taking out one policy rather than several individual ones.

It can also work out well if you can find one that offers to cover children for free. They may need to be under a certain age to qualify.

Plus, unlike when you take out a family policy, a group policy gives you the flexibility of not having to be related.

Also, if your trip had to be cancelled unexpectedly, group travel insurance means you’ll only need to claim once for everyone to get a refund.

Depending on your situation, group travel insurance may not always be the right choice.

For example, if you have elderly family or friends travelling with you, or someone with pre-existing medical conditions, it may be more expensive and you could struggle to find a group policy that will cover them.

Group cover may also not work if some of you need to fly from a different airport or live in a different country.

You’ll often get a discount if you buy group travel insurance instead of taking out separate individual policies. But this will vary between insurers.

The price you’re quoted will also depend on other factors, including the size of your group.

Some insurers will charge an excess for each member of your group or increase the overall policy excess, which could end up costing more than the claim in some circumstances.

And if you’re a family travelling together, you’ll usually pay less for insurance than a group of unrelated people, so you may find that a family policy works out cheaper.

So always shop around and compare cover to find the best option for you.

Yes, as long as you do this before your trip has begun, you may be able to add extra travellers but it will depend on the insurer - group policies will usually cover up to a maximum of 10 travellers on one policy.

Just be aware that if you add more people to your policy, it’s likely to increase the cost of your premium.

Yes, the Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC), or the older European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), gives you extra protection that you might need while you’re away.

It will let you access emergency and necessary state healthcare in European Union countries for free or at a reduced rate.

But having one doesn’t mean you don’t need travel insurance or vice versa. It’s always best to have both.

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Page last reviewed: 17 January 2023

Page reviewed by: Jasmine Hembury

[1]Gocompare.com introduces customers to theidol.com which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Gocompare.com's relationship with theidol.com is limited to that of a business partnership, no common ownership or control rights exist between us. Please note, we cannot be held responsible for the content of external websites and by using the links stated to access these separate websites you will be subject to the terms of use applying to those sites

[2]Which? Travel insurance explained. February 2022