Travel insurance is one of those things you don’t think about until you need it. And when you need it, you really need it. This guide covers what travel insurance actually pays for, how much cover you need, what’s excluded, and how to buy the right policy for your trip.
What Travel Insurance Covers
| Cover Type | Typical Limit | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Medical expenses | £1–10 million | Hospital, ambulance, repatriation |
| Trip cancellation | £1,000–10,000 | Missed flights, illness, bereavement |
| Lost luggage | £500–2,000 | Bags delayed or lost |
| Personal liability | £1–2 million | Injuries to others, property damage |
| Legal assistance | Up to £50,000 | Legal fees abroad |
Medical cover is the reason to buy insurance at all. A US hospital stay can exceed $100,000 for a serious condition, and an air ambulance back to the UK typically costs £20,000-100,000. A £1 million medical limit sounds like a lot until you see a US invoice.
The Cost of Going Uninsured
A few realistic numbers:
- Emergency appendectomy abroad: £15,000-40,000
- Heart attack treatment and aftercare overseas: £60,000+
- Air ambulance repatriation to the UK: £20,000+
- Broken leg with surgery in the US: £30,000+
Compare that to a policy costing £20-40. Insurance isn’t priced against your trip — it’s priced against the worst-case medical bill, which is why even budget policies carry high medical limits.
Single Trip vs Annual Cover
| Type | Best For | Typical Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Single trip | One holiday per year | £15–40 |
| Annual (multi-trip) | 2+ trips per year | £50–150 |
| Backpacker | Long-term travel (3–18 months) | £100–300 |
| Winter sports | Skiing or snowboarding | £30–80 extra |
If you take two or more holidays a year, annual multi-trip cover usually wins. Two £30 single-trip policies cost more than one £60 annual policy — and the annual policy covers weekend breaks and short hops you wouldn’t otherwise insure. Backpacker policies matter because standard single-trip cover typically caps trips at 31 days.
What’s Usually Excluded
- Pre-existing medical conditions (unless declared)
- Adventure sports (climbing, scuba diving — unless added)
- Travel to government-advised destinations
- Incidents involving alcohol or drugs
- Negligence (leaving bags unattended)
- Valuables — most policies cap single items at £250-£500 and require receipts
Check single-item limits before you travel with an expensive camera or laptop. A “£1,000 lost luggage” limit usually means a few hundred per item, not £1,000 for your phone.
The Excess
Most policies carry an excess of £50-£250 per claim — the amount you pay before the insurer pays out. Choosing a higher excess cuts your premium, sometimes by 15-25%. It’s a reasonable trade if you’re insuring against catastrophe rather than small claims, since you’d claim rarely anyway.
Medical Conditions: What You Must Know
Not declaring a medical condition can void your entire policy. If you have:
- Heart conditions
- Respiratory issues
- Cancer
- Diabetes
- Pregnancy complications
…you must declare them. Specialist policies exist for pre-existing conditions, and the screening process on comparison sites will walk you through it. Declaring a condition may raise your premium by £50-200 — still trivial next to an uninsured medical bill.
EHIC / GHIC Is Not Enough
The UK Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) covers state-provided healthcare in EU countries at reduced cost. It does NOT cover:
- Private hospital care
- Repatriation to the UK
- Mountain rescue
- Dental emergencies
Always get travel insurance even with a GHIC.
Add-Ons Worth Considering
- Winter sports — off-piste cover, piste closures, equipment hire
- Cruise cover — medical care on board and missed ports
- Business cover — for work travel and equipment
- “Cancel for any reason” — a pricier upgrade that drops the reason restrictions
When to Buy
Buy travel insurance as soon as you book your trip. If you need to cancel before departure, you’re covered from day one. Buy it later and you can’t claim for a cancellation reason that already existed when you bought the policy.
How to Choose
| Factor | What to Check |
|---|---|
| Medical cover | At least £5 million |
| Cancellation cover | At least £3,000 (match your non-refundable spend) |
| Excess | Lower is better |
| 24-hour helpline | Must be available |
| Reviews | Check Trustpilot |
Read the policy wording, not just the headline. Look at the general exclusions and the per-item limits, and keep a copy on your phone plus a screenshot in your files.
Making a Claim
- Report theft to the local police and get a crime reference number
- Keep receipts, boarding passes, and medical paperwork
- Contact your insurer within 24 hours of an incident
- Don’t accept treatment, sign settlements, or agree to pay charges before checking your cover
Bottom Line
Never travel without insurance. One medical emergency abroad can cost tens of thousands. Annual cover is cheap if you travel more than once a year. Always declare medical conditions — hiding them invalidates your cover.
What matters most
Travel insurance is priced against your worst-case medical bill, not your trip cost, so the cover limits matter far more than the headline premium. The single highest-impact choice is medical cover of at least £5 million, because treating a serious condition abroad — especially in the US — can run to six figures. The second is timing: buying as soon as you book means you’re covered from day one, including for a cancellation whose cause already exists. The third is disclosure. Hiding a pre-existing condition voids your whole policy, so declare it even though it may add £50-200 to the premium — that’s trivial next to an uninsured bill.
Common questions
What exactly does cancellation cover pay for? It reimburses non-refundable trip costs — flights, accommodation, tours — when you must cancel for a covered reason such as illness, bereavement, or a missed connection. Match the cancellation limit to your actual non-refundable spend, commonly at least £3,000, because a limit below what you’ve paid leaves you short.
Why is a lost-luggage limit not what it seems? Policies typically cap single items at £250-£500 and require receipts. So a “£1,000 lost luggage” limit usually means a few hundred per item, not £1,000 for one phone. If you travel with an expensive camera or laptop, check the per-item cap and insure valuables accordingly.
Does my annual policy cover long backpacking trips? Standard single-trip cover typically caps trips at around 31 days, and ordinary annual policies have per-trip limits too. For journeys of 3-18 months, you need a dedicated backpacker policy, which costs roughly £100-300 and is built for extended travel.
Choosing and buying the right policy
Start with the destination and the reason for travel, since those drive the risk. Check the medical limit is at least £5 million and the cancellation limit matches the value of your non-refundable spend. Decide between a £15-40 single-trip policy and a £50-150 annual multi-trip policy — the annual one usually wins if you travel twice or more a year, and it also covers short weekend breaks. Add winter-sports or cruise cover only if they apply to your trip. Then read the policy wording, not just the brochure: check the general exclusions, per-item limits, and excess, and keep a copy on your phone plus a screenshot. Buy the moment you book so your cancellation cover is live from day one.
Making a claim well
Good claims handling begins before any incident. Report theft to the local police and obtain a crime reference number, since insurers require it. Keep receipts, boarding passes, and all medical paperwork. Contact your insurer within 24 hours of an incident, and don’t accept treatment, sign settlements, or agree to pay charges before checking whether your cover applies. Understanding the excess — the £50-250 you pay per claim before the insurer pays out — helps you decide whether a small claim is worth submitting or whether a higher excess and lower premium was the right trade for a policy aimed at catastrophe rather than minor costs.
Bottom line
Never travel without insurance. One medical emergency abroad can cost tens of thousands of pounds, and the premium of £20-40 is a rounding error against that risk. Choose a policy with at least £5 million of medical cover, buy it the moment you book, and declare every medical condition. If you travel more than once a year, annual multi-trip cover is cheap and convenient. Read the exclusions, mind the per-item limits, and keep your paperwork — because travel insurance is only as good as the policy wording and the claim you can actually prove.