Travel insurance is one of those purchases people either skip entirely or buy blindly without reading the policy. Both approaches carry risk. Here's what travel insurance actually does, what it typically excludes, and how to choose a policy that matches your trip.
What Travel Insurance Typically Covers
Medical Emergencies
This is the most important coverage, especially for international travel. Your domestic health insurance or national healthcare system (NHS, for UK residents) generally does not cover treatment abroad, or covers it only partially.
Good travel medical coverage includes:
- Emergency treatment costs
- Hospital stays
- Emergency medical evacuation (this alone can cost £50,000+ in remote regions)
- Repatriation if you need to be flown home for treatment
Coverage levels to look for: At least £1–2 million for medical coverage on international trips; more for trips to the US, where healthcare costs are exceptionally high.
Trip Cancellation and Interruption
Reimburses non-refundable costs (flights, hotels, tours) if you have to cancel or cut short your trip due to covered reasons — typically illness, injury, death of a family member, or sometimes redundancy.
Important: "Covered reasons" is a defined list. General anxiety about travelling, changing your mind, or wanting to avoid a destination due to news events typically isn't covered unless you've purchased "cancel for any reason" coverage (more expensive, and usually only reimburses 50–75% of costs).
Baggage and Belongings
Covers lost, stolen, or damaged luggage and personal items, usually with per-item limits (often £200–300 for a single item like a laptop or camera) and an overall cap.
Travel Delay
Provides a daily allowance for delays beyond a certain threshold (often 12 hours), covering meals and accommodation if you're stuck somewhere unexpectedly.
Personal Liability
Covers you if you accidentally injure someone or damage property while travelling — relevant for skiing accidents, for example.
What's Usually NOT Covered
Pre-Existing Medical Conditions
Most standard policies exclude pre-existing conditions unless you declare them and pay an additional premium. If you have an ongoing health condition, declare it — claims can be denied entirely if an undeclared condition is found to be relevant, even to an unrelated claim.
Extreme Sports and Activities
Skiing, scuba diving below certain depths, and many adventure activities require an add-on or separate "adventure sports" policy. Check this carefully if your trip involves anything beyond typical sightseeing.
Travelling Against Government Advice
If your government advises against travel to a region and you go anyway, most policies won't cover claims related to that decision.
Alcohol or Drug-Related Incidents
Claims arising from being under the influence are typically excluded.
"Reasonable Care" Failures
Leaving belongings unattended in a public place, or failing to report theft to local police within a specified time (often 24 hours) to get a police report, can void baggage claims.
Annual Multi-Trip vs. Single-Trip Policies
If you take more than 2–3 trips per year, an annual multi-trip policy is almost always cheaper than buying single-trip cover each time. Most annual policies cap individual trip lengths (commonly 30 or 45 days) — check this matches your typical trip length.
Credit Card Travel Insurance
Some premium credit cards include travel insurance as a benefit, but the coverage levels and exclusions vary enormously. Some require you to have paid for the trip with that card to activate coverage. Read the policy document specifically — don't assume "my card covers it" without checking.
How to Choose
- Match medical coverage to your destination — higher for the US, Canada, and remote regions
- Declare all pre-existing conditions honestly
- Check activity coverage if your trip includes sports
- Compare cancellation coverage against your actual non-refundable costs
- Read the excess (deductible) — a cheap policy with a high excess may cost more in a real claim than a slightly pricier policy with a low excess
The Bottom Line
Travel insurance is genuinely cheap relative to the financial exposure it removes — a comprehensive annual policy often costs less than a single night in a mid-range hotel. The value isn't in whether you'll need it on a given trip; it's in not being financially exposed to a six-figure medical bill on the trip where something does go wrong.
Insurance is one part of trip planning — finding the flight is another. AirHuntr tracks airline deals so the trip you're insuring doesn't cost more than it needs to.
