Do I need travel insurance?

Travel insurance is usually bought for the cheap things and needed for the expensive one. Almost the entire value of the policy sits in the emergency medical section.

Safety

Step by step

1. Understand what the real risk is.Not a lost suitcase. Emergency treatment abroad and medical repatriation can run into tens of thousands, and in the United States considerably more. That is what you are insuring against.
2. Buy it when you book, not before you go.Cancellation cover starts from the day of purchase. Buying it the week before departure means the months in which something might have forced you to cancel were uninsured.
3. Declare every pre-existing medical condition.The most important step by a long way. Undeclared conditions are the commonest reason claims are refused, and insurers do check medical records. Declare anything you have seen a doctor about, including things that feel resolved.
4. Declare medication and recent investigations.Ongoing prescriptions, tests you are awaiting results for, and referrals. An awaited result is a declarable circumstance even if nothing has been diagnosed.
5. Do not assume a refusal means no cover.If a mainstream insurer declines or quotes very high because of a condition, specialist medical travel insurers exist and are often reasonable. Being uninsured is a far worse outcome.
6. Get a GHIC and understand its limits.The UK Global Health Insurance Card gives access to state healthcare in the EU on the same terms as a local. It is free and worth having, but it does not cover repatriation, private treatment or cancellation.
7. Check the medical cover limit.Look for several million pounds, particularly for the United States. A low medical limit is the sign of a policy that is cheap for the wrong reason.
8. Check the activity list.Skiing, scuba diving, quad biking, and sometimes even hiking above a certain altitude are excluded as standard. Winter sports cover is almost always a separate add-on.
9. Read the alcohol exclusion.Most policies exclude claims where alcohol was a contributing factor. It is applied more often than people expect, particularly to accidents.
10. Compare the excess, not just the premium.A cheap policy with a high excess per section can leave you paying most of a moderate claim yourself. Some policies apply the excess separately to each part of a claim.
11. Decide between single trip and annual.Two or three trips a year usually makes annual multi-trip cheaper. Check the maximum trip length, which is often 31 days and catches out longer holidays.
12. Check what you already have.Packaged bank accounts and some credit cards include travel insurance. It is often decent, but check the age limits, the medical declarations and whether it covers everyone travelling.
13. Check the cancellation reasons.Policies list what counts. Illness and bereavement usually do; changing your mind, work commitments and Foreign Office advice changes often do not.
14. Cover the right destinations.Worldwide policies frequently price the United States, Canada and the Caribbean separately because of medical costs. Buying Europe-only and travelling further leaves you uninsured.
15. Take the details with you.Policy number and the 24-hour emergency assistance number, saved on your phone and written on paper. Ring them before agreeing to treatment where you can.
16. Keep every receipt and report.For theft, a police report is usually mandatory and often required within 24 hours. Claims fail on missing paperwork more often than on the substance.

Tips

• Buy it when you book. Cancellation cover runs from the purchase date, not the travel date.
• Declare everything medical, including awaited test results. It is the main reason claims fail.
• A GHIC is free and useful, and it is not travel insurance.

Common mistakes

• Not declaring a pre-existing condition — It is the commonest reason claims are refused, and insurers check medical records after a large claim. An undeclared condition can invalidate the entire policy, not just that claim.
• Treating a GHIC as sufficient cover — It only gives access to state healthcare in participating countries on the same terms as a local. It does not pay for repatriation, private treatment, or a cancelled trip.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask