Getting Started With Travel Insurance: What to Check Before You Buy

Key things to know

1. Buy travel insurance as soon as you book, and check it covers your whole trip, your destinations and any activities you have planned.
2. Declare every pre-existing medical condition, including any still being investigated, because non-disclosure can give the insurer grounds to void the policy.
3. A GHIC is free and covers necessary state healthcare in the EU, but it never pays for repatriation and is not a substitute for insurance.
4. Medical bills abroad can reach tens of thousands of pounds, so the medical limit matters more than the headline price.
5. Check the excess on each section of cover, since a cheap policy with a high excess may pay out far less than you expect.

Travel insurance is usually sold as a single product, but it is really a bundle of separate promises, each with its own limit and its own exclusions. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) advises taking out appropriate cover before you go, because without it you would have to meet emergency costs yourself, and medical care abroad can run into thousands of pounds. This guide walks through what a policy actually does, which cover areas to compare, and the checks that keep a claim valid.

What a Travel Policy Actually Promises to Do

A travel policy is a promise to pay for defined problems during a defined trip. It covers things such as medical emergencies abroad, getting you home, cancellation and lost or stolen baggage, but only within the terms of the policy booklet. The government is blunt about what happens when the terms are not met: travelling against FCDO advice, skipping a declaration, or buying a policy that excludes your planned activity can all leave you with no valid claim.

The policy also defines where and when it applies. Policies often cap how long a single trip can last and set an annual ceiling on the number of days you can spend abroad, so a three-week holiday needs a policy that allows three weeks. Cover should also extend to every country you visit, including any you only pass through in transit.

The Cover Areas That Matter Most

Most UK policies combine several types of cover into one package. Four areas are worth understanding before you compare prices.

Medical and repatriation. This pays for treatment if you fall ill or are injured abroad, and for getting you home on medical grounds. Ambulances and other emergency transport are commonly billed as a separate item from hospital treatment, and a medical flight home is expensive in its own right. The sums can be large: the government cites surgery for a broken leg in the Canary Islands at over £10,000, and an accident in Greece requiring surgery and flights home at around £30,000. One uninsured young person, holidaying with their family, needed urgent hospital care and a medical flight home after colliding with a paraglider; the total reached £45,000.

Cancellation. This can repay non-refundable costs if you have to cancel for a reason the policy covers. Not all policies cover cancellation, and the exact circumstances that count vary, so check the terms rather than assuming.

Baggage and belongings. Cover for lost, stolen or damaged items, usually with a cap per item and per claim.

Personal liability. Cover if you injure someone or damage their property and they hold you responsible. Limits and exclusions vary between policies, so it is worth reading this section if you plan activities such as driving abroad.

Why Limits and Excess Matter More Than the Price

Every section of cover has a limit, the maximum the insurer will pay, and an excess, the amount you contribute towards a claim. Two policies can look similar on price and differ sharply on both. A policy with a low medical limit is a poor buy even if it is cheap, because a serious hospital stay can exhaust it quickly.

Excesses often apply separately to different sections, so a baggage claim and a medical claim each carry their own contribution. Our article on insurance excess explained covers how compulsory and voluntary excesses work across policy types. When you compare quotes, look past the headline premium and note the medical limit, the cancellation limit and the excess on each section.

Worth doing: Open the policy booklet, not just the summary page. The summary shows what is covered; the booklet shows the exclusions that decide claims.

Declaring Your Health and Circumstances

You must tell the insurer about any health condition you already have, including ones a doctor is still investigating, and about any treatment or tests you are waiting for. If something is left out, the insurer can have grounds to void the policy entirely. The recorded cases are sobering: one traveller’s medical costs after a stroke abroad were refused because a previous stroke had not been declared, and another’s £23,000 bill was refused after a motorbike accident because the policy set an engine limit of 50cc and the bike being ridden was a 125cc model.

The same care applies to activities. If you plan to ski, dive or ride a quad bike, check the policy covers it, because some activities need an add-on or specialist cover. Our article on travel insurance and pre-existing conditions explains the screening process in more detail.

How the GHIC Fits Alongside Travel Insurance

A UK Global Health Insurance Card, or GHIC, lets you use necessary state healthcare in the EU, and some other countries, paying what a local resident would pay, which may be nothing. The card is free, lasts up to five years and should be applied for through the NHS website, because unofficial sites charge fees. Every family member needs their own card, and you can renew up to nine months before an existing card expires.

A GHIC is not a substitute for insurance. It never pays for repatriation, it does not help with cancellation or baggage, and private travel insurance is still recommended for the duration of your trip.

Red Flags and a Five-Minute Checklist

Treat these as warning signs when a quote looks unusually cheap: a medical limit well below comparable policies, high excesses, exclusions that name your destination or activity, and short windows for telling the insurer about an emergency. Our guide to using comparison sites shows how to compare results without missing these details, and how to make an insurance claim explains what happens if you need to use the policy.

Before you buy, run through this list: your cover runs from departure to your return and includes every destination, transit countries included; your health conditions and pending tests are declared; your planned activities are included; the medical and cancellation limits are adequate; the excesses are affordable; and you know the emergency assistance number.

Once the policy is in place, print a copy, save the insurer’s emergency number and your policy number on your phone, and share the details with travel companions and family at home.

For a concrete first step, dig out your last trip booking or the one you are about to make, and use its dates, destination and cost as the basis for your first comparison quote.

Questions answered

When should I buy travel insurance?
Official guidance is to arrange cover as soon as you have booked your trip. Buying early means cancellation cover applies from the moment you have paid for flights, accommodation or other trip costs.

Do I need travel insurance for Europe if I have a GHIC?
Yes. The card lets you use state healthcare in the EU on the same terms as a local resident, but it never pays for getting you home and it does not replace travel insurance.

What happens if I do not declare a medical condition?
An undisclosed condition can give the insurer grounds to void the policy, which means a related claim can be refused in full. There is a recorded case of medical costs being refused after a stroke abroad because a previous stroke had not been declared.

Does travel insurance cover quad bikes and moped hire abroad?
Only if the policy says so, so check before you hire. Many policies cap the engine size they will cover and expect you to hold the UK licence the vehicle would need at home.