UK gadget cover in 60 seconds
What standard travel insurance actually pays for your gadgets
Quick answer if you only have 30 secondsIf your gadgets are worth more than £1,500 in total, or any one item is worth more than £300, your standard travel insurance is almost certainly not enough. Add a gadget pack, check your home contents away-from-home extension, or buy a standalone gadget policy. The calculator below tells you the exact gap on your specific kit.
"My travel insurance covers my phone" — and the single-item limit that says otherwise
Most UK travel policies do cover gadgets. They just cover them up to a single-item limit that has not kept pace with what people pack. A typical phone sold in 2026 costs £700 to £1,200. A typical single-item limit on a mainstream travel policy is £100 to £300, per Which? research on baggage and gadget cover.
That gap quietly turns into a refund a fraction of what most travellers expect. A stolen £900 phone on a policy with a £250 single-item limit and a £100 excess pays out £150. The same theft on a gadget add-on raising the per-item limit to £1,500 pays the real depreciated value, minus the excess.
Which? recommends total personal-belongings cover of at least £1,500, or the full value of what you are taking, whichever is higher. Anything under that and you are partly self-insuring. The trap is not that you have no cover; it is that the cover you have only matches a 2010 packing list.
The non-obvious truthThe baggage limit on your policy is rarely the binding number. It is the single-item limit, buried two pages into the policy wording, that decides what your phone, laptop or camera is actually worth to the insurer.
How UK gadget cover is actually structured
There are four real ways to insure your gadgets on a UK trip. They overlap. You should choose, not stack:
1. Standard baggage cover (included)
Your gadgets sit under the general baggage limit, capped by the policy's single-item limit.
Best for: travellers with one cheap phone and nothing else of value.
2. Gadget add-on (optional)
A paid extension on the same travel policy that lifts the per-item limit to £1,000 to £1,500.
Best for: a smartphone, tablet or laptop worth more than £300 each.
3. Standalone gadget insurance
A separate annual policy from a gadget specialist (Switched On, Gadget Cover, Protect Your Bubble, So-Sure).
Best for: multiple high-value devices, year-round cover at home and abroad.
4. Home contents — away-from-home
An extension on your home insurance that covers personal possessions outside the house.
Best for: households that already pay for contents cover and want the cheapest top-up.
Stacking these does not multiply your payout. If a single phone is lost, the insurer that pays is normally the one with the most specific cover (a standalone gadget policy beats a generic baggage limit), and you cannot claim twice. Pick the layer that matches the most valuable item you carry.
Gadget single-item limit gap calculator
Tick the devices you are taking, enter their value, and set your travel insurance's single-item limit and baggage cap. The calculator shows how much you would actually be paid out per item and the total gap to close.
Devices and policy limits
Tick what you are taking
Standard travel policies sit at £100 to £300. Gadget add-ons raise this to £1,000 to £1,500.
The headline number on most policies; usually £1,500 to £3,000.
Typically £75 to £250 on a mainstream UK policy.
Your real cover
Total value of selected gadgets
£
Estimated payout from your policy
£
% of total value
Potential out-of-pocket gap
£
Per-item breakdown
No devices selected.
Verdict
Figures are estimates based on policy schedules. Real payouts depend on the insurer's depreciation rules, the condition of the claim and whether you can produce receipts.
What gadget add-ons actually cover (and what they leave out)
Gadget add-ons are not all the same product. The headline limit (£1,000 or £1,500 per item) is the easy part. What varies most is the list of risks the add-on accepts.
| Cover type | Usually covered | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Accidental damage | Drops, cracked screens, liquid spills. | Pre-existing cracks are excluded; receipts often required. |
| Theft | Forced theft or theft from a locked place. | Police report within 24 hours is mandatory. |
| Loss | Items genuinely lost in transit or on the move. | Often higher excess; unattended items still excluded. |
| Water damage | Sudden accidental ingress. | Slow corrosion or routine submersion is excluded. |
| Mechanical failure | Rare on travel add-ons. | Standalone gadget insurance is usually the only route. |
| Unauthorised use | Calls or e-wallet charges after theft. | Capped (often £100) and only for the first 24 hours. |
Sources: published policy wordings from mainstream UK travel insurers and Which? gadget cover research, May 2026.
Depreciation is the silent reducer. Most add-ons pay a depreciated value, not the cost of a new replacement. A two-year-old phone might be valued at 50% to 60% of its original price; a three-year-old phone at 30% to 40%. If the original cost was £900, expect a real payout of £270 to £540 before excess. Standalone gadget specialists are more likely to pay full like-for-like replacement, though their premiums are higher.
Standalone gadget insurance vs travel add-on: which one wins?
A travel add-on is the right product for a single trip. A standalone gadget policy is the right product if you want year-round cover at home and abroad, or if the total value of your devices comfortably exceeds the Which?-recommended £1,500 personal-belongings cover.
| Feature | Travel insurance gadget add-on | Standalone gadget insurance |
|---|---|---|
| Per-item limit | £1,000 to £1,500 | Full replacement, up to the insured value |
| Recommended cover (Which?) | £1,500 minimum total belongings | Match the real value of devices |
| When it applies | Only while abroad on the insured trip | UK and overseas, all year |
| Mechanical failure | Rare | Usually included after 30 days |
| Premium | £10 to £25 on a single-trip policy; £30 to £60 on an annual policy | £5 to £15 per device per month, depending on value |
| Depreciation | Applied at claim time | Often waived for in-policy replacements |
| Best for | One trip with a phone, laptop and headphones | A household with multiple high-value devices |
Sources: Which? gadget cover research and published schedules from Switched On Insurance, Gadget Cover, Protect Your Bubble and So-Sure, May 2026.
The honest splitIf your gadgets are worth less than £1,000 in total and you take one or two trips a year, a travel add-on is the right call. Above £1,500 of devices, or for anyone who replaces phones on contract, standalone gadget insurance is usually the better long-term spend.
Home contents away-from-home extension: the cheapest route most travellers ignore
If you already pay for home contents insurance, the cheapest way to protect your gadgets abroad is usually to add a personal possessions or "away-from-home" extension to that policy, not to buy a travel insurance add-on.
An away-from-home extension typically costs £15 to £40 a year on top of contents cover, with a per-item limit of £1,000 to £2,500 depending on the insurer. Compare that with a travel insurance gadget add-on at £10 to £25 per single trip, or £30 to £60 on an annual travel policy.
Three details matter when you take this route:
- You must declare high-value items separately. Most contents policies cap unspecified single items at £1,500 to £2,500; anything above that needs to be listed by serial number.
- Excess applies twice if you have both home contents and travel insurance covering the same loss. Pick the policy that pays best and claim there only.
- Reasonable care still applies. A phone left on a beach towel is unattended whether you claim on contents or on travel.
Insider insight: the four things that quietly cut your gadget payout
Reading policy wordings full-time for a living surfaces the same four reducers, over and over:
- Depreciation curves are steeper than people expect. A phone bought new for £900 in 2024 is often valued at £360 to £540 at claim time in 2026. Even on a £1,500 single-item limit, you would not receive the £1,500.
- Receipts and IMEI numbers matter more than the policy summary suggests. Insurers often require the original purchase receipt; failing that, the IMEI tied to a UK network contract. Take photos of both before you fly.
- Unattended-gadget exclusions are wider than baggage exclusions. A phone left at a beach bar while you swim is unattended. A camera in a hotel safe is not. The grey area in the middle (a laptop in a locked hire car, a tablet in a hostel locker) is where most refusals happen.
- Airport luggage-hold exclusion catches almost everyone. Almost no UK travel policy or gadget add-on covers electronics put into checked luggage. Carry phones, laptops, tablets, cameras and drones in your hand baggage; if they are in the hold and go missing, you are on the airline's contract of carriage, not your insurance.
One photo to take before you flyOpen the device's settings, screenshot the serial number or IMEI page, photograph the receipt or contract page, and save both to your phone's cloud. That single 60-second step makes the difference between a paid claim and a refused one for a meaningful share of UK gadget claims.
What you should actually do
Three concrete steps, in order:
- List the devices you actually take. Add up the total cost. If the total exceeds £1,500, your standard travel insurance is not enough on its own.
- Find the binding single-item limit, not the headline baggage limit. It will be in the schedule of benefits or two pages into the policy wording. Run it through the calculator above with the value of your most expensive device.
- Choose one layer of cover: a gadget add-on for one trip with a phone and a laptop; a home contents away-from-home extension if you already have contents; a standalone gadget policy if you replace phones on contract or carry more than £1,500 of devices. Do not stack and pay twice.
Compare UK travel insurance with the right gadget cover
Selectra's UK insurance team can match you to a policy whose single-item limit fits what you actually carry, not the average packing list.
See all UK travel insurance guidesUK gadget travel insurance FAQ
All material on this page is for information purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Premium ranges and policy figures are reference points as of May 2026; always confirm current cover and price with the insurer before purchase.