Quick answer: travel insurance explained
Travel insurance protects you against the cost of medical emergencies abroad, cancelled or cut-short trips, and lost, stolen or delayed baggage. The medical section is the most important: the NHS does not pay foreign hospital bills, and a GHIC card alone does not cover repatriation. UK travel insurers pay out hundreds of millions of pounds a year, and most of that money is medical.
- Paid out a year
- £406m
- UK travel claims (ABI)
- Average medical claim
- £2,418
- Overseas treatment (ABI)
- Of payouts are medical
- 53%
- By value (ABI)
- Trips uninsured
- 38%
- Or under-insured (ABTA)
Do you need travel insurance?
Travel insurance is not compulsory, but it is one of the few products where the worst-case cost dwarfs the premium. The main reason to hold it is emergency medical care abroad. A serious illness or accident overseas can mean an air ambulance home and a private hospital bill, and the NHS will not settle a foreign invoice. That is why medical claims make up the majority of the money UK travel insurers pay out each year.
The second reason is money you have already committed. Flights, accommodation and excursions are usually non-refundable, so if you have to cancel for a covered reason such as serious illness, redundancy or bereavement, cancellation cover refunds those prepaid costs. The third is the everyday risk of lost, stolen or delayed baggage and the disruption of long delays or missed departures.
A GHIC card (the replacement for the EHIC) entitles you to state-provided healthcare in EU countries at the same cost as a local resident, but it does not cover private treatment, repatriation, lost baggage or cancellation. It is a useful complement to travel insurance, never a substitute for it. Around two in five UK trips are still taken with no policy or the wrong one, which is exactly the gap insurance is meant to close.
Buy on the day you book. Cancellation cover only protects costs you incur after the policy starts. If you wait until just before you fly, any deposit you forfeit in the meantime is uninsurable. Buying early is the single cheapest way to widen your cover.
The six core sections
What travel insurance covers
A standard UK policy is built from six sections. Higher tiers raise the caps and add optional extras, but these are the parts every policy should include.
Emergency medical care
Hospital treatment, repatriation and a 24-hour assistance line if you fall ill or are injured abroad. This is the single most important section.
Cancellation and cutting short
Refunds your prepaid, non-refundable costs if you have to cancel or come home early for a covered reason such as serious illness, redundancy or bereavement.
Lost, stolen or damaged baggage
A total baggage limit with a per-item cap, plus emergency replacement of essentials if your luggage is delayed on the outbound leg.
Travel delay and missed departure
A fixed sum for long delays and the cost of catching up with your trip if you miss the departure for a reason outside your control.
Personal liability
Covers compensation if you injure someone or damage their property abroad, including in hotels and rental accommodation.
Passport and money
Emergency cash and the cost of replacing a lost or stolen passport, driving licence or travel documents while you are away.
Small print, big consequences
What travel insurance does not cover
Most refused claims trace back to one of these exclusions. Reading the exclusions list is as important as reading what is covered.
Undeclared medical conditions
A pre-existing condition you did not declare can invalidate the whole policy, not just the related claim. Always declare honestly.
Risky activities not added on
Skiing, scuba below a set depth, motorbikes over a certain engine size and trekking above set altitudes are excluded unless you add an activity pack.
Alcohol and drug-related incidents
Claims for accidents or losses where you were under the influence are routinely refused. This is one of the most common reasons a claim is declined.
Unattended belongings
Baggage left somewhere visible and unattended, or out of your arm's reach, is generally not covered when it is taken.
Travel against official advice
Trips to a destination the Foreign Office advises against, or against medical advice, fall outside cover.
Known events before you bought
You cannot insure against something already happening or already known when you took the policy out, such as a strike already announced.
Single-trip, annual, backpacker, family
Types of travel insurance compared
Choosing the right format matters more than the brand. Pick the policy type that matches how you travel, then compare cover levels inside it.
| Policy type | Best for | How it works | Watch out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single-trip One holiday a year | Cheapest format if you travel once or twice a year. Cover dates exactly match the trip. | Covers a single return journey, from the day you buy until you return home. | Buying a separate policy for each trip works out dearer than an annual policy once you take three or more breaks a year. |
| Annual multi-trip Two or more trips a year | Cheaper than separate single-trip cover from the second journey onward. Set and forget for the year. | One policy covers every trip in a 12-month period, usually with a per-trip duration cap of 17 to 31 days. | Each individual trip cannot exceed the duration cap, and the geographic zone is fixed when you buy. |
| Backpacker / long stay Gap years and sabbaticals | Built for extended travel that ordinary single-trip cover will not stretch to. | Continuous cover for one long trip of up to 18 to 24 months, often multi-country and one-way. | Cancellation cover is usually thinner. Pair it with separate cover for any high-value pre-booked element. |
| Family Couples and households | Children are often added free on annual family policies, and named adults can travel solo. | One policy covers two adults plus dependent children, on single-trip or annual terms. | Check the maximum child age (typically 18, or 21 to 23 in full-time education) and whether solo adult trips are included. |
Specialist variants such as winter sports, cruise and pre-existing medical condition cover sit on top of these four core formats.
How to choose the right travel insurance in four steps
The framework works for any trip. Get the format and cover levels right first, then weigh up price last rather than the other way around.
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1
Match the policy type to how you travel
Single-trip for one holiday, annual multi-trip from the second trip of the year, backpacker for anything over a month. Pick the format before you look at price.
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2
Set the cover-level minimums
Aim for at least £2m medical in Europe, £5m in Asia or Australia and £10m for the USA, Canada or the Caribbean. Match cancellation cover to the full prepaid trip cost.
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3
Declare everything and add your activities
Declare all pre-existing conditions and add the activity pack for skiing, watersports or anything adventurous. An undeclared detail is the fastest way to a refused claim.
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4
Read the IPID before you pay
The Insurance Product Information Document is two plain-English pages showing the cover caps, excesses and exclusions. The headline price means little without it.
Go deeper
Travel insurance guides by scenario
Single-trip, annual, family, backpacker, ski, cruise, gadgets, claims and the GHIC. Each guide is a deep dive on one specific scenario.
Single-trip insurance
Cover for one holiday a year, cheapest format for occasional travellers.
Read the guideAnnual multi-trip
One policy covers every trip in the year, cheaper from the second journey.
Read the guideFamily travel insurance
Children usually free on annual policies, plus solo travel for named adults.
Read the guideBackpacker / long stay
Continuous worldwide cover for up to 18 to 24 months, gap years and sabbaticals.
Read the guidePre-existing conditions
How to declare, and the specialist route if you are loaded or declined.
Read the guideWinter sports cover
Mountain rescue, off-piste cover, lift-pass refund and ski equipment.
Read the guideCruise insurance
Cabin confinement, missed ports and medical evacuation at sea.
Read the guideGadgets and valuables
Phones, laptops, cameras and jewellery beyond the single-item cap.
Read the guideClaims, step by step
Documentation, 24-hour helplines and how to escalate to the Ombudsman.
Read the guideGHIC vs travel insurance
What the free NHS card covers, and why it is never a replacement.
Read the guideTravel insurance, the questions readers ask
The Selectra expert answers your questions
It is not a legal requirement, but for any trip with prepaid costs or overseas medical risk it is strongly advised. The biggest reason is medical care abroad, where an emergency hospital stay can run into tens or hundreds of thousands of pounds and the NHS will not pay foreign bills. UK travel insurers pay out hundreds of millions of pounds a year, the majority of it on medical claims. A free GHIC card helps inside the EU but only covers state healthcare at local rates, never repatriation, so it is a complement to travel insurance and not a replacement.
A standard UK policy covers six core areas: emergency medical treatment and repatriation, cancellation or cutting a trip short for a covered reason, lost, stolen or damaged baggage, travel delay and missed departure, personal liability, and lost passport or money. Higher tiers add bigger caps and optional extras such as gadget cover, business trips or specific activities. The medical and cancellation sections are the ones that matter most.
The most common exclusions are undeclared pre-existing conditions, risky activities you did not add as an extra (skiing, scuba diving, motorbikes, high-altitude trekking), alcohol or drug-related incidents, belongings left unattended, and travel against Foreign Office or medical advice. You also cannot claim for something already known or already happening when you bought the policy. Reading the exclusions list is as important as reading the cover list.
A single-trip policy covers one return journey, with cover dates matching the trip exactly, and is the cheapest option if you travel once or twice a year. An annual multi-trip policy covers every trip you take in a 12-month period, usually with a per-trip cap of 17 to 31 days, and works out cheaper from the second journey onward. If you take three or more breaks a year, annual cover is almost always the better value.
As a rule of thumb, aim for at least £2 million for Europe, £5 million for Asia and Australia and £10 million for the USA, Canada and the Caribbean, where private hospital costs are highest. Anything below £1 million is rarely worth buying. Match your cancellation cover to the full prepaid cost of the trip rather than accepting the default cap.
Buy it on the day you book and pay a deposit, not just before you fly. Cancellation cover only protects costs incurred after the policy starts, so a deposit you forfeit before you are insured cannot be claimed back. Buying early also means you are covered if you have to cancel for a covered reason in the weeks before departure.
Yes. You must declare every condition honestly, even if it raises the premium, because an undeclared condition can void the whole policy. If a mainstream insurer declines you or quotes a high loaded premium for a pre-existing condition, FCA rules require it to signpost you to a specialist directory of insurers that will quote on declared conditions. See our pre-existing conditions guide for the full route.
Choose with confidence
Know what you are buying before you book
Match the policy type to how you travel, set the right medical and cancellation minimums, declare everything and read the IPID before you pay. Our scenario guides walk through each type of cover in full, from single-trip to backpacking and pre-existing conditions.