What does travel insurance cover?

Travel insurance helps protect you from unexpected issues while travelling, but coverage varies between policies and not everything is included. 
 

To make it easier for you to know what to look out for, this guide explains: 

 

• What travel insurance usually covers – medical expenses, baggage and cancellations 

• What travel insurance sometimes covers – pre-existing medical conditions, winter sports and 24-hour emergency support 

• What travel insurance doesn’t cover – change of mind, travelling for medical procedures and extreme sports 

What am I likely covered for?

Medical expenses, repatriation, liability, baggage, cancellations, and some activities.

 

What might I be covered for?

Pre-existing conditions, winter sports, terrorism, gadgets, and emergency support. 

 

What am I not covered for?

Undeclared conditions, change of mind, intoxication, extreme sports, and restricted travel. 

 

What’s the most important thing to remember?

Always check your policy details and declare all relevant information. 

These are the things that most travel insurance policies should cover you for.

When you’re outside the UK, you need to pay for emergency medical bills as there’s no free National Health Service. Which is why travel insurance is so important – it will help to cover the unexpected cost of your medical bills. 

 
When you’re choosing travel insurance, pay special attention to how much medical cover you’re getting – £5 -10 million is the minimum you should have. 

If you fall ill or you’re injured when abroad, sometimes you might need to be sent home (repatriated). Even the basic level of travel insurance should cover repatriation but double check the conditions to ensure you’re adequately covered. 

 

If repatriation is needed, private jets might be used along with a crew of health professionals to escort you to a UK hospital for further treatment. 

  

Repatriation can also cover the costs of getting you and others on your policy back home if you’ve been treated abroad and missed your booked flights home. 

Personal liability covers you for damages you might need to pay out if you accidentally injure someone or damage their property. 

If your baggage or personal items are lost, damaged or stolen, your travel insurance should be able to help cover the costs to replace or repair them up to your cover limits. 

 

Baggage cover varies depending on which level of travel insurance you’ve chosen. For example, Staysure’s basic travel insurance provides £300 baggage cover, while the Signature policy includes up to £5,000 for lost or damaged baggage. 

Travel insurance should cover you if you’re forced to cancel or cut your trip short, also known as curtailing. 

 

Your reason for cancelling or cutting your trip short will need to be covered by your policy, which might differ between providers. When you choose your travel insurance, make sure you select the right level of cancellation cover, so it’s adequate for your trip – cancellation cover can range from £4,000 to £15,000 with Staysure. 

 

You won’t be covered if you change your mind and decide you no longer want to travel. 

 

Most policies will cover delayed flights after you’ve checked in on time. Causes may include bad weather, mechanical faults or industrial action, but it’s usually compensation and not a full reimbursement of costs.  

 

If you miss your departure and you can prove it happened for reasons outside of your control, then your travel insurance may cover the cost of another flight or extra accommodation. But you won’t be covered if you missed your departure because of poor planning, oversleeping and not allowing yourself reasonable time to get to the airport. 

If you’re going to take part in sports and activities when you're on holiday, you’ll need to check that your travel insurance covers you. Sports and activities will differ between insurers, so it’s best to shop around. 
 

If you’re taking part in sports on a professional or competitive basis, it’s unlikely that a standard travel insurance policy will cover you. 

  

Sports and activities deemed more risky, including winter sports, often aren’t covered as standard, but most insurers offer specialist sports packages. Safety conditions will apply to some sports – such as making sure you’re wearing a helmet or not skiing off-piste. 

Most travel insurance policies will cover you for unforeseen pregnancy or childbirth emergencies as long as you’re not planning on travelling during a certain timeframe of your due date. 

 

Pregnancy isn’t a medical condition, so you don’t need to declare it when taking out holiday insurance. But if you have any pre-existing conditions or a condition related to your pregnancy, such as high blood pressure then you do need to declare it. This ensures you’re covered in the event you need to give birth unexpectedly during your trip. 

These are things that some travel insurance policies will provide cover for, possibly as an add-on.

Your medical history is unique to you, so pre-existing medical conditions aren’t covered by a standard travel insurance policy. 

 

You’ll need to declare all pre-existing medical conditions when taking out travel insurance. Even if your medical condition is well managed and doesn’t cause you any trouble, it’s still important to mention it. 

 

Read our ‘What You Need to Declare on Your Travel Insurance’ guide for more information. 

Make sure you’re protected by your travel insurance for COVID-related reasons, both before you travel and while you’re away.

 

Cover for COVID should include medical expenses, cancellations, cutting your trip short, and any extras if you need to self-isolate abroad.

Winter sports insurance is a specialist type of cover. It’ll protect your winter sports equipment and pay out if you’re unable to access lessons, or the slopes due to things like a lack of snow or an avalanche.  

  

This only applies to non-professional, non-competitive winter sports. 

When you’re away, it’s really important to know that someone’s there to help if you need it – whenever it happens. 
 

Your travel insurance provider may have a 24-hour emergency support helpline, which can be a real help if something goes wrong on your holiday. 

Everyone deserves to be insured to go away, but some travel insurers may have upper age limits on their policies. Some of these can be as low as 59!  

 

If you’re over 60, always check your policy documents for any limitations on age. Even if the insurer has no upper age limit for a policy, there may be age limits for certain things like sports and activities.

Many of us now have gadgets (mobile phones, cameras, tablets) that we want to make sure are protected when we go away. 

  

Gadget cover may come as standard in some cases, but it might also come as an optional extra. Check the definition of what is considered a gadget by your insurer, as well as the limits on cover. 

  

Find out more about how our Gadget Cover works and exactly what it covers. 

These are some of the standard things that most travel insurance policies won’t cover you for.

You need to declare all pre-existing medical conditions when taking out travel insurance. Not telling your insurer about your medical conditions means you’re at risk of travelling without valid cover. 

 

Aside from heart-related and circulatory conditions which need to be declared regardless of when they happened, most pre-existing medical conditions will need to be declared if they’ve happened within the last two years. 

 
You also won’t be covered if you travel against medical advice. 

Your travel insurance policy won't cover you if you cancel your holiday because you no longer want to go. If you want to cancel your trip, you’ll need to speak to the travel company that you booked with. 

Travel insurance policies, like any form of insurance, don’t cover you for negligence. 

 

One of these examples is if something unexpected were to happen while you were under the influence of excessive amounts of alcohol or controlled substances. 

Some sports can be covered through add-ons (such as some winter sports) but there are others that are excluded. 

 

You can usually find a list of the excluded sports and activities in your travel insurance policy documents. 

  

If cover isn’t included for your sports or activity, you’ll need to take out a specialist insurance policy for them. 

Travel insurance policies are generally designed for holidays, which means professional sports and their related risks won’t usually be covered. 

Travel insurance is unlikely to cover you for cancelling or cutting your trip short due to your pregnancy within a certain timeframe of your due date.

 

The specific timeframe can differ between insurers but it’s often within eight weeks (16 in the case of multiple pregnancies) of your expected due date.

 

You also often won’t be covered for any medical expenses abroad if you have a ‘normal’ yet unexpected childbirth abroad at any time. This is worth bearing in mind as the average cost for a ‘normal’ delivery in countries such as the USA is between $5,000 – $11,000.*

Unless agreed in writing beforehand, your travel insurance won’t be able to cover you if you travel for the specific purpose of undergoing medical procedures/treatment or seeking medical advice.

When the FCDO advise against ‘all travel’ you usually won’t be able to take out travel insurance to that country. 

 

Travel providers often base their services around FCDO advice, so it’s unlikely that flights etc. will be available to countries where the FCDO advise against ‘all travel’. 

If the country you want to travel to isn’t allowing entry to arrivals from the UK or you don’t have the right documents, your travel insurance won’t usually be valid.

 

You’ll likely to be covered for: 

 

• Medical expenses and repatriation 

• Personal liability 

• Baggage 

• Cancellations 

• Some sports activities 

• Pregnancy emergency 

 

You’ll sometimes be covered for: 

 

• Pre-existing medical conditions 

• Winter sports (with the correct policy) 

• Terrorism 

• 24-hour emergency support 

• Gadget cover 

 

You won’t be covered for: 

 

• Undeclared medical conditions 

• Changing your mind 

• Alcohol and controlled substances 

• Extreme sports 

• Expected childbirth 

• Travel for medical procedures 

• FCDO advice against ‘all travel’ 

• Refused entry at your destination 

 

This is only a guide – everyone’s situation is unique and professional advice is recommended. It’s always your responsibility to declare all required information and to follow advice from the FCDO. 

You’ve got dreams to fulfil and adventures to chase. We specialise in travel insurance for UK travellers, with:  

 

• cover for pre-existing medical conditions 

• cover for all ages 

• unlimited medical expenses on our Comprehensive and Signature policies   

 

Get a quote 

 

 

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^{*Figures from ‘What is the cost of having a baby?’ https://smartasset.com/financial-advisor/cost-of-having-a-baby}