Travel insurance

How much travel insurance you need depends on what you want to be covered for and the type of trip you’re taking.

According to Which?, a travel insurance policy should include:

• £5 million for medical cover – this can help with emergency treatment, hospital bills, and repatriation costs.

• £2,000 for cancellation cover – or the full cost of your holiday. This makes sure you’re covered if illness, bereavement, or other unforeseen events force you to cancel.

• £1,500 for personal belongings – or the value of your possessions, giving you protection against loss, theft, or damage.

When choosing your policy, consider the specifics of your trip. Declaring any pre-existing medical conditions is essential to avoid issues with claims if you need treatment abroad. If you’re planning activities like skiing or scuba diving, check that your policy includes these or consider adding extra cover. For longer trips or multiple destinations, options like Long Stay or Annual Multi-Trip Insurance might provide the flexibility you need.

If you’re after a high level of cover, you might like our Signature travel insurance policy, for extra peace of mind. But if you’re only after standard cover, our Basic travel insurance may be the perfect fit for you.

Something you live with daily shouldn’t stop you from exploring the world—but medical emergencies abroad can be incredibly costly. That’s why having the right cover is so important.

We can cover most pre-existing medical conditions. In fact, 97% of our customers have got cover for their medical condition with us.

To make sure you're protected, it’s important to declare any pre-existing medical conditions when you take out your policy. This includes common conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, or cancer. If anything changes—like a new diagnosis or a change to any medication —after buying your policy but before your trip, you’ll need to update your details. You can do this online by logging into your My Staysure account or contacting our friendly team at 0333 004 9892.

Pregnancy isn’t considered a medical condition, so you don’t need to declare it when taking out holiday insurance. However, if you have any pre-existing medical conditions or complications related to your pregnancy, such as high blood pressure, these will need to be disclosed during the quote process.

To get cover you’ll need to confirm the following:

• Your due date is more than 8 weeks after your trip ends, or 16 weeks if you’re expecting multiple births.
• You’re not planning to give birth while on your trip.
• Your doctor or midwife has confirmed you’re fit to travel.
• Your travel provider has approved your travel to and from your destination.
• You understand that medical costs related to giving birth abroad won’t be covered unless it’s an emergency.

Excess is the amount you agree to pay towards a claim before your insurer covers the rest. For instance, if you claim £500 for medical expenses and your excess is £99, your payout will be £401 after the excess is deducted.

Your excess is per person, per claim. For example, you might need to make a claim for lost luggage, as well as unexpected medical expenses. In this situation, you would need to pay an excess per person for each claim.

To remove this cost completely, you can choose an excess waiver. With this add-on, you won’t need to pay any excess if you make a claim. Our Signature policy already includes the waiver as standard, and it’s an option you can add when purchasing a Comprehensive policy.

Discover more in our guide to travel insurance excess and waivers.

If your flight has been cancelled, don’t worry!

First thing’s first, contact your airline or travel company and ask them to rearrange your flight or give you a refund. If they can’t, you could try doing a chargeback with your credit card company if you used one to book the flight. And if that doesn’t work out, that’s when your travel insurance can help.

Just remember – once you’ve rearranged your flights, you might need need to update your insurance policy with your new travel dates. If you’re a Staysure customer, you can do this by logging into My Staysure, or over the phone with the help of our customer support team.

Your travel insurance should cover you for strikes—as long as the strike action wasn’t common knowledge when you booked your trip or took out your policy (whichever came later).

If you have a Staysure policy, you can make a claim for emergency travel or accommodation costs if the strike causes disruption to your plans. If your trip is delayed by more than 12 hours due to the strike, you’re also covered to abandon your trip and submit a cancellation claim.

Need to arrive late to start your trip because of industrial action? Our policies can help with arranging overnight accommodation and alternative travel, so you can still make the most of your holiday.

Read more in our guide to Strikes: am I covered by my travel insurance?

Whenever you travel abroad, it’s a good idea to take out travel insurance. EHIC and GHIC cards provide access to emergency healthcare at state-run facilities in the EU, often at a reduced cost or for free. However, they don’t cover everything, like rescue, repatriation, or medical care on a cruise.

Travel insurance steps in to protect you from these additional costs, giving you peace of mind. For example, if you need to be brought back to the UK for medical reasons, a GHIC or EHIC won’t cover the expense—but your travel insurance can.

Read more in GHIC is the new EHIC: what you need to know.

You should be covered in most destinations if the country you’re going to is safe to visit. To check if your destination is safe to visit, take a look at the FCDO’s travel advice. The FCDO’s (Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office) advice can change at any time, so make sure you check it’s safe to travel before you set off.

If the FCDO, World Health Organisation or local authorities have advised against ‘all’ or ‘all but essential’ travel to your destination, then it won’t be safe for you to travel there.

If you travel against FCDO advice, your policy will become invalid and won’t cover you if you need to claim. Even if advice changes while you’re on holiday, you won’t be covered if your destination was listed as unsafe when you travelled.

A good travel insurance policy acts as a safety net, offering peace of mind and financial protection when the unexpected happens. Whether it’s a delayed flight, lost luggage, or a sudden need to cut your trip short, our policies will make sure you’re not left to handle costs and challenges on your own.

When considering travel insurance, the first step is understanding your own needs.

Medical cover is a priority for many travellers, especially when visiting places where healthcare costs are high. A good policy should cover emergency medical expenses, hospital treatments, and even repatriation if necessary. That said, if medical cover isn’t a concern—for example, you’re staying somewhere where you’re already insured—you might focus on other areas, such as protecting against trip cancellations or delays.

The insurance provider you choose matters. Look for those accredited by trusted regulatory bodies. Checking customer reviews can provide insight into how a provider treats its policyholders—are they easy to work with, and do they support customers promptly when needed? Transparency is also important; clear terms and conditions should leave no room for surprises when making a claim.