Travel Insurance

What travel insurance covers

A typical policy covers emergency medical treatment and getting you home if you fall ill or are injured abroad, cancelling or cutting short your trip for insured reasons, and loss, theft or damage to your baggage and money. Cover levels and limits vary widely between policies.

The most valuable element is usually the medical cover, because treatment overseas — and the cost of flying you home if needed — can run to very large sums that a health card will not meet.

A GHIC is not a substitute

A UK Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) or older European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) gives access to state-provided, medically necessary healthcare in the EU and some other countries, often at the same cost as a local resident. It is useful, but it is not the same as travel insurance: it does not cover private treatment, cancellation, lost belongings, or the cost of repatriation to the UK.

The official guidance is to hold both — a GHIC for state healthcare and travel insurance for everything else.

Declaring medical conditions

When you buy travel insurance you must answer the insurer’s health questions honestly and declare any pre-existing medical conditions it asks about. Failing to do so can mean a claim is refused. If a mainstream insurer will not cover a condition, there are specialist providers, and a signposting service exists to help people with serious conditions find cover.