How to find the best travel insurance for your next holiday

Getting the best travel insurance for your next trip doesn’t have to be complicated, stressful, or expensive. Make booking your trip easier by knowing what you do and don’t need cover for. 

Our guide takes you through the different types of cover, what extras you might have to consider, and top tips for getting the best deal. We also explain all about the new GHIC for travel within Europe and how you can apply for it.

What is travel insurance?

Travel insurance provides protection against cancellations, delays, or other things that may go wrong while you’re away. 

These are usually things that are outside your control – like personal injury or lost luggage – and without travel insurance, you’ll likely have to foot the bill if any of these occur before or during your trip. Depending on what goes wrong, this could cost thousands of pounds.

You can get cheap travel insurance if you only need basic cover or if you’re clued up on tips and tricks to reduce the cost. And it may not be as difficult as you think to figure it all out.

What does it cover?

Holiday insurance isn’t designed to safeguard against absolutely every possible contingency. But, across most policies, you can expect cover against:

Factors you can adjust for cheaper travel insurance

Because there are so many variables involved in travel insurance, it’s a good idea to check you have the protection you want based on the holiday you’re taking. Not only will this ensure you have the right cover if the worst happens, but you’ll only be paying for what you need. You’ll also be more likely to get the best deal.

There are some factors that play a role in your insurance quote and will either mean your policy is higher or lower in cost. If you’re able to be flexible with your holiday plans, these could be areas you can tweak to get cheaper travel insurance.

When should you buy travel insurance?

The standard advice is to buy travel insurance as soon as you book your holiday. The sooner you buy, the sooner you’re protected in case your holiday is cancelled. 

Cancellation cover includes having to cancel parts of your trip (flights, accommodation, transfers, activities) due to circumstances beyond your control, but not simply if you change your mind. 

You can buy travel insurance right up until you leave for your trip, but it's not recommended (of course, it's better than no insurance at all).

The time limit on when you can buy last-minute travel insurance varies by company. You can insure your trip on the day of departure, but it all depends on when the insurance provider designates the starting point of your journey. This could be when you get to the departure gate, when you arrive at the airport, or as soon as you leave home.

It is possible to buy travel insurance when you’re already on holiday, but your options will be significantly limited. Insurers are less likely to want to provide post-departure insurance, as it comes with a higher risk of fraud. Someone could buy a policy to claim for something that happened before they bought it, so insurers will be extra cautious to prevent this. You may have to seek out specialist insurance with reduced cover to get what you need. 

EHIC, GHIC, and travelling to Europe

If you’re travelling to Europe, having a health insurance card means you’re entitled to state healthcare within the EU and Switzerland. 

There are two cards that can be used for treatment within the EU and Switzerland. The UK European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) has now been replaced by the UK Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC). However, if you have a UK EHIC that hasn’t yet expired, it’s still valid for use.

If your EHIC has expired and you are a UK resident, you’ll need to apply for the new GHIC card. You can apply for a GHIC card for free via the NHS website. If it doesn’t arrive before you go, you can apply for a Provisional Replacement Certificate. Be aware that an official GHIC card application will never ask you to pay, so if you come across somewhere that does, it’s a scam.

So what treatment does a GHIC cover? If you’re travelling within the EU or Switzerland, you’ll be entitled only to state healthcare, not private. You can generally expect to receive emergency treatment at A&E, pregnancy care, and treatment for pre-existing health conditions. 

The treatments deemed ‘necessary’ will often come down to the discretion of the country’s healthcare provider, so always make sure you are covered under your travel insurance as well.

Don’t forget about COVID

Single or annual cover?

Single-trip cover is usually the way to go if you’re looking for cheap travel insurance for a one-off holiday. Depending on the regions you travel to, it can work out cheaper if you're only taking up to two trips within a year.

If you go away several times a year, annual cover usually works out as the cheaper option. Depending on the destinations and length of each trip, annual cover can work out as the better deal from just two trips within a year. 

Annual cover, also called multi-trip cover, means you’re insured for as many holidays as you want within 12 months. You’ll have a limit on how long each trip can be, which varies based on your insurer. This is usually up to 31 days per trip, but can be as generous as 90 days. 

When you come to buy annual cover, you’ll need to state in advance which areas you’ll be travelling to. You can either select a region like UK, Europe, Worldwide, or sometimes you can select the specific countries you’re going to.

Booking Worldwide travel insurance gives you more freedom if you prefer to plan your travel last minute or like to go to a variety of destinations. It’s worth considering that multi-trip insurance saves time and energy, not just money. 

We ran a few travel insurance quotes to demonstrate how single and annual policies work. The below examples show that cheap travel insurance is usually single-trip, but in some examples, annual works out cheaper, even for just two trips a year. This often depends on the region you’re travelling to, so we’ve included lots of different sample trips to show the variety in cost.

Using the TopCashback Travel Insurance Comparison tool, we ran each quote based on an individual policy for a 30-year-old woman with no pre-existing conditions. The annual cover dates began on June 1st and the single-trip dates were each for seven nights at different times of the year. We included cancellation and baggage cover, but didn’t opt for any extras like winter sports cover.

Don’t take these figures as testament though – quotes can vary hugely based on factors like age, medical conditions, trip length, and add-ons like winter sports and gadget cover. You can also adjust the excess for things like cancellation, baggage, and medical cover which can affect the cost of your policy.

What can make travel insurance more expensive

There are certain factors that are almost certain to increase the cost of your holiday insurance. While some of these factors can’t be helped – like age and medical history – there are still ways to find cheap travel insurance.

Over-70s insurance

Health concerns become more of a risk if you’re over 70, so it can be difficult to get the right travel insurance cover. Holidaymakers over 70 can find specialist travel insurance that covers all the conditions they need, although these policies tend to be more expensive. You can opt for standard insurance that excludes cover of medical conditions, meaning you’re paying less and are still covered for things like cancellation and lost baggage.

Pre-existing medical conditions

This means literally any condition you’ve had before taking out your policy. Some insurance providers won’t need to know about conditions you haven’t needed treatment for in recent years and many conditions won’t affect your insurance. If you have a history of diabetes, heart conditions, asthma, liver conditions, high blood pressure, chronic illnesses, or cancer, your insurance costs may be much higher, or you may have to find specialist insurers. 

If you’re waiting to receive treatment or a diagnosis, this could also prove difficult to find cover for. You may be able to exclude cover for expensive or prohibitive parts of your medical history. This means you’ll be covered for other things you need, but you won’t be covered for particular medical conditions and won’t be able to claim for them.

 Winter sports and dangerous activities

Winter sports cover is usually an add-on to travel insurance policies that you can choose for skiing or snowboarding holidays. When you select this, you’ll usually be covered for medical costs, injuries to others, lost or damaged equipment, piste closure, activity cancellations, and avalanche delay. 

There are plenty of other examples of extreme sports or dangerous activities, from banana boating and snorkelling to horse riding and rock climbing. If your holiday is based around these kinds of activities, it’s definitely worth seeking out specialist insurance to insure every eventuality. 

Low excess

Excess is the agreed amount you’ll pay upfront for any claim you need to make on insurance. So, if your excess on medical costs is £150 and you make a claim that costs £2,000, you’ll pay the £150 excess and your insurer will pay £1,850. Excess can apply across medical cover, baggage, and cancellation cover.

If you opt for a low excess, like £50, it can mean you’ll pay more for your policy. Generally, the higher your excess, the lower your policy will likely cost. So, you can work out a better deal on your travel insurance by adjusting the amounts for each cover.

Bear in mind that if you select a high excess, this is the amount you’ll have to pay if you claim. If you lose luggage and you put in a claim for £400 with an excess of £250, you’re not getting good value out of the insurance policy.

Travel insurance tips

Now that you’ve considered all of the above, we’ve compiled a quick and simple list of the top tips to remember when it comes to taking out your policy. 

Buy as soon as you book

Be certain you’re covered for any cancellations that may crop up before your trip by getting insured as soon as you can. 

Use comparison sites

Shop around with comparison sites that help you narrow down all your options from dozens of insurance providers. You’ll save time, and often money, by comparing travel insurance based on the exact cover you need.

Get cashback

Not only can you get a good deal on your travel insurance, but you can make a little money in the process. Every time you click through to a travel insurance provider or comparison site from our site, we get paid a commission for referring you. You’ll get 100% of this commission as cashback, simply for one extra step in getting there. 

Cut out options you don’t need

With certain policies, you can choose what you do and don’t want including by simply unticking a box. Consider what extras you can exclude, like gadget cover which might be covered under other insurance policies. 

Price isn’t always the best indicator

Higher cost doesn’t always mean higher cover. Always check the policy details to make sure you’re getting what you want.

Does your bank offer insurance?

Before you go looking, check to see if you’re already covered under an existing bank account. If you pay a fee for a packaged account, travel insurance is often one of the perks. Many major banks and banking apps offer this, including Nationwide, Halifax, Co-op, Lloyds, Revolut, and Monzo.

Monthly fees start around £7 a month, although the most comprehensive ones are £10–£15 a month. If you feel you’d benefit from the other features your bank offers, it may be worthwhile paying for the upgrade.

Always be honest

Lying or not declaring your medical history accurately can result in a claim being denied. 

Couples and families can be put on one policy

Run quotes for individual, couples, and families to see if it’s cheaper together or separately. If you have insurance from your bank, you may also be covered for dependants and partners.

Pay attention to the excess

Higher excess usually means lower policy cost. Make sure the excess isn’t so high that it’s unaffordable if and when you need to claim.

Check the COVID policies

Coronavirus is still something that can affect your holiday, so check the fine print to see what you’d be entitled to if you needed to cancel or are unable to do booked activities.

Don’t rely on your GHIC or EHIC

GHIC and EHIC cards are not replacements for decent insurance. You may be entitled to some cover by state healthcare deemed emergency or necessary, but not for anything else.

Things that may void your insurance 

Having insurance doesn’t mean you have free rein to do whatever you want. Even the most comprehensive policies will have reasons for not paying out on claims, so make sure you know what you can and can’t do.

 Consuming alcohol

Being under the influence could affect your claim for injuring yourself, someone else, and even losing your baggage. It all depends on your insurer and what they consider ‘over the limit’ to be. 

Leaving your luggage or valuables unattended

From leaving your stuff on the beach while you go for a swim to using the unlocked hotel storage room, there are lots of ways you might accidentally invalidate your insurance. You may not think these are technically unattended, but many insurers will.

Not using the hotel safe

Leaving valuable personal belongings in your locked hotel room isn’t as secure as you think. There are still plenty of staff with access to your room, so always use a hotel safe for expensive gadgets and jewellery if you can. If there’s one provided and you don’t use it, you might not be covered.

Engaging in sports or activities you’re not covered for

It may be obvious that skiing, snowboarding, and scuba diving would require cover, but there are activities you may not think about. Check the small print of your policy to see what could classify a dangerous activity or sport, which could be things like hiking, cycling, and playing golf.

Letting others use your gadgets

You might want that group shot in front of a famous landmark, but passing your camera or phone to a stranger is a risk that could cost you. If someone runs off with equipment you’ve given them, this won’t count as theft and you won’t be able to claim for it.

Not acting quickly enough with your claim

If you have something lost or stolen, you need to contact the local police as quickly as possible. Some insurers will have a specified deadline, like within 24 or 48 hours, so it pays to be on the ball. Be as diligent as possible and keep all paperwork.

How to make a claim

When it comes to submitting a claim, it pays to act quickly, be diligent, and double-check. Don’t leave your actions open to anything the insurance company could find fault with.

For loss or theft, make sure you’ve reported it to the police as soon as possible and keep all the paperwork for your insurance company. 

If you need to seek emergency medical treatment while abroad, it’s a good idea to confirm this with your insurer before you get the treatment, if you’re able to. Call them on the phone to let them know what treatment you’re seeking and why, to make sure you’ll be covered for it. Make a note of the date, time, and who you spoke to over the phone if you’re given the all-clear.

You don't have to accept a rejected claim, if you don't think it's right. Reach out to the Financial Ombudsman for free to dispute a rejected claim on your travel insurance.