Compare Travel Insurance Quotes

Travel insurance is designed to protect you from any financial losses you may incur due to unforeseen circumstances while you're travelling. As well as covering medical costs, most travel insurance policies offer a range of benefits that begin as soon as you purchase the policy such as cancellation cover which will reimburse you if your holiday is cancelled or you are unable to travel, and lost baggage protection which will cover the cost of your personal items if they are lost or stolen.

In the aftermath of COVID-19 there has never been a greater need to get proper cover before you travel. A single-trip policy can cost less than £6 a week and will provide total peace of mind that you're protected financially should the unexpected happen while you're away.

Travel insurance policies are designed to be as comprehensive as possible and insurance brokers have fine-tuned their policies to protect travellers from the most common causes of financial loss whilst travelling.

Most policies will typically cover:

• Medical expenses including emergency treatment, medication, hospital stays and repatriation back to the UK if necessary
• Baggage and belongings if your personal belongings are lost or stolen
• Cancellation and curtailment if you are unable to travel due to illness, bereavement, mechanical breakdown or bad weather, or if your trip is cut short
• Travel delays including missed connections, flight delays or other transport issues which cause you to miss part of your trip
• Personal liability which covers your legal fees if you injure a third party or damage their property

When deciding on which policy to buy, make sure you pick one that provides enough cover for your individual circumstances. For example, if your baggage and personal belongings are worth £1000, you'll want to pick a policy that has at least £1000 baggage cover otherwise you may not receive the full amount if your baggage goes missing and you need to make a claim. Similarly, there is no need to pick a policy with £5000 cover if your belongings are only worth £1000.

Our travel insurance comparisons show you exactly how much each policy covers so you can easily pick the best policy to suit your needs.

Medical expenses make up the majority of travel insurance claims according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI), which is hardly surprising considering the eye-watering costs associated with medical treatment overseas. You should choose a travel insurance policy that includes at least £1 million of medical cover for trips to Europe or £2 million for trips outside of Europe, and also make sure the policy has a 24-hour helpline in case of emergencies.

As for baggage cover, the ABI reports that the average family takes £3,000 worth of valuables on holiday with them so you can use this as a rough guide as to what you'll need (remember to include the cost of your mobile phone and other devices if appropriate).

Cancellation cover will allow you to claim for expenses incurred if you need to cancel your trip or come home early. Remember that cancellation cover is per person listed on the policy, so if you and your partner book a holiday costing £3,000 you will only need £1,500 worth of cover each.

A typical single-trip policy for a 30-year-old travelling for one week costs around £6 to Europe and £18 Worldwide, assuming no pre-existing medical conditions or extra cover such as winter sports is required. For a 60-year-old, a typical single trip policy costs around £8 (Europe) and £25 (Worldwide).

A typical annual / multi-trip policy for a 30-year-old costs around £20 to Europe and £45 Worldwide. For a 60-year-old, typical annual policies cost £25 to Europe and £60 Worldwide.

The cost of a couple, family or group policy is usually less than the equivalent policies would be if each traveller took out individual cover.

Age is the main determinant of cost when it comes to travel insurance; the older you get, the more expensive it becomes to get cover. However, the big price increases don't start kicking in until you're over 65, and the steepest increases of all don't hit until after the age of 80.

To demonstrate, we checked how much it would cost for a single traveller to get insured for a one-week trip to Europe. Our results found that a 60-year-old would only pay £1.65 more for compared to an 18-year old (£4.07 compared to £5.72). The same policy would have cost £12.35 for a 70-year-old, £27.48 for an 80-year-old and £91.69 for an 85-year-old.

Your holiday destination and the length of your trip can also affect the price of your travel insurance. Longer trips cost more to cover, as do holidays in countries where the price of medical treatment is expensive. If you plan on doing any adventurous activities such as windsurfing, skiing or scuba diving while you're on holiday, you may need to pay an extra premium to get covered as many brokers don't include them on standard or basic policies.

Finally, declaring a pre-existing medical condition does not necessarily increase the cost of your travel insurance. A 2018 survey by Which? found that 75% of 10,495 travellers with a pre-existing medical condition did not experience any increase in price when declaring the conditions to their insurer.

If you or anyone named on the policy has any pre-existing medical conditions, you should declare these to the insurer when you purchase the policy. Contrary to popular belief; declaring a pre-existing medical condition does not necessarily increase the cost of your travel insurance, however failing to declare a pre-existing condition can invalidate your policy so it's best to be up front and honest from the start.

If you're not asked about pre-existing medical conditions when you purchase the policy, your insurance will still be valid but you won't be able to claim for medical expenses that are caused by, worsened by or related to your pre-existing condition.

As a general rule you should always declare any of the following if you or anyone named on the policy suffers from:

• Cancer
• Type 2 Diabetes
• PTSD
• Current pregnancy complications
• Epilepsy
• Asthma
• Parkinson's Disease
• Arthritis
• High blood pressure
• Irritable Bowel Disease

If you're unsure, always check with your insurer before you travel. In most cases they can alter your cover to include pre-existing conditions even after you've purchased the policy.