Travel insurance is cheap — the median UK single-trip policy costs about £27 and an annual multi-trip about £71 — but most people buy it for the wrong reason. The point isn’t your £300 flight refund. It’s the £30,000 hospital bill, the £12,000 air ambulance, the trip that ends in a foreign A&E. Here’s how to buy it properly.
Medical cover is the whole game
Benchmarks: £5 million+ for Europe, £10 million for the USA. A GHIC card gets you state healthcare in the EU at local rates — useful, but it doesn’t cover repatriation, private treatment, or most of the world. A week in Europe can be insured for £10–£20; the USA runs £30–£60 because of medical costs alone.
Cancellation cover: match it to reality
Cancellation cover should equal what you’d actually lose — the full cost of the holiday, not just the deposit. If you’ve booked a £4,000 family trip, a policy with £1,000 cancellation cover is theatre.
Declare your medical conditions — properly
Non-declaration is the classic way claims fail. Specialists like Staysure and AllClear exist precisely to cover travellers with pre-existing conditions at fair prices, and the official MoneyHelper directory lists medical-condition-friendly insurers. Hiding a condition to save £15 risks the entire claim.
The exclusions that catch people
- Cruises need explicit cruise cover — missed-port and cabin-confinement benefits.
- Winter sports and adventure activities are excluded by default — including, on some policies, riding a moped.
- Travelling against FCDO advice voids most policies entirely.
- Alcohol-related incidents — insurers can and do decline claims here.
Single-trip or annual?
Two or more trips a year usually makes annual multi-trip cover cheaper. Watch the per-trip duration cap (typically 31–45 days) — long-stay and backpacker trips need specialist policies like Outbacker instead.
Compare policies, specialists and prices on our travel insurance comparison page — and if you’re planning the trip itself, our friends’ guides at WhatWhereVacay cover destinations in depth.
Figures are researched UK market averages correct as of June 2026 (sources include ABI premium trackers and major comparison-site indices) and are not personalised quotes. Some links on our insurance pages are affiliate links — we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.