What is Travel Insurance?

Full Definition

Travel insurance is a policy that covers a range of financial risks associated with a trip, most importantly emergency medical treatment and repatriation costs if the policyholder falls ill or is injured abroad, alongside cover for trip cancellation or curtailment (cutting a trip short), delayed or lost luggage, missed departures, and personal liability, typically sold either as a single-trip policy for one specific journey or as an annual multi-trip policy covering an unlimited number of trips within a year up to a maximum duration each. Cover for pre-existing medical conditions is one of the most important and commonly misunderstood aspects of travel insurance: policies generally require pre-existing conditions to be declared at the point of buying the policy, and can refuse to pay a related claim, or void cover entirely, if a relevant condition was not disclosed, which is why specialist providers exist offering cover tailored to travellers with pre-existing conditions that a standard policy might exclude or charge a higher premium to cover. For destinations outside the UK, a valid Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC), the post-Brexit replacement for the EHIC card, can give access to state-provided emergency and necessary healthcare at a reduced cost or free in participating European countries, but it is not a substitute for travel insurance, since it does not cover costs such as mountain rescue, repatriation back to the UK, lost belongings, or private treatment, all of which travel insurance is specifically designed to cover. Winter sports, some adventure activities, and travel to certain higher-risk destinations often require an additional premium or a specific add-on to a standard policy, and travellers are generally advised to check the policy's specific activity list and country exclusions carefully before assuming a standard policy covers a planned activity or destination.

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