Travel insurance is the one purchase where the cheapest option is frequently worth nothing, and where people find that out at the worst possible moment. The premium is not what you are comparing. The exclusions are.
Here is what to actually read before you buy.
1. Medical cover and repatriation are the only things that really matter
Lost luggage is annoying. A hospital admission abroad is financially catastrophic — an air ambulance from Nepal or the Caribbean runs to six figures, and a US hospital stay can exceed that.
Look for medical cover in the millions, not the tens of thousands, and check that emergency repatriation and medical evacuation are explicitly included rather than capped at a token amount.
Everything else in the policy is secondary. A policy with £10 million medical and no gadget cover is a better policy than the reverse.
2. The activity list, which is where most claims die
Every policy has a schedule of covered activities, and standard policies exclude a great deal that ordinary travellers do without thinking of it as adventurous.
Commonly excluded without a paid upgrade: trekking above a stated altitude — often 2,500m or 3,000m, which excludes Cusco, La Paz, Everest Base Camp and most of the Andes; scuba diving beyond 18 or 30 metres, or at all; riding a motorcycle or scooter; skiing off-piste; white-water rafting above a certain grade; bungee, paragliding and zip-lining.
The motorbike exclusion is the one that injures most travellers. Almost every policy requires you to hold a licence valid for that machine in your home country and to have been wearing a helmet. Renting a scooter in Southeast Asia on a car licence, which is what most people do, voids the cover completely.
If you plan to do any of these, buy the upgrade or a specialist policy.
3. Altitude and helicopter rescue
For anything in the Himalaya or the Andes, check two things explicitly: the maximum altitude covered, and whether helicopter evacuation is included and up to what limit.
Trekking policies usually specify a height — 4,000m, 5,000m, 6,000m — and Everest Base Camp at 5,364m needs the higher tier. Helicopter rescue in Nepal is expensive and there has been a documented history of unnecessary evacuations billed to insurers, so insurers now scrutinise these claims closely and require the operator’s documentation.
4. Pre-existing conditions
You must declare them, including conditions that feel irrelevant and conditions that are well controlled. Non-disclosure is the single most common reason a large medical claim is refused outright — not reduced, refused.
Declaring usually costs a modest premium increase. Not declaring can void the entire policy, including for something unrelated.
5. The government advice clause
Almost every policy voids cover if you travel to a country or region against your own government’s official travel advice. This is the clause that matters for anywhere in the Middle East or parts of Africa and Latin America, and it is checked.
Advice can change while you are already in a country. Most policies give a grace period to leave; check what yours says.
6. Duration, and the multi-trip trap
Annual multi-trip policies almost always cap the length of any single trip — commonly 31 or 45 days. A three-month trip on an annual policy is uninsured from day 32.
For long trips, buy a single-trip policy for the whole duration or a dedicated long-stay/backpacker policy, and check whether it allows you to return home mid-trip without ending cover.
7. Excess, and what it means per claim
The excess usually applies per person per section per claim, not per policy. A single incident that damages a camera, cancels a flight and requires treatment can attract three excesses.
8. The practical claim conditions
Buried in the small print, and they are where claims fail on procedure rather than principle:
- Report theft to the police within 24 hours and get a written report. No report, no claim.
- Keep receipts for anything you want the value of.
- Call the emergency assistance number before treatment where possible. Many policies require pre-authorisation for non-emergency care.
- Baggage in an unattended vehicle is usually excluded entirely.
- Alcohol. Most policies exclude claims arising while under the influence, and “under the influence” is defined by the insurer, not by whether you felt fine.
What to do before you fly
Read the policy wording document, not the marketing summary — the exclusions are only in the former. It is twenty minutes and it is the whole value of the exercise.
Save the emergency assistance number offline in your phone and on paper, along with your policy number. It is the one thing you need when your phone is the thing that was stolen.
Tell someone at home where the policy is.