Travel Insurance

Travel Insurance to Protect your next Family Holiday

Planning a family holiday is an exciting process, but there is a lot to think about and you could lose a significant amount of money if your trip doesn’t go as expected. Travel insurance provides financial protection for families, so you’re not left out of pocket if your flights are delayed or you need to visit a doctor while abroad.

Many parents don’t bother buying travel insurance, especially if they’ve bought it before and never had to claim. Without travel insurance, your family could be left in serious financial difficulty if something goes wrong while you’re on holiday.

If you’re struggling to find the right travel insurance policy, it can be helpful to compare quotes using an online price comparison tool. Comparing multiple quotes helps you to understand all of your options and find out which insurers will be best and cheapest for your family.

You can use our specially designed price comparison tool to compare quotes from the UK’s top insurance companies CLICK HERE to get started and find the best financial protection for your next family holiday.

What is travel insurance?

Travel insurance is a policy which will pay out for common holiday issues such as lost luggage or delayed flights. Travellers are usually covered for a range of different scenarios, and you can check your policy documents to see what you can and can’t claim for.

There’s no rule that says that holidaymakers must have travel insurance, but it can be extremely useful to have cover if an unexpected issue comes up. The Association of British Insurers found that UK insurance companies paid out over £511million for travel insurance claims in 2023. Top money saving experts also highly recommend that holidaymakers should buy travel insurance as early as possible to protect them from common issues like cancellations which could cost them £1000’s.

It’s quick and easy to buy travel insurance in most cases, with hundreds of options for travel insurance policies. Top insurance companies like Post Office even offer extra discounts for families such as ‘children under 18 go free’.

Do I need travel insurance?

A recent survey by Forbes found that around 43% of UK holidaymakers don’t buy travel insurance before going on holiday.

No one wants to think about all of the things that could go wrong on holiday, but parents need to be prepared or they risk losing £100’s or £1,000’s. According to Forbes, the most common reasons for travel insurance claims are:

• Cancelling your trip for medical reasons (35% of claims)
• Cost of emergency medical treatment while abroad (27% of claims).
• Lost personal belongings (31% of claims).
• Delayed flights (25% of claims).

Any of these common holiday issues could mean that your trip ends up costing your family far more than just the price of your flights and hotel.

What does travel insurance cover?

Travel insurance is a great way to protect your family’s next holiday, offering peace of mind and financial support if things don’t go as planned. Most travel insurance policies offer similar benefits to UK travellers and will pay out for common holiday issues like:

• Medical emergencies.
• Lost, stolen or damaged baggage.
• Missed departures.
• Flight delays or missed ports (cruise cover).
• Damage to personal items.
• Lost or stolen personal items.

Most insurers will also have a list of scenarios that they won’t pay out for, known as ‘policy exclusions’.  Common travel insurance exclusions include things like:

• Injuries or illness caused by alcohol or drugs.
• Medical claims related to pre-existing conditions that you didn’t mention when you applied.
• Cancelling your holiday voluntarily.
• Certain high risk activities and sports (unless your policy says they are covered).
• High value items (if they are worth more than your policy’s ‘single item limit’).
• Visiting countries that the Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) advises against travelling to.

How much does travel insurance cost?

One of the most frequently asked questions about travel insurance is ‘how much will my policy cost?’. According to the latest research from the iam|INSURED experts, most single trip travel insurance policies will cost around £12.60 on average. The average cost of annual travel insurance is slightly higher at around £21.58 per year.

Both figures are for individual travel insurance and the price for couples and families can be higher. The main things that will affect the cost of your travel insurance policy are:

• Your age.
• Any medical conditions.
• Length of trip.
• Holiday destination (European or Worldwide).
• Any extra benefits that you add on (e.g. gadget cover).

The price of travel cover can vary massively, so it’s important to shop around to make sure that you are getting a fair price. Some insurers are better suited to certain types of holidays or destinations and will offer much lower prices than others.

What are the main types of travel insurance?

There are two main types of insurance for UK holidaymakers, which are:

• Single trip travel insurance protects you during short trips abroad or within the UK. These policies can be more flexible, and many insurers don’t include upper age limits which is handy for older travellers.
• Annual multi trip travel insurance is useful if you have more than one holiday planned within the next 12 months. You are covered for multiple trips within a set area (e.g. Europe), but there are usually rules for how long each trip can be (e.g. 30 days).

You can normally add your partner or children to either of these types of policies so that your whole family is protected (family travel insurance). You will also need to tell the insurer if you’re planning to travel within Europe (European travel insurance) or outside of Europe (Worldwide travel insurance).

Can I add extra benefits to my travel insurance policy?

Travel insurance can be very flexible, and most travel insurance companies allow you to add extra benefits to your policy. You could add one or more benefits to your cover, based on the activities that you plan to take part in during your trip.

Popular additional travel insurance benefits:

• Winter sports cover can be added to most travel insurance policies. If you wanted to take your family skiing for example, this benefit would pay out for things like piste closures or damaged equipment. You can usually add on winter sports cover or some insurers offer specific winter sports travel insurance policies.
• Cruise cover will pay out for travel issues that would only occur on a cruise holiday (e.g. cabin confinement or missed ports). You could buy standard travel cover if you are going on a cruise, but you wouldn’t be covered for every potential problem.
• Business cover pays out if you are travelling for work and your business equipment is damaged, lost, or stolen.
• Gadget cover can be very useful if you were planning on taking several phones or tablets on holiday with you. If your gadgets get damaged, lost, or stolen, you can submit a claim to help cover the cost of replacing them.