Best travel insurance 2023 – Which?

The main two types of travel cover are single trip and annual cover. 

• Single trip policies cover a specific holiday. When buying the insurance, you tell the provider specifically where you’re going and how long you’ll be staying.
• Annual (or multi-trip) policies instead provide continuous cover over the course of a year. These cost more than single trip policies, but are generally a cheaper way of covering several holidays in a year.

Annual policies aren’t unlimited in scope. Depending on the kind you buy, it might exclude cover for travel to certain countries or regions – for example, if you buy a European policy, it won’t cover travel further afield. 

Most annual policies don’t limit the number of trips you can make, but there will usually be a limit to the number of days you’ll be covered per trip.

Other kinds of cover include insurance specifically for cruises, and insurance for backpackers – which covers more sustained periods of travel.

• Find out more: How to find cheap travel insurance 

This depends on whether you can no longer make your flight or the airline has cancelled it.

If the airline cancels your flight, it is generally their responsibility to find an alternative flight or to give you a full refund.

If you can no longer make your flight, perhaps due to illness or accident, then it is not the airline’s responsibility. If you have taken out a travel insurance policy and depending on the reason you can no longer fly, you may be able to claim some of the flight costs back. 

You should also check the airline’s conditions of carriage if you are going to miss your flight last-minute to see whether you can be moved to an alternative flight.

Potentially, depending on the type of trip you’ve booked.

Many travel insurers will cover the UK; if you have an annual policy check if it includes UK travel.

The main advantage of travel insurance for the UK is cover if you need to cancel your trip (such as because of illness) or lose baggage.

In general, travel insurance only covers paid-for accommodation, sometimes with a minimum duration. So stays with friends and family wouldn’t be covered.

Nor will you need travel insurance for medical cover, due to the NHS – though visitors to the Isle of Man and Channel Islands may need insurance for repatriation to the mainland.

Your home contents insurance may cover personal possessions outside the home, but you may have to pay high excesses.

Yes you can – but you’ll need to get a special type of policy called ‘post-departure insurance’.

Unfortunately, you’re likely to pay more and get less cover than if you had bought standard travel insurance.

Post-departure insurance won’t cover incidents that have already happened, such as a delayed flight on the way out. It generally applies from the day after buying, not the same day.

Even though you’ll need to cover fewer days, the specialised nature of post-departure insurance means it’s likely to cost more per day and overall.

The best approach is to buy standard travel insurance on the same day you book your holiday. Although the insurance only needs to cover the dates of your holiday, from the moment of buying it you’ll be covered if, for instance, you need to cancel your trip.

Buying insurance just before you travel effectively means missing out on months of cover.

You can get travel insurance if you’re pregnant, especially if your trip is less than 28 weeks into your pregnancy.

Many insurers still offer cover for trips after that point, but check with them before buying, and bear in mind airlines may request extra details such as a letter from your doctor.

Pregnancy is not considered a pre-existing medical condition so you shouldn’t have to tell your insurer or pay more.

Standard travel insurance will cover emergency medical care, but ask insurers if antenatal care after premature births will be covered, or cancellation due to pregnancy-related complications.

In general, travel insurance won’t pay out if you cancel a trip simply because you’re pregnant – it’s worth asking airlines and accommodation providers if you can reschedule.

It’s legal to travel out of the UK without travel insurance, though the countries you’re visiting may have requirements (Italy requires skiers to hold ski insurance, for instance).

However, you risk major financial loss if something goes wrong.

Take what should be the ‘best case’ scenario: travelling in Europe with a Global Health Insurance Card (Ghic – successor to Ehic).

If you get ill and require emergency repatriation, it could cost you tens of thousands of pounds for emergency medical repatriation – which the Ghic and Ehic don’t cover.

Travel insurance also covers more common scenarios such as flight delays and cancellations, lost baggage and providers going out of business.

Yes, travel insurance is essential for European holidays. 

The European Health Insurance Card (Ehic) and Global Health Insurance Card (Ghic) only entitle you to public medical care at the price locals pay.

That’s only in the EU, Switzerland and a few other countries however, and won’t cover associated – and very high – costs such as for rescue from ski slopes or repatriation to the UK.

Nor will the Ehic and Ghic cover cancellations or lost baggage, unlike the best travel insurance policies.

Some providers may offer slightly cheaper prices for buying cover at the last minute, but in the long run it could prove much more costly.

This is because one of the key benefits of travel insurance is cancellation cover. This cover applies from the moment you buy your insurance until the point you head off on your holiday. 

It pays out if something unexpected forces you to cancel or change your plans. So the more expensive your trip, the more valuable cancellation cover is.

Our research has found that cancellation claims are the second most common type of claim made. You lose out on this vital safety net if don’t arrange your insurance at the same time as arranging your holiday.

Most holiday providers give you the option to buy travel insurance through them when you pay for your flights and hotel in a package deal. 

While some operators insist you need insurance, you don’t necessarily have to buy it through them.

Insurance from a holiday provider or airline isn’t necessarily cheaper, or better. It might be set up for the type of holidays the operator provides, but it’s worth checking the T&Cs anyway.

Some banks will also throw in annual travel insurance as part of their packaged bank accounts. Just make sure you’ve disclosed any pre-existing medical conditions to the insurer.

Any current or recent medical conditions that haven’t been disclosed to your insurer will almost certainly be automatically excluded from your policy. 

In recent Which? research, we found that pre-existing medical conditions were the second most common reason for claims being turned down.

When you declare a condition, you’ll go through a medical screening process where you give the insurer information about your medical history. When you buy insurance by itself, this will usually form part of the application process. 

With some providers (for example where the cover is included with a holiday or a bank account), you’ll need to contact the insurer separately to have the conditions added. If you’re uncertain about what needs to be declared, it’s best to contact the insurer. 

• Find out more: Best travel insurance if you have a medical condition 2023 

Some, but not all, policies will offer specialised cover for cruises.

In some cases cruise cover will be an optional add-on.

This includes scenarios such as being ill and confined to your cabin, missing your departure during an excursion, or the intinerary being changed. 

We’ve listed which policies cover cruises and how good they are in our guide to the best cruise insurance.

As with cruises, this depends on your policy.

Winter sports cover may be included as standard within your travel insurance, or as an optional add-on.

It should cover scenarios such as piste closure, avalanche delay and air ambulance rescue from the slopes.

We’ve listed which policies include or offer winters sports cover, and rate that cover, in our guide to the best ski insurance.

Covid isn’t the menace to travel that it was a year or two ago, but it’s still around and retains the potential to scupper your plans.

Fortunately, all policies we examined provide at least a basic level of Covid cover – covering you if you get ill while travelling and require emergency medical care or medical repatriation to the UK.

Some 98% of those we checked also cover cancellation costs if you can’t travel because you’re ill with the virus.

From here, the degree of Covid cover varies significantly between policies – meaning you can’t make assumptions about what’s covered and should check very carefully if Covid cover is a priority for you. 

Of the policies we analysed, fewer than one in ten will pay if your hotel closes because of Covid and you can’t get your money back. 

And only a handful of providers cover you if you choose to cancel your plans because the FCDO advises against travel to your destination due to Covid. At the time of our analysis in April 2023, these were:

Travel insurers only expect you to claim with them if you’ve been unable to recover your money through other channels.

Book with a Which? Recommended holiday provider

If a package holiday firm cancels your holiday, or airlines can’t fulfil flights, you’re entitled to a refund by law.

Unfortunately, in the wake of Covid, not all travel providers fulfilled their legal obligations. For peace of mind, opt for one of our Which? Recommended Providers.

• Find out more: Your legal rights with package holiday companies

Atol protection

If you buy a package holiday that includes flights from an Atol-protected firm, you’ll get your money back if it goes bust. You’ll also be repatriated if this happens while you’re on holiday.

• Find out more: how do I know if my holiday is Atol protected?

Your credit card provider

If you can, pay for your holiday with a credit card.

If you pay with a credit card for services costing more than £100 and less than £30,000 that aren’t provided as advertised, you can claim the money back from your card supplier if the seller (ie the holiday company) won’t refund you.

• Find out more: Section 75

Your bank

Banks have similar schemes to help you recover money for services that haven’t been fulfilled as paid for. These are known as chargeback.

Chargeback can be used to recover debit and prepaid card payments, as well as credit card payments below £100.

Banks aren’t legally bound to do this in the same way as credit card providers are under Section 75, so you should always pay for amounts over £100 with a credit card if possible.