Travel insurance is easy to treat as a box to tick before booking, but understanding what a policy actually covers, and what it doesn’t, matters far more than simply having “a policy.”
Medical cover
This is often the most important part of a policy, covering emergency medical treatment abroad, which can be extremely expensive in some countries without it. Check the maximum coverage amount and whether it suits the destination you’re visiting.
Cancellation and interruption cover
This covers costs if you need to cancel or cut short a trip due to specified reasons, such as illness or a family emergency. The specific list of covered reasons varies significantly between policies, so it’s worth checking rather than assuming any reason is covered.
Belongings and baggage cover
This covers lost, stolen or damaged belongings up to a specified limit, often with a lower sub-limit for single high-value items like a laptop or camera, which may need to be separately declared to be fully covered.
Common exclusions worth checking
Activities like skiing, scuba diving, or other adventure sports are often excluded from standard policies unless you pay for specific additional cover. Pre-existing medical conditions may also need to be declared and could affect either cover or price.
The takeaway
A cheap policy that doesn’t cover the activities you’re actually doing, or excludes a condition relevant to you, isn’t genuinely good value. Reading the actual coverage details, not just the price, is what determines whether a policy will actually help if something goes wrong.