Travel insurance

The boring one, and the only one on this list where not bothering can cost you five figures. A broken leg on a Greek island and a flight home lying flat is the scenario people don't plan for.

We're not insurance advisers. What's below is general information, not a recommendation for your situation. Policies differ enormously by country, age and what you're doing — read the actual document before you buy, especially the exclusions.

Check what you already have

Genuinely check, before buying anything:

An EHIC or GHIC card gets EU and UK citizens state healthcare in the EU on the same terms as locals. It is not insurance — it won't repatriate you, won't cover a private clinic, and won't pay for cancellation — but it covers a lot of the ordinary stuff.
Your credit card may include travel cover if you paid for the trip with it. Premium cards often do, with real limits and real exclusions.
Your home contents policy may already cover possessions away from home.
An annual multi-trip policy you bought last year and forgot about.

The two different things called "travel insurance"

This is the distinction that decides which product you want.

Travel medical covers you getting ill or injured while away: treatment, hospital, emergency repatriation. This is the part that produces the terrifying bills.

Trip cancellation and interruption covers the money you've already spent if you can't go, or have to come home early. For a family that's booked flights, a week of accommodation and a few tickets, that can be a few thousand euros of exposure.

Many cheap policies are strong on one and thin on the other. Work out which risk you actually care about before comparing prices.

Where SafetyWing fits

See SafetyWing Nomad Insurance

We may earn a commission if you buy, at no extra cost to you.

SafetyWing's Nomad Insurance is primarily a travel medical policy. It's cheap, it's billed monthly like a subscription rather than per trip, and unusually it can be bought after you've already left home — which almost no traditional insurer allows. For long or open-ended trips, for people who travel often, and for anyone who realised at the airport that they forgot, it's a good fit.

Where it's the wrong choice: if your main worry is losing the money you've prepaid, a conventional policy with proper cancellation cover is the better buy. A standard annual multi-trip family policy is also often cheaper per person once you're insuring four people for two weeks a year. We'd rather tell you that than take the commission.

Things that quietly aren't covered

Pre-existing medical conditions, unless declared and accepted. The most common reason a claim is refused.
Anything after a drink. Injury claims where alcohol was involved get declined routinely.
Mopeds and scooters without the right licence — a classic Greek-island claim refusal — and often any motorbike at all.
"Adventure" activities: skiing, diving, climbing, quad bikes. Usually a paid add-on.
Unattended belongings. A bag on the beach while you swim is not covered anywhere.
Travel against official advice, or to a region your government advises against.
Known events. Once a storm is named or a strike is announced, cancellation for it stops being covered.

Buy it when you book, not when you fly

Cancellation cover starts from the day you buy the policy. If you buy it the week before departure, you've had no cover for the months when something could have stopped you going — which is the entire point of that half of the product. Buy it the day you pay your first deposit.

See SafetyWing Nomad Insurance

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