Every year millions of people enjoy their overseas holidays. But sadly, some will remember their trips abroad for all the wrong reasons if the worst happens, such as needing emergency medical treatment overseas. This is why having adequate travel insurance is essential, and not simply a nice to have.
Knowing what information you need to declare when taking out travel insurance can often be complicated, particularly if you use a price comparison website, as different insurers will use different pieces of information to help them understand and price the risk.
Having listened to questions from travel insurance customers we have tried to answer the most common queries below, as simply as possible.
Your insurance premium goes into a large pool that is drawn on as people make claims on their policies. The vast majority of this premium will go to another customer that has to make a claim, with the premiums of the many paying for the claims of the few. In very serious cases, such claims can climb into the £ millions.
This breakdown shows how much travel insurers paid out in 2023.
On top of what you pay in premiums, there is an additional 20% in insurance premium tax. You can read why we think this tax is an unfair levy on a responsible purchase.
