What Travel Insurance Actually Covers

Travel insurance is sold on a one-page summary that says very little about how a claim will be handled. The terms that decide the outcome sit in a policy wording most people never open until something goes wrong. This covers what standard cover pays for, where the exclusions usually sit, and the evidence you need to keep.

What The Policy Actually Pays For

Most policies group cover into emergency medical treatment, cancellation or interruption, and baggage or personal property. Medical is the block that matters most, because a hospital stay abroad can cost more than everything else on the policy added together. The other blocks carry per-item and per-trip limits, so a large figure on a summary page is rarely what one claim pays out.

Read the limits per person rather than the total. A family policy with a shared medical limit can be used up by one traveller. Check whether the medical section settles hospital bills directly or reimburses you after you have paid, since the second arrangement means you have to find the money first.

• Emergency medical - Treatment, hospital stays and emergency dental up to a per-person limit.
• Cancellation - Prepaid costs recovered for listed reasons only, usually before departure.
• Baggage - Loss, theft or damage, with a cap per item and a higher excess.
• Personal liability - Damage you cause to property or injury you cause to others.

Where Claims Get Refused

Exclusions do the quiet work on a policy. Incidents involving alcohol or drugs, injuries during activities the insurer classes as hazardous, and anything you were treated or investigated for before buying produce the most refusals. Adventure cover is not automatic: skiing, scuba diving and motorbike hire normally need an add-on.

Pre-existing conditions are the trap, because insurers define them differently. Some count any condition you have ever had, others only those within a set period before purchase. Leaving one off the form does not settle the matter; it voids cover for the whole policy rather than just that condition, and an insurer that later obtains the medical record is entitled to refuse the claim and cancel the policy.

Value limits work in the opposite direction. A policy with generous medical cover may cap baggage at a low figure per item and pay nothing at all for cash, tickets or jewellery. Photograph anything expensive before it goes into the suitcase and check the single item cap, because a camera or a laptop can rarely be replaced inside it.

Cancellation And Delay

Cancellation cover pays for listed reasons alone. Feeling uneasy about the trip, or deciding the destination no longer appeals, is not one of them. Medical grounds usually need a doctor to certify that you cannot travel, and the insurer may insist its own form is completed rather than accept your account of the diagnosis.

Interruption cover applies once you have departed and need to return home early or rejoin the trip later. Delay cover is smaller than most people assume and typically pays a fixed amount after a set number of hours, with receipts for the meals and accommodation the delay caused. Read the wording before you accept airline vouchers, because some policies pay only what the carrier did not.

What To Keep For A Claim

Claims fail on paperwork more often than on the incident itself. Keep every receipt, boarding pass, police report and medical invoice in one place, photographed, because paper gets lost in transit. Report a theft to local police within the window the policy sets and obtain a report the insurer can read.

Call the assistance line before committing to expensive treatment where the situation allows it. Many policies require prior authorisation for non-emergency care and pay nothing extra if you walk into a private clinic without asking first. The number is printed on the policy card.

Ask the hospital or clinic for an itemised invoice rather than a receipt for the total, since the insurer will want to see what each charge covered. Translate anything written in a language the insurer does not read, and send the claim by a method that proves delivery.

Add-Ons And Level Of Cover

Two policies with identical medical limits behave very differently once a cruise, a rental car or a winter sports week is involved. Rental car excess cover is generally cheaper as a standalone policy than as an add-on sold at the rental desk, and it is one of the few extras most travellers will use.

Buy the policy when you book if cancellation cover matters. A policy taken out after an event that makes cancellation likely will not pay for that event, and the wording usually states a purchase date requirement. Check that date before paying.

Check what the policy does when you fall ill before departure and the airline refunds the ticket. Most pay only the costs the carrier did not, which is how a claim can come back far smaller than the trip cost.

• Winter sports - Off-piste, ski touring and snowboarding need a specific extension.
• Cruise cover - Covers missed ports and medical care at sea, sold separately.
• Gadget cover - Phones and laptops often excluded or capped at a low figure.
• Excess waiver - Reduces the amount you pay toward each claim, for a higher premium.