How much does travel insurance cost?

• • Where you're going: Each country or region has different levels of risk determined by insurance companies, which will influence what you pay based on the likelihood of a claim occurring.
  • How long you're going for: The longer you are away, the longer the policy, the higher the premium.
  • How old you are: Like most types of insurance, what you pay increases with age. Most insurers will use the following age thresholds when determining price: 18-24, 25-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70-74, 75-79, 80-89 and 90-120.
  • Whether you have any pre-existing medical conditions: You will be asked when you're purchasing cover if you have any pre-existing conditions. If you have a condition that is not automatically covered, the insurer will either charge you more for cover or exclude the condition from cover.
  • The policy you choose: Each insurer will offer different levels of cover that may impact your policy. Most will offer Comprehensive, Essentials and Basic levels of cover with different features. The more comprehensive the cover, the higher your premium.
  • The activities you are participating in: Most insurers will let you pay an additional premium to include cover for high-risk activities that are not covered automatically, such as scuba diving or rock climbing.
  • Any additional cover: Most insurers will let you purchase additional cover for:

  • Cruise trips (if not covered automatically)
  • Expensive items where the value exceeds that automatically provided
  • Removing the excess payable

What can bump up the price of travel insurance?

Adding optional extras to your policy also affects the cost of your premium. Examples of optional extras include:

• Cover for adventurous activities such as hang gliding, scuba diving, skiing and hot air ballooning.
• Rental car coverage to pay the large excess charged by rental car companies in the event of a claim.
• High value items cover for things like expensive laptops that you might bring on you trip.

How do I get travel insurance at the best price?

Given that so many factors can influence the cost of your travel insurance, the secret to obtaining affordable travel insurance is to control those factors as much as possible and also do the following:

• Shop around. Get a number of quotes from different insurance providers and make sure you compare apples with apples (policies that offer similar coverage).
• Be wary of travel agents and airlines. who can charge hefty commissions and consider buying your travel insurance direct from the insurer online.
• Policy choice. If you travel more than once a year, take out an annual multi-trip policy, rather than purchasing a single-trip policy every time.
• Destination. If the destination is not important to you, consider taking your holiday somewhere that needs less insurance cover (i.e. Bali rather than the USA).
• Joint policy. If travelling with others such as your family, take out a joint policy rather than individual coverage and investigate the possibility of a group discount.
• Excess. If you can afford it, increase your excess (the amount you must contribute when making a claim), which reduce your premium.
• Other insurance. Use other insurances you may have such as credit card and home and contents insurance to supplement your cover.

What level of cover do I need?

The amount of travel insurance you need depends on your particular circumstances. We each have our own comfort levels regarding insurance, with some of us requiring more protection and peace of mind than others.

When deciding how much travel insurance to take out, the following factors should be considered:

• Medical. How old you are, whether you have any pre-existing medical conditions and the healthcare system in the country you are visiting all play a part in determining how much medical cover you need. If you are travelling to a country such as the USA for instance, where healthcare is hugely expensive, you would be wise to take out travel insurance that has unlimited medical and hospital cover.
• Personal belongings. If you are taking expensive items with you on your trip such as cameras, electronics or jewellery, you would be well advised to have insurance with per-item limits that are high enough to cover replacement of those items if lost or stolen.
• Trip cancellation. If you have pre-booked and paid for your entire holiday before you leave home, you should make sure you have sufficient cover to ensure that you’re reimbursed, should your holiday be called off for any reason.

Special types of travel insurance

These days, there are insurance providers who specialise in travel insurance for every conceivable kind of traveller. Some of these include:

• Backpackers insurance. Unlike normal travel insurance, which usually covers a traveller for up to 31 days, backpackers or ‘gap year’ insurance, as it is sometimes known, provides extended cover for up to 18 months and can include a number of different countries and cover for a number of different activities. Learn more about backpacker travel insurance.
• Family insurance. This kind of insurance is designed for family groups travelling together and offers group discounts and even free cover for younger children. Care should be taken to ensure that there is a single excess associated with the policy however, as some insurers charge an excess for each family member. Learn more about family travel insurance.
• Winter sports insurance. This is travel insurance tailor-made for those holidaying in the snow. As well as covering ski accidents and medical evacuations, it often also covers expensive equipment against loss or damage and cancellation of pre-paid ski passes.
• Over 65s insurance. Because the cost of normal travel insurance can be more than double for people over the age of 65, some insurers specialise in more affordable insurance for the mature aged traveller. While still more expensive than normal travel insurance such policies often cover more pre-existing medical conditions and offer more generous limits for medical claims. Learn more about seniors travel insurance.
• Business insurance. Unlike normal travel insurance, this kind of insurance covers travellers who work while they are overseas and it also usually includes more generous cover for phones, laptops and other business-related equipment. Learn more about business travel insurance.

When am I not covered?

Exclusions found in most travel insurance policies (circumstances where cover is not provided) include: