Cheap travel insurance — how to get proper cover without overpaying
The plain-English guide to cheap travel insurance: what actually matters, where the £15 policies fall short, and how to compare cover the right way.
Travel insurance is one of those things where paying the least usually costs the most. A £6 policy sounds like a bargain until you're stuck in a hospital in Bangkok with a £45,000 bill and a £250 excess on £500 of cover. This is the plain-English version of what actually matters, what to ignore, and how to get proper cover for £15–£30.
The five numbers that decide if a policy is any good
Forget marketing badges and "5-star Defaqto" logos for a minute. Every travel insurance policy comes down to five numbers. If any one is bad, the policy is bad — no matter how cheap.
| What to check | Bare minimum | What "good" looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency medical & repatriation | £1 million | £5–£10 million (or unlimited) |
| Cancellation cover | Matches your trip cost | £3,000–£5,000+ per person |
| Excess per claim | Under £150 | £0–£75 |
| Baggage limit | £1,000 | £1,500+ with £250+ single-item |
| Personal money / cash | £200 | £300–£500 |
Single trip vs annual multi-trip — which is cheaper?
Rule of thumb: if you're taking three or more trips in a year, annual multi-trip almost always wins. Even two European weekends plus a summer holiday often break even.
| Type | Typical cost (adult, under 50) | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Single trip — Europe (1 week) | £8–£20 | One-off holiday |
| Single trip — worldwide (2 weeks) | £20–£50 | One big trip a year |
| Annual Europe | £30–£70 | Weekend-break regulars |
| Annual worldwide | £60–£150 | 3+ trips including long-haul |
| Backpacker / long-stay (3–12 months) | £150–£500 | Gap year, digital nomads |
Travel cover worth comparing
AffiliateOne option we've used. Compare it against a broker like Compare the Market or MoneySuperMarket before buying.
- Get a quoteSafetyWing Nomad InsuranceLong-stay
Pay-monthly cover designed for long-stay travellers and remote workers. Often cheaper than an annual UK policy for anyone spending 3+ months abroad.
Where the cheap policies quietly cut corners
Cheap policies don't cut the headline numbers — they cut the details. These are the traps we see most often:
- Excess stacking. Each section (medical, baggage, cancellation) has its own excess. A £150 policy excess can mean £450 out of pocket on one incident.
- Single-item limits. £1,500 baggage cover with a £150 single-item cap is useless for a laptop or a decent camera.
- Missed departure. Often capped at £100 and only if the delay is the airline's fault, not traffic or a broken-down train.
- Sports and activities. Even "gentle" things like scuba, quad biking, jet skis and horse-riding are frequently excluded unless you tick an add-on.
- Pre-existing conditions. Anything you've seen a doctor about in the last 2 years usually has to be declared. Miss one and the whole policy can be voided.
- Alcohol clauses. If your accident report mentions drink, some insurers will refuse everything — even the unrelated bits.
How to actually compare policies (in under 10 minutes)
- Get a baseline quote on Compare the Market or MoneySuperMarket. Sort by price, then ignore the top three cheapest.
- Open the policy wording PDF for two or three mid-range options. Search (Ctrl+F) for: excess, single item, pre-existing, alcohol, hazardous.
- Compare on the five numbers in the table above. If a cheaper policy matches on all five and its exclusions look reasonable, buy it.
- Buy the day you book the trip, not the day you fly — cancellation cover starts from the policy start date.
Specific situations where "cheap" is the wrong target
USA, Canada, Caribbean
Medical costs are brutal — a routine ambulance ride can hit $2,000. Don't go under £5m medical cover, and check the policy covers "worldwide including USA and Canada", not just "worldwide".
Skiing / winter sports
Standard policies exclude piste time entirely. A dedicated winter sports add-on is usually £15–£40 and covers off-piste (within resort), equipment hire, and lift-pass refunds.
Cruises
Look for a cruise add-on with cabin confinement, missed port and medical repatriation from ship. Standard policies frequently exclude the whole trip if it involves a cruise.
Over 65s / pre-existing conditions
Don't use general comparison sites — use specialists like Staysure, AllClear or Avanti. Cheap generic policies routinely refuse to insure common declared conditions.
Backpackers and long-stay travellers
Annual UK policies usually cap single trips at 31 days. If you're going for 3–12 months, you need a long-stay backpacker policy or a monthly nomad policy like SafetyWing.
Passport validity + travel insurance: the overlap most people miss
If you're refused boarding because your passport doesn't meet the destination's rules (typically the 6-month rule or EU 10-year rule), travel insurance will not pay out. It's classed as "failure to have valid documentation". Check your passport before you buy the flight, not after.
Frequently asked questions
A one-week European single-trip policy for a healthy adult under 50 typically costs £8–£20. Worldwide is usually £15–£40. Annual multi-trip cover starts around £30 for Europe and £60 worldwide. Pre-existing conditions and older ages push this up significantly.
Sometimes. The problem isn't always the price — it's the excess (often £150–£250 on cheap policies), the medical cover limit (£1m is bare minimum, £5m+ is better), and the exclusions. A £6 policy that pays out £250 after a £200 excess is worse than a £15 policy with £50 excess and £10m medical.
Yes. The GHIC (or old EHIC) only covers state healthcare on the same terms as locals — it won't repatriate you, cover private hospitals, replace stolen belongings, or refund a cancelled trip. Treat it as a supplement to insurance, never a replacement.
The same day you book the trip. Cancellation cover only kicks in from the moment the policy starts, so buying it weeks later leaves you exposed if something happens before departure — which is when a lot of claims actually happen.
Most policies now cover emergency medical treatment abroad for Covid and cancellation if you test positive before travel. Fewer cover disinclination to travel or FCDO advice changes. Check the wording — it's usually under 'travel disruption' or a Covid-specific section.
Pre-existing medical conditions you didn't declare, alcohol-related incidents, extreme sports without an add-on, unattended belongings, travel against FCDO advice, and anything undeclared. Read the exclusions before you buy, not after you claim.
The 30-second summary
- £1m medical cover is the bare minimum; £5m+ for USA / long-haul.
- Excess under £150. Baggage single-item under £250 is useless for tech.
- Buy on the day you book — that's when cancellation cover starts.
- Annual multi-trip wins from 3 trips a year.
- Declare pre-existing conditions honestly, or expect a refused claim.
- Don't insure round a broken passport — check the validity rule first.
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