The hospital bill for the fractured ankle in the Spain was the €3,200. The family, the British, the no EHIC (the European Health Insurance Card, the pre-Brexit card that covered the emergency treatment, the 2026 replacement, the GHIC, the Global Health Insurance Card, the same coverage in Europe, the essential card for the British traveller), and the insurance policy that they had “meant to buy”, paid the €3,200 on the credit card, and the credit card charged the 18% interest. The travel insurance policy would have cost the £25. The question, “Do you really need the travel insurance?”, is the wrong question. The right question is: “Can you afford the hospital bill, the medevac flight, the lost luggage, and the cancelled trip without the insurance?” For 99% of the travellers, the answer is no. Here is your guide.

Do You Really Need Travel Insurance?

• The hospital abroad, the essential risk: European Health Insurance Card (the GHIC for the UK residents, the EHIC for Europe residents) provides the emergency treatment at the same cost as the local residents: the free in the countries that provide the free healthcare (the Spain, the Italy, the Greece), and the reduced-cost in the countries that charge (the France, the 30% of the hospital bill). The GHIC/EHIC does NOT cover the repatriation (the flight back to the UK in the medical transport, the €20,000–50,000), the mountain rescue (the helicopter, the ski patrol, the €3,000), or the private hospital (the GHIC only covers the public healthcare, the private hospital, the faster, the more comfortable, and the bill is yours). The travel insurance covers these. The essential check: the pre-existing conditions (the declaration is essential, and the failure to declare voids the policy. The asthma, the diabetes, the heart condition, the declaration may increase the premium, and the increase is the fraction of the cost of the undeclared claim), the adventure sports (the skiing, the scuba diving, the mountain biking, many policies exclude the “dangerous” activities, and the specialist policy, the additional premium, is the essential purchase), and the excess (the first £50–250 of the claim that you pay, the lower excess is the higher premium, and the essential decision). More travel tips →
• The cancellation and the curtailment, the pre-travel cover: The travel insurance covers the cancellation before the trip (the illness, the accident, the bereavement, and the jury service, the covered reasons that are the limited, the specific, and the essential to read in the policy), and the curtailment during the trip (the illness, the accident, the bereavement, the return flight, the unused hotel nights, and the reimbursement). The essential statistic: the 1 in the 5 travellers experience the disruption (the cancelled flight, the lost luggage, the illness), and the travel insurance is the price of the peace of the mind. The essential tip: buy the insurance at the same time as the booking (the cancellation cover begins on the day of the purchase, and the policy purchased the day before the departure cannot cover the cancellation that has already happened)
• The policy, what to look for: The medical cover: the minimum £2 million for Europe, the £5 million for the worldwide (the USA, the essential £10 million). The cancellation cover: the minimum £3,000. The baggage cover: the minimum £1,500. The essential provider: the comparison sites (the Compare the Market, the MoneySuperMarket, the essential start, the filter for the cover, the excess, and the rating of the underwriter), the specialist providers (the Staysure for the pre-existing conditions, the True Traveller for the adventure sports), and the bank accounts (the packaged bank accounts, the Nationwide FlexPlus, the Barclays Travel Pack, include the travel insurance as the part of the monthly fee. ~£13/month, and the essential value for the regular traveller). The essential annual policy for the 2 trips a year (the £50–100 for Europe annual policy, the £100–200 for the worldwide) is the better value than the single-trip policy (the £15–40 per trip)