Travel Insurance for UK Trips

Key points

• Travel insurance for a U.K. trip can be indispensable if you need serious emergency medical care while traveling.
• A standalone travel insurance plan can offer more comprehensive benefits and higher limits than your credit card or a travel provider’s plan.
• Buying a policy shortly after booking your trip will give you the best protection against trip cancellation and interruption.

Visiting the United Kingdom as an American can be a pricey proposition. Not only will you be flying overseas, but the exchange rate is perpetually unfavorable. If you have a U.K. trip on the horizon, you may want to purchase travel insurance to protect yourself against financial losses due to unforeseen events that could affect your trip.

Key benefits of having travel insurance for the U.K. 

Whether you’re visiting England, Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales, you’ll face some different risks than you would at home in the U.S.

A comprehensive travel insurance policy can help. It bundles together several types of coverage, including:

Here are some ways U.K. travel insurance can protect you financially, as well as where it may fall short.

Trip cancellation insurance

Trip cancellation insurance can reimburse you for what you’ve spent on prepaid, nonrefundable plane fare, accommodations, tours and other travel expenses, as long as you’re canceling your trip for a reason listed in your policy. These covered reasons could include you getting sick or injured, your employer requiring you to work after granting time off or a blizzard canceling flights before you leave.

You must buy your policy well in advance to take full advantage of these benefits, however.

“If you wait until there’s an event impacting the destination, such as a severe winter storm, it’s then too late to buy travel insurance and your prepaid expenses won’t be covered,” said Daniel Durazo, director of external communications at Allianz Partners USA.

Delays on your U.K. trip

Travel delay insurance helps if you’ve started your trip and encounter flight delays or cancellations. It can’t rescue you from the hell of being trapped on the tarmac for hours, but it can provide other helpful benefits.

“Travel delay coverage may help cover the cost of rerouting you to your final destination, or can provide meals and accommodations while you wait,” Durazo said.

While U.K. law and Article 19 of the Montreal Convention do entitle passengers to benefits under certain circumstances, the coverage provided by travel insurance is typically broader.

For example, travel insurance would reimburse you for prepaid expenses such as a hotel night you can’t use or a tour you can’t go on because of the delay. It would reimburse losses from delays unrelated to air travel.

Tackling trip interruption

Depending on the travel insurance policy, trip interruption coverage can reimburse 100% to 200% of your nonrefundable prepaid costs if something goes wrong after you depart or if you have to join your trip late for a covered reason. These reasons may include a natural disaster at your destination, a terrorist attack, a strike or a family member’s unexpected illness (even if they aren’t traveling with you).

Dealing with lost bags and stolen belongings

If your luggage or personal belongings are lost, stolen or damaged during your trip, travel insurance can reimburse you for your losses. But baggage insurance is typically secondary coverage, so you’ll need to seek reimbursement from a common carrier, such as the airline that lost your bag, before turning to your travel insurance for help.

If you experience a baggage loss while traveling, read your policy and follow the steps your insurer requires. These might include notifying the airline that your bag is missing or reporting stolen items to the local authorities.

Handling medical bills in the U.K.

How important is it to have travel medical insurance, included in a comprehensive travel insurance policy, when visiting the U.K.? You might think you could just use your U.S. health insurance or the U.K.’s free universal healthcare through the National Health Service (NHS) if you had a problem, but this could be a costly assumption.

“Many domestic health insurance plans don’t cover medical expenses abroad, and some foreign medical facilities and providers may even require a cash payment up front and often do not accept U.S. insurance plans,” Durazo said.

For example, American visitors to England must pay upfront for most types of medical treatment, and the cost is 150% of standard NHS rates. In March 2022, a long hospital stay could have cost you more than ￡4,400 (about $5,586).

Medicare generally does not cover international health care. However, some Medigap supplement plans do, so check your existing coverage and see how it compares to what trip insurance offers. Travel medical insurance can offer incredible value for your money, with features like no deductible and 100% coverage up to $1 million for a few dollars per day.

Evacuation for serious medical issues

Should you require a medical flight to get the care you need while visiting the U.K., the money you spent on travel insurance could save your life. It could allow you to recover without the stress of exorbitant evacuation and repatriation bills.

Look for a travel insurance plan that will pay to fly you back home — not just to the nearest “capable” hospital, which may not be your best option for treatment. Even if your U.S. health insurance works abroad, it may not include this coverage.

What is the cost of U.K. travel insurance?

Travel insurance for a U.K. trip will cost about 5% to 6% of the total of your prepaid, nonrefundable trip costs. However, other factors, such as the ages of travelers and the length of your trip, will also impact the price. For instance, the average cost of U.K. travel insurance for a family of four (ages 40, 40, 10 and 7) taking a 17-day, $15,000 trip is $629. But if you’re taking a shorter, cheaper trip with fewer travelers, you’ll likely be able to find cheaper travel insurance.

Tips for choosing the right U.K. travel insurance

Many companies offer travel insurance, and the selection can feel overwhelming — especially if you’ve never bought this type of coverage before. These tips can help you choose the right company and plan.

Understand your risks

“One mistake travelers can make is assuming their domestic health insurance will cover them no matter where they are in the world,” Durazo said. In many cases, this isn’t true.

It’s also common to assume that your credit card provides all the travel insurance you might need.

Standalone travel plans tend to be more comprehensive. They may also have higher limits and shorter waiting periods for time-sensitive benefits.

Comparison shop

Coverage limits and exclusions vary by provider and by plan. Also, more expensive plans aren’t always better. Comparison sites can help you quickly understand the differences among plans.

Read the policy

Don’t just read the coverage summary. It’s important to understand the fine print and whether you’re financially protected against the risks you’re concerned about.

Travel insurance comparison sites often make it easy to review the full policy (sometimes called a plan certificate) before you buy. And most companies offer a “free look” period after you buy a policy, so you have time to request a refund if you read through it and decide it doesn’t provide adequate coverage.

The policy will also show you which insurer actually provides the coverage—it might be different from the company selling you the travel insurance plan. Check the underwriting insurer’s financial strength rating to make sure they’ll be around to reimburse you if you need to file a claim.

Evaluate travel insurance reviews

It can be tricky to tell real, unbiased reviews from fake or paid reviews. But if you read enough of them, you’ll likely get a sense of which reviews are more likely to be trustworthy and which companies have the best reputations. Keep in mind, bad reviews are often the result of customer misunderstandings regarding coverage.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)