Travel insurance, without the sales pitch
A package holiday already covers some risks. Insurance exists for the ones it does not, and the expensive gap between them is medical.
What ATOL already does
If you book a package holiday that includes a flight from a UK company, it is ATOL protected. That means two specific things: if the company collapses before you travel you get your money back, and if it collapses while you are away you are flown home.
That is the whole of it. ATOL does not pay for a hospital, a cancelled holiday because you broke your ankle, a stolen phone, or a delay. Read the package holidays explainer for where the protection sits, then treat insurance as a separate question.
Medical cover is the product
Everything else in a travel policy is small money. Medical repatriation is not. An air ambulance from the Mediterranean back to the UK runs into tens of thousands of pounds, and it is the reason travel insurance exists at all.
A UK Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) gives you access to state healthcare in the EU on the same terms as a local. It is genuinely useful and it is free. It is also not insurance: it does not cover private clinics, which is where tourists in resort areas usually end up, and it does not fly you home. Carry both.
Cover levels worth checking
| Section | What to look for | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency medical | Millions, not thousands | The only figure that can bankrupt you |
| Repatriation | Explicitly included | Sometimes a separate limit |
| Cancellation | At least the full cost of your trip | Insuring for less than you paid is pointless |
| Excess | Per person per section, or per claim? | A family claim on a per-person excess multiplies fast |
| Baggage | Single-item limit, not just the total | The total is generous, the single-item limit is where a laptop fails |
| Delay and missed departure | Trigger time and payout | Often needs a long delay before anything pays |
Buy it when you book
This is the single most common mistake, and it is free to avoid. Cancellation cover starts the day the policy starts. If you book in January for August and buy insurance in July, the six months in between were uninsured — and if something happens in that window, you cannot buy cover for it afterwards.
Single trip or annual?
If you take more than two trips a year, an annual multi-trip policy is usually cheaper than buying separately, and it solves the timing problem above by default. Check the maximum trip length, which is commonly around a month, and check whether it covers winter sports if you intend to ski.
Frequently asked questions
Does my bank account include travel insurance?
Some packaged current accounts do. Check the medical limit, the upper age limit and whether pre-existing conditions need declaring separately — bundled cover is often thinner than it looks.
Is a GHIC enough on its own?
No. It gets you state healthcare in the EU at local rates and does not repatriate you. It complements insurance rather than replacing it.
What if I have a pre-existing condition?
Declare it. Specialist insurers price conditions that mainstream ones decline, and a slightly higher premium beats a refused claim.
Do I need cover if the operator already protects the holiday?
Yes. Financial protection and medical cover are unrelated products solving unrelated problems.
General information, not financial advice. Policy terms vary and only the wording you are sold counts. Read it before you need it.