What does travel insurance cover?

What travel insurance covers

Travel insurance is designed to keep travellers safe and protect them against a wide variety of events that can cost money before or during a trip.

You can arrange cover for a single trip or, if you’re a real jetsetter with multiple holidays planned, annual multi-trip policies will insure you for any holiday up to 90 days - though age restrictions apply. 

Travel insurance covers events that are out of your control. However, there are different levels of cover with travel insurance. With LV=, Essential cover protects against some of the common things that can go wrong, while Premier cover also includes some useful extras. 

 

Essential cover

Essential cover includes protection worth up to £5,000 should you have to cancel your trip, certain activities or cut it short due to reasons that aren’t your fault.

Eligible reasons for a cancelled trip can include:

• Serious illness, injury or death of you, a family member or travelling companion
• Being called up for jury duty

You also have medical and repatriation cover worth up to £10 million (with a £90 excess) and personal liability up to £2 million. You’ll also get personal accident cover plus legal advice and expenses worth up to £25,000 with no excess to pay.

Premier cover

If you choose our Premier policy you'll get all of the cover on Essential, plus you’re protected if you have to cancel or abandon your trip because of delays up to £10,000. You can also claim up to £1,000 for extra transport and accommodation costs if travel is cancelled or delayed, and up to £10,000 if your provider goes bankrupt.

It's important to understand the full terms and conditions of these cover options. You'll find all the information you need in our policy documents which can be found on our travel insurance page, under the 'More about LV= travel insurance' section. So, grab a cuppa and have a read through.

How does travel insurance work?

In a nutshell, you pay an annual premium to cover you for all your adventures. We offer different cover levels and add-ons, depending on your plans. So, from cruises to skiing and all the beach resorts in between, there’s something here for everyone. 

Once it’s set up, you can go off and enjoy everything you’ve booked with the peace of mind that, should anything go wrong (we’re talking travel delays, lost baggage, falling ill or enduring an injury), we’ll be right there with you to cover the costs and offer you all the support we can.

Is travel insurance worth it?

Below are some genuine cases where we’ve been able to offer support to our customers during their darkest moments. It just shows that catastrophe can strike at any time so it’s always worth being prepared, particularly during the cost-of-living crisis where many of us don’t have the funds to pay these costs out of our own money.

Why might a travel insurance claim get declined?

It pays to know what your travel insurance does and doesn’t cover. There are instances where people have tried to make a claim but find that it was never part of their policy. Travel insurance and alcohol is a good example, as it invalidates injuries and illness claims.

Other common areas that are often excluded include:
• Certain activities - skydiving, bungee jumping more than once, cliff jumping
• Baggage - an optional extra (except when stated)
• Pre-existing medical conditions - unless an agreement to cover is made
• Something you knew about when booking your trip or setting up insurance that could result in you needing to claim

For these reasons it’s important that you check your travel insurance carefully and add any extras you may need. This could be organising travel insurance that covers cycling if you’re planning a few weeks mountain biking across Europe.

Destinations that your insurer hasn’t agreed to cover, general delays and refreshment costs for short delays are rarely covered too. Most travel insurance policies won’t pay out if you cancel a trip simply because you change your mind either.

Dental treatment (except to alleviate sudden pain) and natural damage to luggage (wear and tear due to weather, for example) aren’t normally insured either.

Specialist travel insurance

Whatever type of travelling you’re planning, there’s an insurance policy available that will have you covered.

Cruise cover

If you’re going on a cruise, there’s travel insurance to suit the specific situations you may be in. This is also split into Essential and Premier policies.

There’s no excess to pay and you can get cover if you’re confined to your cabin, need to re-join the ship if you’re taken ill, and port cancellations.
This cover is included as standard in our annual multi-trip policies or if you’re planning a cruise and have a single trip policy with us, you must add it as an extra.

Winter Sports

When heading off to the Alps for some winter sports, travel insurance usually increases as skiing and snowboarding pose a higher risk than laying on the beach. The same is true for other sports, including horse riding or hiking at high altitudes. This is why you might need a specialist policy.

Aside from extreme sports travel insurance, you can also find tailored options that enable you to still go on holiday safely whatever your age or with a pre-existing medical condition. During the application process you just need to declare this and the insurer will assess your risk. Sometimes, cover may not be possible but we’ll always explain what your options are or what limitations would be in place.

To stay safe on your next trip, check that everything you need is covered before you leave. Find out more about LV= travel insurance today.