Last-minute travel insurance

Are you someone who likes to plan your holidays in great detail: signing up for excursions, identifying the best restaurants and even booking spa treatments before you go? Or do you prefer to just book your trip and go with the flow when you get there?

However you like to prepare, one thing that’s always worth arranging as soon as you’ve booked a holiday is your travel insurance, especially if you want to be covered for cancellation and travel disruption.

You can usually buy your travel cover up to a year in advance, but our research shows that 16% of 902 British holidaymakers we surveyed choose not to buy it at all. And, of those who do, up to 40% buy a policy at the last minute, risking being left out of pocket and without a holiday if something goes wrong.

Michelle Cooper, Director of Travel Insurance at Saga, outlines why this can be a risky strategy: “You’ll never know how important travel insurance is unless you need to make a claim. This could be before you go if your trip must be cancelled, while you’re away if you need medical treatment, or even when you get back if your baggage gets lost.”

When is the best time to take out travel insurance?

To benefit from the most protection, Michelle says, “The best time to buy your travel insurance is right after you’ve booked a holiday.” Only 33% of British holidaymakers who buy single-trip travel insurance do this, according to the findings of our survey.

“Protecting your plans in the run-up to your holiday is just as important as when you’re there,” continues Michelle. “We recommend getting a policy that includes cancellation cover so you’re protected if you can’t go due to illness or if there’s an unexpected turn of events, like your accommodation cancels your booking. Although some holiday providers do include cancellation cover as part of the holiday booking, so check this first.”

When is it too late to buy travel insurance?

If you’ve booked a spur-of-the-moment break or you only realise you haven’t got your insurance in place just before you leave, you can still get travel insurance on the same day you travel.

Most travel insurance providers specify that your trip starts when you leave your home and ends when you return to it. So, to be fully covered you need to buy your last-minute travel insurance before you close the front door behind you.

Be aware of any ‘waiting period’ the provider has if you’re buying a policy on the same day you travel, which means you might not be able to claim in the first 24 or 48 hours of taking out a policy.

You may still be able to buy cover once you’ve arrived at the airport if you need to. But do it before you go through customs or you’ll have a harder job finding cover and it may come with exclusions.

Do you need travel insurance before booking a holiday?

You don’t need to buy cover before you book a trip, but if you want to know how much a policy is likely to cost before you book a holiday, then you can always get a quote in advance.

This can be particularly useful if you have a complex medical history. Tell your insurer about medications and health conditions so they can make sure you’re fully covered.

Michelle explains why this is important: “If you want to be covered for a pre-existing medical condition or anything associated with it, always declare it when buying travel insurance, otherwise it could lead to complications should you need to make a claim.”

Whether you buy a single trip or annual multi-trip policy, travel insurance bought in advance protects your plans in the run-up to your break as well as when you're there.

Can you buy travel insurance once you are away?

It still might not be too late once you’ve arrived at your destination. Some providers sell ‘post-departure insurance’, but this could come at a premium and with certain limitations.

However, if you’ve completely overlooked getting cover until this point, it’s still a good idea to take out a policy. It won’t cover you for anything that might have gone wrong already, such as delayed departure or lost luggage, but it may prove valuable later in your trip.

Does travel insurance get cheaper closer to the travel date?

Some insurers may give you a slightly cheaper price if you buy a policy nearer the time of your departure, but this could backfire if you need to cancel your holiday before you’ve bought cover.

How to get travel insurance without a return date?

If you want flexibility around your travel return date, you may be better off buying an annual multi-trip policy. This will cover you for a specified number of days of travel per policy year.