Travel Insurance Claims Checklist

Travel Insurance Claims Checklist: How to Give Your Claim the Best Chance

Last updated: July 2026. Based on a structured review of published Financial Ombudsman Service decisions on travel insurance.

Key takeaways: buy cover when you book, answer every health question fully and keep proof of what you were asked, call the assistance line and get important confirmations in writing, keep valuables on you and report losses within 24 hours, and claim only your genuine loss with evidence. These habits line up with how the Financial Ombudsman Service decides travel insurance claims, and they turn a fair claim into a claim that gets paid.

Most guides to travel insurance stop at the point of purchase. They tell you what to look for in a policy, then leave you to it. But a large share of disputes have little to do with the cover you bought and everything to do with how the claim is handled afterwards: what you did at the time, what you kept, and what you were told.

This checklist is different because of where it comes from. Rather than repeating generic tips, we reviewed and assessed a body of published Financial Ombudsman Service decisions, the independent adjudications that settle complaints when a customer and an insurer cannot agree, and distilled from them the practical steps that decide real cases. Each item below is a plain action, why it matters, and the underlying principle the Ombudsman tends to apply. It is general information, not advice about any specific policy or claim, and it does not change what your own policy says. Always read your own wording.

What should you do before you buy travel insurance?

Answer every screening question honestly, and keep your own record of what you were asked and what you said. When you buy online or over the phone, you are usually asked about your health and sometimes about the health of relatives whose illness could cause you to cancel. Take a screenshot or note of the questions and your answers. Why it matters: if a claim is later questioned, the insurer has to show what it actually asked. If a question was unclear or was never asked, that ambiguity is generally read in your favour, not the insurer's. Your own record is often the deciding evidence.

Declare every diagnosis, symptom and pending investigation, not just conditions with a firm diagnosis. Include anything you are on a waiting list for, any test results you are awaiting, and any medication or treatment in the recent period the questions cover. Why it matters: the remedy for an innocent or careless mistake is usually a proportionate reduction in the settlement, reflecting what the insurer would have done with the full facts, not automatic cancellation of the policy. A deliberate or reckless non-disclosure can void cover entirely, so full and careful answers protect you.

Complete every step of the purchase journey and get written confirmation before you travel. If you buy through a broker, comparison site or bank package, make sure the sale actually finishes and you receive policy documents. Why it matters: a policy that was never properly concluded, or add-on cover that quietly failed to renew, can leave you uninsured. Buy your cover when you book the trip, so that cancellation cover starts immediately, and keep the confirmation.

Check the basic eligibility assumptions apply to you: residency, age, trip length, and that you have not already left home. Why it matters: most UK policies define a trip as starting from your UK home and cap the length of a single trip, and many cannot be bought once you have already departed. Confirming something untrue at purchase, such as saying you have not started your trip when you have, can undo the whole policy.

What should you do if you need medical treatment abroad?

Call the 24-hour assistance line before you commit to major treatment or repatriation, and keep a note of who you spoke to and when. Why it matters: many policies require you to contact the assistance team for authorisation, and the practical help they give is valuable. But an assistance-line go-ahead is operational support, not a final decision to accept the claim. The claim is assessed later against the policy terms, so keep asking for written confirmation of anything important you are told.

Get cover confirmations and any guarantee of payment to a hospital in writing. Foreign hospitals sometimes bill you directly or hold a patient until payment is guaranteed. Why it matters: if the insurer promises to guarantee payment or to cover a course of treatment, a written record holds it to what it said. The Ombudsman gives real weight to what a customer was actually told at the time.

If you have an EHIC or GHIC, carry it and expect to use state facilities, but check the private-treatment wording. Why it matters: inside the EU a GHIC gives you state healthcare on the same terms as a local, and many policies expect you to use it. A number of policies only pay for private treatment where no suitable public or state facility is available, and can move you to a public hospital when it is safe. Where an insurer relies on that, the general expectation is that it should be able to show a suitable public alternative genuinely existed before declining private emergency care, and an emergency admission should not be refused simply for lack of prior authorisation.

On repatriation, remember the medical decisions should follow the treating doctor's advice. Why it matters: the method and timing of getting you home, and the class of travel, should follow contemporaneous medical advice rather than cost alone, and repatriation cannot sensibly proceed without a fit-to-fly assessment. If the insurer is waiting on something before it acts, it should tell you what. If you are asked to agree to repatriation on the strength of a promise about follow-up treatment in the UK, get that promise in writing first.

How do cancellation and curtailment claims work?

See a doctor and get evidence before you cancel a trip on health grounds. Why it matters: cancellation claims usually need medical evidence, and some policies require a certificate confirming you were unfit to travel. A brief, reasonable pause to weigh your options should not be held against you, but cancelling without evidence makes a claim much harder.

Understand when your awareness is judged, especially if you have had to rebook. Why it matters: policies exclude cancellation for something you already knew about when you bought the cover or booked the trip. If circumstances force you to rebook, it is worth checking which date governs, and buying cover as soon as you book rather than once a risk has emerged.

If you cut a trip short, know that curtailment usually runs from the day you are forced off your itinerary, not the day you fly home. Why it matters: if you are hospitalised or confined partway through, the unused, pre-paid part of your holiday can be claimable from that point, and in some cases even if you still fly home on the original date. Keep evidence of the confinement or the medical reason, and note that good curtailment cover pays back your lost pre-paid costs, not only the extra cost of getting home.

Where cancellation depends on official advice, check what the wording actually requires. Why it matters: policies differ on whether cancelling because the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) changed its advice to against travel is a covered reason at all, and on whether a full FCDO warning is needed or an equivalent local official warning will do. Whatever the trigger, tell the insurer promptly, so you can still take steps to reduce the loss, and pursue any refund the operator owes you under the Package Travel Regulations as well.

How do you claim for lost, stolen or delayed baggage?

Report a loss or theft quickly and get the right paperwork within the policy's time limit. Why it matters: policies typically require a police report for theft, or a property irregularity report from the airline for lost or delayed baggage, often within 24 hours, with a full list of items able to follow. Missing the report or the deadline is a common reason claims fail, so deal with it before you move on.

Keep valuables, cash and documents on you, and never leave them in a vehicle. Why it matters: almost every policy excludes valuables, money and passports left in a vehicle, even in a locked boot, and excludes valuables in checked-in baggage. Items left while you swim or step away are usually treated as unattended. The test the Ombudsman applies is broadly whether the items were within your sight and reach, so keeping them on you preserves cover.

Check the single-article limit, not just the headline baggage figure. Why it matters: baggage cover caps what you can claim for any one item, often well below the total, so a phone, tablet or camera may only be part-paid. Knowing the sub-limit before you travel lets you insure a valuable item properly or leave it at home.

Do not let an airline delay payment cancel out a separate belongings claim. Why it matters: compensation from an airline for a delay and a claim for lost or damaged contents are different things. You are entitled to have each head of your claim assessed on its own, and you do not have to exhaust a credit-card or third-party claim before your insurer pays what it owes.

Who has to prove an exclusion applies?

Know that an insurer relying on an exclusion generally has to prove it applies. Why it matters: if a claim is declined on the basis of, say, alcohol, the expectation is real evidence that drink actually caused the injury, not a note that alcohol was possibly involved. Alternative explanations, such as heat or dehydration, should be considered, and where medical notes are in a foreign language they should be translated and evidenced before an exclusion bites. Consuming alcohol is not the same as an accident being caused by it.

Check that a pre-existing condition only bites where it actually caused the claim. Why it matters: an undeclared condition does not automatically defeat an unrelated claim. What generally matters is whether the condition, or a relative's condition on a cancellation claim, actually caused or contributed to what you are claiming for, and the insurer should be able to evidence that link.

How should you submit a travel insurance claim?

List every part of your claim and ask what evidence is needed for each. Why it matters: insurers assess each head of a claim, so set out everything, medical costs, curtailment, belongings, delay, and keep receipts, IMEI numbers and clinic details. The evidence standard is what is reasonably necessary, not perfection, and prompt evidence from your own GP after you get home can be enough for some claims.

Ask the insurer to explain any settlement, and keep receipts for extra travel costs. Why it matters: you are entitled to understand how a settlement was worked out, including any deduction for wear and tear or any proportionate reduction. If additional travel or accommodation is covered, the receipts are what unlock it.

Only ever claim your genuine loss. Why it matters: exaggerating a claim or submitting evidence that does not match the items or dates can void the whole claim, cost you your premium, and lead to a fraud marker that can follow you to other insurers for years. Honest, well-evidenced claims are both the fair thing and the effective thing.

What does travel insurance usually not cover?

These are the exclusions that most often surprise people, drawn from the same set of decisions:

• Valuables, cash and passports left in a vehicle, even in a locked boot.
• Valuables left in checked-in hold baggage.
• The insurance excess on a hire car (this is usually a separate car-hire excess policy).
• An accident where alcohol actually caused the injury.
• A pre-existing condition that was not declared and that caused the claim.
• A trip that had already begun, or cover bought after you left home.
• Cancelling simply because you no longer want to travel.
• Anything you already knew about at the time you booked or bought the cover.

The short version

If you remember nothing else: buy cover when you book, answer every question fully and keep proof of what you were asked, call the assistance line and get the important things in writing, keep valuables on you and report losses fast, and claim only what you have genuinely lost with the evidence to back it. Those habits line up with how the Ombudsman decides cases, and they turn a fair claim into a claim that gets paid.

How we made this guide

This checklist is not generic advice. Each recommendation is drawn from a structured review and assessment of published Financial Ombudsman Service decisions on travel insurance complaints, the independent rulings that show how disputes about claims handling, exclusions and evidence are actually decided. We read those decisions, grouped them by theme, identified the recurring points that separated a paid claim from a declined one, and translated each into a plain action a traveller can take. That is why the guidance focuses on conduct and evidence rather than on marketing claims, and why it applies whoever your insurer is. We review it as new decisions are published.

Sources

• Financial Ombudsman Service, published decisions and approach to insurance complaints (financial-ombudsman.org.uk).
• GOV.UK, Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) and travel advice (gov.uk).
• Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office travel advice (gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice).
• The Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018.

Notes on this guide

This article is general information about how travel insurance claims are handled and the principles the Financial Ombudsman Service commonly applies.

This guide is for information only and does not constitute financial or legal advice.

Always read your specific policy documents. If a claim is declined and you disagree, you can ask the insurer for its final response and then refer the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.