Travel medical insurance pays for emergency treatment while you’re abroad and usually for emergency evacuation and repatriation. Your home health cover may pay little or nothing outside your country. Check the medical limit, evacuation cover, the excess and how pre-existing conditions are treated.
What it usually covers
- Emergency treatment and hospital stays abroad.
- Emergency evacuation to a suitable hospital.
- Repatriation home when medically necessary.
What to check
- The overall medical limit, and any sub-limits.
- The excess (deductible) you pay first.
- How pre-existing conditions are treated.
- Whether the insurer pays the hospital directly or you claim back afterwards.
Read the policy wording before you buy: what’s covered, the limits, the excess and the exclusions.
In Europe: the European Health Insurance Card
If you live in the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland, the free European Health Insurance Card gives you medically necessary, state-provided healthcare during a temporary stay in those countries and the UK, on the same terms as people insured there. The European Commission says it is not an alternative to travel insurance: it doesn’t cover private care, a flight home, or lost or stolen property.
Each insurer’s own page for this
We earn a commission if you buy after following these links. It never changes what this page says, and we don’t give advice. Who each insurer is.
Questions
Do I need travel medical insurance?
Whether you need it is your decision; many travellers buy it because home health cover often doesn’t pay abroad. We don’t give advice.
Does travel medical insurance cover evacuation?
Many plans do, up to a limit. Check that emergency evacuation and repatriation are included.
Are pre-existing conditions covered?
It varies by insurer and plan. The policy wording lists what’s covered and excluded.
Sources
Rules checked against these sources on 24 Oct 2026.
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Updated 2026-10-24.