How to make a travel insurance claim: deadlines, documents and what gets paid

A travel insurance claim is your formal request for the insurer to pay for a covered loss, from a hospital bill abroad to a stolen bag. UK insurers paid more than 500,000 claims worth £472 million in 2024, and on the plans we compare you have 48 hours to 15 days to declare one, with original documents.

Two numbers set the scene. According to the Association of British Insurers (ABI), medical treatment was the most common reason to claim in 2024, at 34% of claims and an average payout of £1,528. And the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) value measures data shows travel insurers accept between 83% and 85.5% of claims, a lower rate than most other insurance products. The gap is rarely bad luck: most refused claims trip over a missed deadline, a missing document or an exclusion the traveller never read.

This guide is built from the binding policy wordings of the six plans on our travel insurance comparison for UK travellers. We read each contract's claim clauses so you know, plan by plan, exactly how many days you have, which documents the insurer will demand, how to send them and what excess comes off the payout. Follow the wording and a claim is paperwork; ignore it and even a genuine loss can go unpaid.

You make a travel insurance claim in the same order on every plan: call the 24/7 assistance line for anything medical, secure official proof within 24 to 48 hours, then send the completed claim form with original documents inside your policy's declaration window, usually 5 working days.

1. Call the assistance line first for anything medical. Hospitalisation and repatriation must be authorised in advance by the insurer's 24/7 team; they also arrange direct hospital billing so you do not pay upfront.
2. Get official proof immediately. Theft: file a police report at once; World Travel requires it within 24 hours, and the Go Explore plans give you just 48 hours to send the whole theft claim. Airline baggage: a property irregularity report (PIR) at the airport desk before you leave it.
3. Keep every original. Itemised invoices, prescriptions, receipts and reports: the WorldSecure wordings refuse photocopies outright, and originals can be requested up to 2 years after an online claim.
4. Complete the plan's claim form or portal. Smaller WorldSecure claims go through an online portal, Go Explore claims through the Gapi Members app or web space, Safe Start claims by phone, email or post with a file number assigned on your first call.
5. Send it inside the declaration window. Usually 5 working days from the event or from becoming aware of it; the exact windows per plan are in the table below.
6. Answer follow-up requests quickly. Insurers can ask for extra evidence while assessing; slow answers stall the payout.
7. Escalate if it drags or is refused. Ask for a written final response; the complaints route and the Financial Ombudsman Service are covered at the end of this guide.

On the plans UK travellers can buy through HelloSafe, you have between 48 hours and 15 days to declare a travel insurance claim, depending on the plan and the event: 5 working days on most claims, 48 hours for baggage theft on the Go Explore plans, and 15 days in general on World Travel. The clock starts when you learn of the event, not when you get home.

Missing a window does not automatically kill a travel insurance claim: the WorldSecure and Safe Start wordings only strip your right to compensation if the late declaration actually harmed the insurer. So declare late rather than not at all, and say why you were delayed. But do not rely on that safety net for theft: the 24-hour and 48-hour police-report rules are treated as conditions of cover, and no report usually means no payout.

Every travel insurance claim needs three things: your policy or membership number, dated proof of the event, and proof of what it cost you. The exact list depends on the claim type, and the recurring trap in the wordings we read is originals: the WorldSecure plans state plainly that photocopied or duplicate invoices are not accepted.

For a medical claim

• ✓
  Original itemised invoices : each must show the patient's full name, the treatment date and the practitioner's or hospital's details; simple till receipts are rejected as insufficient.
• ✓
  Prescriptions and medical reports : the prescriptions matching each medicine bought, plus reports stating the diagnosis.
• ✓
  Proof you were abroad : the WorldSecure wordings ask for your passport's identity page plus the arrival stamp or your plane ticket.
• ✓
  Your bank details and policy number : quoted on every exchange; Safe Start assigns a claim file number on your first call and expects it each time.

For a baggage or theft claim

• ✓
  The police or carrier report receipt : filed within 24 to 48 hours depending on the plan; for airline baggage, the property irregularity report (PIR) from the airport desk.
• ✓
  The declared-items list : a copy of the list of damaged or stolen items you gave the police or the carrier.
• ✓
  The carrier's own refund letter : every wording we read pays after deducting what the airline reimbursed, so claim from the carrier first.
• ✓
  Original purchase receipts : for each item claimed; World Travel also asks for photos, a guarantee certificate or an appraisal for jewellery and valuables.
• ✓
  For delayed bags : the irregularity report plus the delivery note showing the date and time your baggage finally arrived.

Claiming on travel insurance due to illness before departure follows the cancellation rules: a medical certificate is the core document, you must cancel with the travel agency as soon as the illness appears, and the claim itself must reach the insurer within 48 hours on World Travel and 5 working days on WorldSecure Platinum. Only the reasons named in the wording are paid, so check what travel insurance covers before assuming a refund.

The excess on a travel insurance claim, the part you pay yourself, is about £25 per baggage or cancellation claim on WorldSecure Platinum, £80 to £420 on liability claims, and zero on emergency medical: no wording we read states a medical excess. The Go Explore plans keep their amounts in a separate benefits table.

Do the arithmetic before you file a small travel insurance claim: if a delayed bag cost you £40 in essentials and your plan carries a £25 excess, the payout is £15. One more threshold worth knowing: Safe Start pays nothing for a permanent partial disability assessed at 10% or less, so minor injury claims under that bar are declined by design.

The travel insurance plans that handle claims best pair clear declaration windows with a digital claim route and small, stated excesses. Of the six plans available to UK travellers on HelloSafe, WorldSecure Platinum has the cleanest claim wording overall, and Go Explore + pairs the highest medical ceiling with app-based claims.

Recommended for youA. FruchardCo-Founder & Travel Insurance Expert

Our expert's pick for smooth claims

If you ever have to use your policy, you want three things: to know exactly how long you have, to file without printing and posting, and to lose as little as possible to the excess. WorldSecure Platinum is the plan I would rather claim on: every window is a flat 5 working days, claims up to about £420 go through an online portal, its stated excesses are about £25 per baggage or cancellation claim with none on medical, and it is the only plan here whose cancellation cover (up to about £7,500) makes your biggest prepaid cost claimable at all. It costs £47.06 on our example trip. If your priority is the medical side, Go Explore + carries the joint-highest ceiling (about £420,000) and takes claims through an app, from £62.26; just diarise its 48-hour theft deadline.

E. de Feydeau, Product & Customer Experience Lead at HelloSafe.

MGENWorldSecure Platinum

Included coverage

International emergency medical expenses£250,000

Trip cancellationOptional

Baggage & personal belongings£1,700

From£47.06

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MGENGo Explore +

Included coverage

International emergency medical expenses£420,000

Trip cancellationNot included

Baggage & personal belongings£420

From£62.26

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MutuaideSafe Start

Included coverage

International emergency medical expenses£420,000

Trip cancellationNot included

Baggage & personal belongings£1,700

From£38.31

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Prices for 1 traveller aged 34, 8 days in Spain (22 to 30 September), departing the UK, shown in pounds at the live exchange rate. Cover limits shown in pounds are faithful conversions of each contract's amounts. HelloSafe data, captured 3 August 2026.

Cover that can pay a travel insurance claim starts at £28.25 for 8 days in Spain at age 34, on real quotes for a UK departure captured in August 2026. Moving to WorldSecure Platinum, whose cancellation cover and stated excesses make claims most predictable, costs £47.06 on the same trip: £18.81 more to make your largest prepaid cost claimable.

Price the claim you are most likely to make, not just the premium. A cheap plan with no cancellation cover leaves your holiday cost unclaimable, and a tight theft window suits an organised traveller better than a forgetful one. You can compare UK travel insurance quotes for your exact trip and see each plan's cover and price side by side before you choose.

A rejected travel insurance claim is the exception, not the rule: the FCA's value measures data shows insurers accept between 83% and 85.5% of travel claims. When one is refused, the reason is usually one of a short list, and several of them are fixable or challengeable.

• ✕
  Missed declaration window : the 48-hour and 5-working-day deadlines above; challengeable on some plans if the delay did not harm the insurer.
• ✕
  Missing originals : photocopied invoices or till receipts where the wording demands original, itemised documents.
• ✕
  No police or carrier report : theft without a 24-to-48-hour report, or airline baggage without a property irregularity report.
• ✕
  Undeclared medical history : claims linked to a pre-existing condition you never declared.
• ✕
  Reason not on the list : cancellation pays only for the reasons named in the wording, not a change of mind.
• ✕
  Unapproved treatment or transport : hospitalisation or repatriation organised without the assistance team's prior agreement.

If you think the refusal is wrong, complain to the insurer in writing and ask for its final response; it has 8 weeks to give one. If the answer is still no, or the 8 weeks pass, the Financial Ombudsman Service reviews travel insurance complaints for free, as long as you go to it within 6 months of the final response. Quote the wording back precisely: a claim refused for lateness when the insurer suffered no harm from the delay is exactly the kind of case worth escalating.

• How long does a travel insurance claim take to be paid?

  No UK rule sets a fixed payout deadline, and insurers do not publish per-claim timings. Complete files move fastest: send every required document inside the declaration window and answer follow-ups quickly. If things drag, a formal complaint starts the 8-week clock for a final response, after which the Financial Ombudsman Service can step in.

• Can I claim on travel insurance due to illness?

  Yes, illness is the classic claim. Abroad, call the assistance line before treatment and keep original itemised invoices, prescriptions and reports. If illness forces you to cancel before departure, notify the agency at once and declare within your plan’s window (48 hours on World Travel, 5 working days on WorldSecure Platinum), with a medical certificate.

• What is the time limit for a travel insurance claim?

  Between 48 hours and 15 days on the plans we compare. Most claims: 5 working days on WorldSecure Platinum and Safe Start, 5 days on the Go Explore plans, 15 days on World Travel. Baggage theft: 48 hours on Go Explore. Transport delay: up to 15 days after your return on WorldSecure Platinum and Safe Start.

• Do I need a police report to claim for theft?

  Yes. World Travel requires the police complaint within 24 hours, the Go Explore plans require the whole theft claim, report included, within 48 hours, and every wording asks for the report receipt in the claim file. Theft never reported to a competent authority is one of the most common reasons a travel insurance claim is refused.

• What excess applies to a travel insurance claim?

  On the plans we compare: about £25 per baggage or cancellation claim on WorldSecure Platinum, about £80 to £420 on liability claims depending on the plan, and no stated excess on emergency medical claims in any wording we read. WorldSecure Basic states no excess amounts at all; the Go Explore plans keep theirs in the benefits table.

• Is it worth claiming a small amount on travel insurance?

  Compare the loss with the excess first. A £40 loss against a £25 excess returns £15; below the excess, nothing. Small claims still demand the full document file, so for minor amounts many travellers reasonably skip the claim and save the paperwork for losses that clear the excess by a comfortable margin.

• Why are travel insurance claims rejected?

  Insurers accept 83% to 85.5% of travel claims according to the FCA’s value measures data. The refusals mostly trace to missed declaration windows, missing original documents, theft never reported to the police, undeclared pre-existing conditions, cancellation reasons not named in the wording, or treatment arranged without the assistance team’s approval.

• Can I make a travel insurance claim after returning home?

  Yes, and for some events you must: transport-delay claims on WorldSecure Platinum and Safe Start are filed after your return, with up to 15 days. For everything else the window runs from the moment you became aware of the event, so start the claim as soon as you can, even from abroad.

• Do I claim from the airline or my travel insurance first?

  The airline first. Every wording we read asks for the carrier’s refund letter and pays after deducting the carrier’s compensation. Get the property irregularity report at the airport, claim against the airline, then send your insurer the full file including what the airline paid.

• Does a GHIC replace a travel insurance claim?

  No. A GHIC (Global Health Insurance Card) gives you state-tariff care in the EU and cuts the bill your policy then reimburses, but it pays nothing for repatriation, cancellation or baggage. Use the GHIC at state facilities where you can, and claim the remaining costs on your policy as usual.