Nationwide FlexPlus travel insurance review 2026: what £18 a month really covers

Nationwide FlexPlus travel insurance is worth £18 a month if your household travels several times a year on trips of 31 days or less: Aviva's policy covers you, your partner and your children under 23 worldwide with £10,000,000 of medical cover, £5,000 of cancellation and no upper age limit.

To write this review, HelloSafe read the binding documents on 5 October 2026: Aviva's FlexPlus Worldwide Family Travel Insurance policy (reference P4197, June 2024, policy number FP010524), its Insurance Product Information Document (IPID) and Nationwide's product pages. On the same day we priced, for a UK resident, every policy in our comparison that matches the trips a FlexPlus holder typically takes. Every figure below comes from those documents and those quotes.

Read as a contract, the FlexPlus policy is one of the strongest pieces of travel cover sold with a UK current account. Which? made it a Best Buy with a score of 79% in June 2026, level with the Barclays Travel Pack. The limits put most standalone policies in the shade, and since Aviva took over the policy from U K Insurance on 1 May 2024 the wording sets no upper age limit at all: the paid age extension from 70 that older holders remember belongs to the previous insurer.

The catch is the shape of the trip, not the size of the limits. Cover stops for any incident after day 31, a declared medical condition needs a paid upgrade before you book, and the insurance cannot be cancelled on its own: it lives and dies with the account. If you hold FlexPlus mainly for the travel policy and go away once a year, you are paying £216 a year for a week that a single-trip policy covers for about £30.

Where FlexPlus travel cover is strong

• ✓
  £10,000,000 of emergency medical cover: Per person, worldwide, including the USA, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean, with repatriation arranged by Aviva's 24-hour medical line.
• ✓
  No upper age limit: The Aviva wording names no maximum age for the account holder or partner, which is rare on a packaged account.
• ✓
  The whole household on one fee: Your partner living with you and your dependent children under 23 are covered at no extra cost, stepchildren and foster children included.
• ✓
  Winter sports included as standard: Skiing and snowboarding on piste are covered for up to 31 days, with £500 for equipment, £300 for piste closure and £500 for an unused ski pack.
• ✓
  Wide cancellation reasons: Redundancy, a burglary at home, a provider going bust, FCDO advice against travel or a disaster within 50 miles of your accommodation all count.
• ✓
  A low, single excess: £50 per person per incident, and nothing at all on delayed transport, delayed bags or emergency travel documents.

Where FlexPlus travel cover falls short

• ✕
  The 31-day cap: An incident on day 32 is not covered unless you bought the longer-trip upgrade, which runs to 120 days and is not available for winter sports holidays.
• ✕
  Medical conditions need a paid upgrade: Any condition treated, medicated, referred or investigated in the past 12 months must be declared and accepted, or every linked claim is refused.
• ✕
  Upgrade prices are not published: Aviva quotes each upgrade individually, so you cannot compare the true cost of a long trip or a declared condition before you ask.
• ✕
  Thin delay and belongings limits: £250 for a delay of 12 hours or more, paid at £25 per 12-hour block, and £300 for any single item, less than most phones or laptops.
• ✕
  You cannot cancel the insurance alone: Ending the cover means closing or switching the account, and it stops the day you move your main home out of the UK.
• ✕
  A fee that only pays off with use: £18 a month is £216 a year whether you travel or not.

The FlexPlus account gives you one travel policy, Aviva's worldwide family cover, plus four paid upgrades that stretch it: pre-existing medical conditions, longer trips up to 120 days, cancellation raised to £7,500 or £10,000, and an extended cruise upgrade. There is no cheaper or richer tier to choose between.

That is the main difference from a standalone insurer. Instead of picking Bronze, Silver or Gold, every holder starts from the same cover and buys what the trip needs on top. The cover starts the day the account is opened and applies automatically to every trip booked afterwards: you only contact Aviva for a declared condition, a trip longer than 31 days, a trip costing more than £5,000 per person, or a cruise on which you want higher limits.

• Pre-existing conditions upgrade. Lasts 12 months, covers changes in your health during that year, and is re-assessed at renewal, when Aviva warns that the premium can change even if your health has not.
• Longer trip upgrade. Covers one trip of more than 31 days, up to 120 days, once the return journey is booked. You buy one per trip, and never for a winter sports holiday.
• Cancelling or coming home early upgrade. Raises the £5,000 limit to £7,500 or £10,000 per person for one trip.
• Extended cruise upgrade. Adds £1,000 for a missed port departure, £150 per cancelled port stop and £2,000 of belongings cover for one cruise. A cruise is already covered for cancellation and medical emergencies without it, as our cruise insurance guide explains.

Who counts as insured matters as much as the limits. The policy covers the account holder, the partner who lives with them and their dependent children under 23 on the day the trip starts. Everyone must have their main home in the UK, live here more than six months a year and be registered with a UK doctor. A grown-up child who has left home, a friend on the same booking or a parent you take on holiday are not covered by your account.

Nationwide FlexPlus travel insurance covers emergency medical costs up to £10,000,000, cancellation and coming home early up to £5,000, travel disruption up to £5,000, belongings up to £1,500, personal liability up to £2,000,000 and legal expenses up to £50,000, per person and per trip, anywhere in the world.

The honest reading of that table is that FlexPlus wins on almost every line where a limit is printed. £10,000,000 of medical cover is far above the €500,000 of our best plan, and the cancellation limit is close to ours once you upgrade it. What the figures hide is the conditions around them: medical treatment abroad is only paid if Aviva's assistance team agreed it beforehand, except in a life-threatening emergency, and every claim loses £50 per person.

Where our plans move ahead is the shape of the trip rather than the size of the cheque. WorldSecure Platinum, World Travel and the two Go Explore plans accept a single trip of up to 365 days without an upgrade, and WorldSecure Platinum pays medical costs from the first euro with no excess. For a UK traveller in Europe, the free GHIC card sits underneath either option and cuts the state-hospital bill before any insurer is involved.

Two other insurance products come with the FlexPlus account alongside the travel policy: worldwide family mobile phone insurance from Assurant and UK and European breakdown cover from the AA. Both are included in the same £18 monthly fee, and neither can be removed to lower it.

This bundle is the fair way to judge the fee. If you would otherwise pay for phone insurance and breakdown cover, a large share of the £216 a year is already spent on things you need, and the travel policy costs you very little extra. If you have neither a car nor an expensive phone, the whole fee is the price of the travel cover.

There is no upper age limit on the FlexPlus travel policy since Aviva took it over on 1 May 2024, and Which? confirmed the point in June 2026. Medical conditions are covered automatically only if nothing happened to them in the last 12 months; otherwise you must declare them and buy the pre-existing conditions upgrade.

The age point is worth stating plainly because the opposite is still repeated online. Under U K Insurance, the previous insurer, every traveller aged 70 or over had to buy an age upgrade. The Aviva wording contains no such clause: the only age in the policy is the under-23 limit for children. For a couple in their eighties who are in good health, that makes FlexPlus one of the very few ways to get £10,000,000 of medical cover without a medical screening premium. Our senior travel insurance guide lists what the standalone market accepts at the same ages.

The health rule is stricter than it looks. You must declare every diagnosed illness, injury or disease for which, in the 12 months before you opened the account or booked the trip (whichever is later), anyone insured was prescribed medication, including repeat prescriptions, had treatment, tests or investigations, or is waiting for them, was referred to a specialist, or was admitted to hospital. A blood-pressure tablet you have taken for ten years counts, because it is a repeat prescription.

1. Declare before you book. Aviva asks you to declare conditions when you open the account and again before booking, online through MyAccount or on 0800 0512 532. If the trip is already booked, declare as soon as you can.
2. Aviva screens each condition. It decides person by person whether it can cover the condition and whether there is an extra premium. You then choose whether to buy the upgrade.
3. The upgrade runs for 12 months. During that year, changes in the declared conditions and new symptoms are covered without telling Aviva again.
4. Renewal means a new assessment. Aviva writes at least 21 days before the end date; the cover and price can change at renewal even if your health has not.

The standalone plans in our comparison handle health differently and are not a like-for-like substitute for a screened condition. Go Explore and Go Explore + exclude a condition that led to treatment or a hospital stay in the six months before departure, and World Travel excludes conditions known before departure. Our pre-existing medical conditions guide explains which route fits which situation.

The Aviva policy leaves out any incident after day 31 of a trip without the longer-trip upgrade, undeclared medical conditions, travel against FCDO advice, claims linked to alcohol or drugs, a list of risky sports, and any event you knew about when you opened the account or booked the trip.

• ✕
  Day 32 and beyond: The exclusion applies to the incident, not the whole trip, but a 45-day trip without the upgrade leaves the last 14 days uncovered.
• ✕
  Travel against FCDO advice: No claim at all is paid if the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office advises against travel to your destination when you go.
• ✕
  Known events: A strike widely reported in the UK media, a relative's serious illness or a border closure already announced when you booked are outside cover.
• ✕
  Excluded sports: Mountaineering, rock climbing, via ferrata, trekking above 5,000 metres, kite surfing, canyoning, paragliding and scuba diving beyond your qualification or without an instructor.
• ✕
  Risky winter sports: Off-piste without a qualified guide, heli-skiing, glacier skiing, ski mountaineering, freestyle, ski jumping, bobsleigh and luge.
• ✕
  Alcohol and balconies: Any claim where drink or drugs impaired your judgement, and any fall from standing or climbing on a balcony railing.
• ✕
  Work trips with manual tasks: Business travel is covered only for non-manual work such as meetings and conferences.
• ✕
  UK breaks without a booking: A UK trip counts only with two nights away and pre-booked commercial accommodation or prepaid public transport.

Winter sports deserve a closer look because they are both a strength and a trap. On-piste skiing is covered as standard, which many standalone policies charge extra for. Off-piste is covered only with a qualified guide, in areas the resort considers safe, and the 31-day cap applies to ski trips with no possible upgrade, which rules out a season job in the Alps. Our ski travel insurance guide and our page on extreme sports travel insurance show the plan that accepts off-piste and ski touring with its Risk Sports option.

Nationwide FlexPlus travel insurance costs £18 a month, £216 a year, the FlexPlus account fee, which also pays for mobile phone insurance and AA breakdown cover. The upgrades for declared conditions, longer trips, higher cancellation and cruises are extra and quoted individually by Aviva; no upgrade price is published.

The fee does not change with how much you travel, so the right comparison is with the trips you actually take. For a household that goes away three or four times a year, the account is the cheaper option: Safe World, the annual multi-trip plan in our comparison, costs £238.81 a year for one traveller aged 34 and £477.62 for a couple aged 45, more than a year of FlexPlus. For fewer trips, or for trips the account does not cover, a single-trip policy comes out cheaper, as these real quotes show.

Two readings of that table. If FlexPlus is the only reason you keep a paid account and you take one week away a year, a single-trip policy costs about a seventh of the fee. If your trip runs past 31 days, the account cannot cover it without an upgrade Aviva prices on request, while WorldSecure Platinum covers the whole 45 days from the first day. In both cases the price buys a lower medical ceiling than £10,000,000, which matters most in North America: our USA travel insurance page prices that destination separately, from £40.94 for two weeks on our quotes.

A note on the switch offer. Nationwide was advertising £175 for switching a current account to FlexPlus on 5 October 2026, conditions applying and first-time switchers only. It pays roughly ten months of the fee in the first year, which is worth counting if you were going to open the account anyway, and worth ignoring if the travel policy is the only reason.

You claim on the FlexPlus policy through Aviva: by phone on the 24-hour medical line, +44 1603 605 159 from abroad, for anything medical while you are away, and online through MyAccount or on 0800 046 2555 for everything else once you are home. The £50 excess per person is deducted from each incident.

1. Call before treatment when you can. The medical team must agree any hospital admission, outpatient test, repeat consultation or extra night abroad beforehand, and must authorise a return home before you book it.
2. Keep every paper. Medical reports and invoices, a written police report for any loss or theft, a written confirmation from the airline for delayed bags, receipts for everything you replace.
3. Claim online when you are back. Non-emergency claims go through MyAccount at nationwidetravel.online.aviva.co.uk; you need your FlexPlus account number and sort code to register.
4. Escalate if needed. Aviva answers complaints in writing within eight weeks; after that, the Financial Ombudsman Service can review the case, on 0800 023 4567.

On results, Which? measured that 85% to 90% of claims on FlexPlus policies were accepted between December 2024 and November 2025, and reports that claims are handled for Aviva by Charles Taylor Assistance. The most common refusals on packaged-account policies follow the wording above: an undeclared condition, a treatment not agreed in advance, a trip over the limit. Our guide on how to make a travel insurance claim lists the deadlines and documents that apply whichever insurer you use.

Which? rates the FlexPlus travel policy a Best Buy with 79% in its June 2026 review, praising cover that puts many standalone policies to shame and calling the £250 travel delay limit fairly unimpressive. Customer reviews of Nationwide on Trustpilot score 3.6 out of 5, but they are about the bank, not the travel claims.

The Which? review of Nationwide travel insurance singles out two protections that standalone policies often lack: cancellation if your airline or holiday provider goes bust, and cover for natural disasters at your destination. Both are in the Aviva wording we read. Its reservations are the ones we share: the delay benefit and the 31-day trip length.

On Trustpilot, Nationwide Building Society had 10,727 reviews on 5 October 2026. The praise goes to branch staff; the complaints cluster on long phone waits, payment checks and accounts blocked without explanation. None of the recent reviews we read concerned a FlexPlus travel claim, so that score tells you about the bank's service, not about how Aviva pays.

Save the 24-hour medical assistance number, +44 1603 605 159 from abroad, before every trip: it is the line that keeps your medical cover valid. The other FlexPlus travel numbers are for claims, upgrades and the account itself.

No. The FlexPlus travel insurance cannot be cancelled on its own: it ends only when you close the account or switch to another Nationwide current account, by calling 0800 11 88 55, and because there is no separate premium there is no refund. A paid upgrade can be cancelled for a full refund within 14 days, provided nobody has travelled or claimed.

Three other events end or suspend the cover without any action from you. Moving your main home out of the UK removes the cover for the holder, partner and children until you are a UK resident again. Nationwide closing the account ends it too. And Aviva may change the terms, at most once every six months, with 30 days' written notice, which is how the cover moved from U K Insurance to Aviva in 2024.

The best alternative to FlexPlus travel cover depends on why it does not fit: for one or two short trips a year, World Travel covers a week in Spain for £29.24; for a trip longer than 31 days, WorldSecure Platinum covers 45 days in Thailand for £111.77; for frequent trips up to 90 days each, Safe World is the annual plan.

Recommended for youA. Fruchard · Co-Founder & Travel Insurance Expert

Which policy we would put next to, or instead of, a FlexPlus account

If you go away once or twice a year and hold FlexPlus only for the travel policy, World Travel gives you emergency hospital care with no money to advance, repatriation at actual cost, €300,000 of medical cover and €1,500 of cancellation built in, for a small fraction of a year of account fees. It accepts travellers up to 84 and does not charge more with age.

If your trip runs past day 31, WorldSecure Platinum covers the whole stay, up to a year, pays medical costs from the first euro, and is the plan to take for off-piste or ski touring with its Risk Sports option. It stops at 65.

If the medical ceiling is what reassures you, Go Explore + raises it to €500,000, at a higher price than World Travel. And if you travel often on trips of up to 90 days, Safe World is the annual plan with €12,000 of cancellation included; Safe Cancel covers the price of a trip alone when your account already handles the medical side and the trip costs more than its £5,000 limit.

Be clear about what none of these do: they will not cover a medical condition the way an accepted Aviva upgrade does, and none matches £10,000,000 of medical cover. For a family that travels often, below 31 days, FlexPlus remains the better deal.

World TravelUnderwritten by Mutuaide

From£29.20

Included coverage

Emergency medical expenses£250,000

Direct billingIncluded

Emergency medical evacuation & repatriationCovered in full

24/7 worldwide assistanceUnlimited

See all 23 benefitsGet a quote

Personalized quote · no obligation

WorldSecure PlatinumUnderwritten by MGEN

From£31.88

Included coverage

Emergency medical expenses£250,000

Direct billingIncluded

Emergency medical evacuation & repatriationCovered in full

24/7 worldwide assistanceUnlimited

See all 23 benefitsGet a quote

Personalized quote · no obligation

Go Explore +Underwritten by MGEN

From£63.26

Included coverage

Emergency medical expenses£410,000

Direct billingIncluded

Emergency medical evacuation & repatriationCovered in full

24/7 worldwide assistanceUnlimited

See all 23 benefitsGet a quote

Personalized quote · no obligation

Go ExploreUnderwritten by MGEN

From£47.69

Included coverage

Emergency medical expenses£210,000

Direct billingIncluded

Emergency medical evacuation & repatriationCovered in full

24/7 worldwide assistanceUnlimited

See all 23 benefitsGet a quote

Personalized quote · no obligation

Real prices captured on hellosafe.com on 5 October 2026 for 1 traveller aged 34, 7 days in Spain (7 to 13 December 2026), departing from the UK, no cancellation option, in pounds at the live exchange rate. The comparison recalculates the price for your dates, destination and age.

If you are weighing several UK bank accounts rather than FlexPlus alone, our guide to credit card and bank account travel insurance sets the packaged accounts side by side. For a trip that needs a specific answer, read our guides to annual travel insurance, trip cancellation insurance, backpacker cover for long trips and travel insurance for Thailand, or start from your own dates in our comparison of UK travel insurance.

• Who underwrites Nationwide FlexPlus travel insurance?

  Aviva Insurance Limited, registered in Scotland under number SC002116 and authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority, firm reference 202153. Aviva replaced U K Insurance Limited as the FlexPlus insurer on 1 May 2024. Which? reports that claims are handled for Aviva by Charles Taylor Assistance.

• Is there an age limit on FlexPlus travel insurance?

  No upper age limit for the account holder or partner in the current Aviva policy. The only age in the wording is for children, who are covered while dependent and under 23 when the trip starts. The paid age upgrade from 70 belonged to the previous insurer, U K Insurance, before May 2024.

• Does FlexPlus cover pre-existing medical conditions?

  Only if they are declared and accepted. Any condition for which, in the past 12 months, you took medication, had treatment or tests, saw a specialist or went into hospital must be declared to Aviva, which may charge for a 12-month pre-existing conditions upgrade. Conditions with nothing in the last 12 months are covered without it; symptoms awaiting a diagnosis are never covered.

• How long can a trip be on FlexPlus travel insurance?

  31 days. Any incident after day 31 is not covered unless you bought the longer-trip upgrade, which covers one trip of up to 120 days once the return journey is booked. The upgrade is not sold for winter sports holidays, which stay capped at 31 days.

• Does Nationwide FlexPlus cover skiing?

  Yes, on piste, for up to 31 days per trip, with £500 for your equipment, £250 for a lost lift pass, £300 if the pistes close and up to £500 for an unused ski pack. Off-piste is covered only with a qualified guide in areas the resort considers safe; heli-skiing, glacier skiing, ski mountaineering and freestyle are excluded.

• Is my partner covered on my FlexPlus account?

  Yes, if your partner lives with you, along with your and your partner’s dependent children under 23, stepchildren and foster children included. They do not need to travel with you. Everyone must live in the UK more than six months a year and be registered with a UK doctor.

• What is the excess on FlexPlus travel insurance?

  £50 per person, per incident, per trip, on cancellation, medical, belongings, winter sports equipment and the other main sections. There is no excess on delayed transport, delayed baggage, emergency travel documents or legal expenses.

• Does FlexPlus travel insurance cover the USA?

  Yes. The policy is worldwide and Nationwide confirms it includes the USA, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean, with £10,000,000 of emergency medical cover per person. The 31-day cap and the advance approval of hospital treatment by Aviva’s medical team apply there as everywhere.

• Can I cancel FlexPlus travel insurance and keep the account?

  No. The insurance is a benefit of the account and cannot be removed separately. To end it you close the account or switch to another Nationwide current account on 0800 11 88 55, with no refund because there is no separate premium. Paid upgrades can be cancelled within 14 days for a full refund if nobody has travelled or claimed.

• Is Nationwide FlexPlus travel insurance any good?

  Yes, for the trips it is designed for. Which? made it a Best Buy at 79% in June 2026 and measured 85% to 90% of claims accepted. Its limits are higher than most standalone policies; its weak points are the 31-day cap, paid upgrades for medical conditions and long trips, and a fee you pay whether or not you travel.

• Is there a Nationwide FlexPlus discount or switch offer?

  On 5 October 2026 Nationwide advertised £175 for switching to FlexPlus, for first-time switchers and subject to conditions. There is no discount on the £18 monthly fee or on the Aviva upgrades. Weigh the offer against how often you travel: for one short trip a year, a single-trip policy costs far less than the fee.

Last updated: 5 October 2026. FlexPlus figures checked against the Aviva FlexPlus Worldwide Family Travel Insurance policy (P4197, June 2024), its IPID and nationwide.co.uk on that date; read the FlexPlus policy wording for the full terms. HelloSafe prices are live quotes captured the same day for a UK resident, shown in pounds.