Medical travel insurance for UK residents: cover, limits and real prices

Yes. The UK Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) gets you necessary state healthcare in Europe on the same basis as a resident, but it does not cover private treatment or a medical flight home. Medical travel insurance for a week in Spain starts at £16.21 in our comparison (quotes from November 2026).

The NHS says the card is not a replacement for travel insurance, and GOV.UK states that the EHIC and GHIC are not alternatives to travel insurance and do not cover private medical costs or repatriation. Its own examples of what an uninsured emergency can cost run from £25,000 or more for a broken leg in Spain to £150,000 or more for a stomach bug treated in a US hospital.

To write this guide we priced, on 12 November 2026, every policy our comparison sells to UK residents: six plans for a 34-year-old going to Spain, then the USA, Thailand, a family of four and travellers aged 68 and 75. The limits, excesses and exclusions below come from each plan's benefit sheet and policy documents (IPID and terms and conditions).

A medical travel policy pays for emergency treatment when you fall ill or are injured on a trip: doctors, hospital stays, surgery, prescribed medicine, ambulance and, when needed, a medical flight home. It covers the unexpected, never treatment you planned or already knew you needed before leaving.

Across the six plans we priced for UK residents, repatriation is always paid at actual cost, with no separate limit. What changes is the medical limit, from about £210,000 to about £420,000 in Europe, the excess on each claim and whether the assistance line pays the hospital for you. Prices and limits are shown in pounds: the policies are pan-European and converted at the live exchange rate.

The best medical travel insurance for most UK residents in our comparison is Safe Start: about £420,000 of medical cover, direct payment to the hospital and cover for a stable pre-existing condition, up to age 69. World Travel suits older travellers up to 84, and Go Explore + removes the excess altogether.

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

Our pick for medical cover

You want a hospital bill paid without fronting it on your card, and you want the policy to stand up if an old health problem flares up abroad. Safe Start does both: the assistance line pays the hospital directly, medical cover is about £420,000 in Europe and the USA, and a condition you already have stays covered as long as it has not put you in hospital in the six months before you travel. The trade-offs are a small excess of about £25 per claim and an age limit of 69. Past 69, World Travel is the plan I would pick: it insures up to 84 and lifts medical cover to about £590,000 in the USA and Canada, though it excludes pre-existing conditions. If you would rather have no excess at all, Go Explore + costs noticeably more and keeps the same limit of about £420,000.

Safe StartUnderwritten by Mutuaide

From£39.26

Included coverage

Emergency medical expenses£420,000

Direct billingIncluded

24/7 worldwide assistanceUnlimited

Emergency medical evacuation & repatriationCovered in full

See all 23 benefitsGet a quote

Personalized quote · no obligation

World TravelUnderwritten by Mutuaide

From£29.44

Included coverage

Emergency medical expenses£250,000

Direct billingIncluded

24/7 worldwide assistanceUnlimited

Emergency medical evacuation & repatriationCovered in full

See all 23 benefitsGet a quote

Personalized quote · no obligation

Go Explore +Underwritten by MGEN

From£63.79

Included coverage

Emergency medical expenses£420,000

Direct billingIncluded

24/7 worldwide assistanceUnlimited

Emergency medical evacuation & repatriationCovered in full

See all 23 benefitsGet a quote

Personalized quote · no obligation

Real quotes for one traveller aged 34 living in the UK, 7 days in Spain (18 to 24 January 2027), in pounds. These are pan-European policies; prices and cover limits are shown in pounds at the live exchange rate. HelloSafe data, November 2026.

Medical travel insurance costs from £16.21 for a week in Spain at 34, from £22.59 for the USA and from £112.97 for a family of four, on real quotes for UK residents taken on 12 November 2026 for a trip in January 2027. Age and a US destination raise the price the most.

Set those prices against what an emergency costs without cover. These are the government's own examples, each including possible medical evacuation or repatriation:

What only our data shows is how fast the choice narrows with age: six plans at 34, four at 68 and three at 75, because WorldSecure Basic stops at 39, WorldSecure Platinum at 65 and Safe Start at 69. Destination is the other big lever: Go Explore + rises from £63.85 for Spain to £101.18 for the USA, while Thailand costs the same as Europe. A family pays one contract for everyone, and a higher medical limit costs more than a basic one. If you travel several times a year, annual travel insurance usually beats buying a new policy each trip.

Four clauses decide whether a claim pays: the excess, direct payment to the hospital, the rule on pre-existing conditions and the age limit. Here is how the six plans in our offers block apply them, read in their benefit sheets and policy documents in November 2026.

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  Buying once you are already abroad: Go Explore's terms then apply a 5-day waiting period before any benefit is payable. Buy before you leave.
• ✕
  Age and the USA: Go Explore accepts travellers up to and including age 65 for a trip that includes the USA or Canada, and up to 80 elsewhere.
• ✕
  Excluded countries: World Travel never covers, among others, Egypt, Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Ukraine, Venezuela and Yemen.
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  A limit shared across policies: On WorldSecure Basic and Platinum, the medical limit applies per person over 12 months, across one or several contracts, not per trip.
• ✕
  A condition that is not stable: Even Safe Start excludes a condition that put you in hospital in the 6 months before departure, and no plan pays for treatment you travel to receive.

Yes, with one plan in our UK comparison: Safe Start covers a sudden worsening of a condition you already have, as long as it has not led to a hospital stay in the six months before you travel. World Travel, Go Explore, Go Explore + and both WorldSecure plans exclude pre-existing conditions.

GOV.UK reminds travellers that failing to declare an existing condition, or pending treatment and tests, can invalidate a policy. Read the clause against your own dates before you buy. Our guide to travel insurance with pre-existing conditions goes through the most common situations.

Medical expenses cover pays for treatment where you are, up to the policy limit, while repatriation brings you back to the UK when the assistance doctors decide it is medically appropriate. In all six plans we compare, repatriation is paid at actual cost, so the medical limit is the figure that matters most.

That is why the limit deserves your attention first: about £250,000 is solid for Europe, while for the USA you want the roughly £420,000 of Safe Start, Go Explore + and WorldSecure Platinum, or World Travel's roughly £590,000. If getting home is your main worry, our guide to repatriation insurance explains how the flight is organised and paid.

Call the 24-hour assistance number on your policy certificate before you are admitted: the team finds an approved hospital, issues a guarantee of payment and settles the bill directly. For a simple doctor's visit you pay, keep the receipts and claim the money back.

1. Phone the 24-hour assistance line before admission and give your policy number.
2. Go to the hospital the assistance team names, so it can pay the facility directly.
3. Keep every invoice, prescription and medical report for treatment you pay yourself.
4. Never book a medical flight home yourself: the assistance team organises and pays for repatriation.
5. Back home, send your claim with the original documents within the deadline in your policy.

Not much in our UK comparison: all six plans still quote for a 90-day trip and for a 180-day trip, so a long stay does not cut your choice the way age does. Go Explore's terms allow up to 36 months abroad in one go, which suits a gap year or a sabbatical.

If you are heading off to study, or on a working holiday visa, plans built for long stays are compared in our guide to student travel insurance. Winter sports need their own check: our ski travel insurance guide covers the on-piste and off-piste rules.

Sometimes, but check the terms before you rely on it: the medical cover on a packaged bank account or premium card depends entirely on its own policy wording, which often sets age limits, trip-length limits and conditions on who is covered. Five points tell you whether it does the job.

• ✓
  Medical limit: Compare it with the roughly £250,000 to £420,000 of the plans in our comparison.
• ✓
  Direct payment: Ask whether the assistance line pays the hospital or whether you pay first and claim back.
• ✓
  Repatriation: Check it is covered at actual cost.
• ✓
  Who is covered: Confirm whether your partner and children are insured when only you hold the account.
• ✓
  Trip length and age: Look for a maximum number of days per trip and an upper age limit.

If any of these is missing, a standalone policy closes the gap. For every other part of a trip, start from our guide to travel insurance; for refunds when a trip falls through, see trip cancellation insurance.

• Is a GHIC enough for a trip to Europe?

  No. The GHIC gives you necessary state healthcare in Europe on the same basis as a resident, but the NHS and GOV.UK both state it does not cover private treatment or repatriation and is not a replacement for travel insurance.

• How much is health travel insurance for a week?

  In our comparison, from £16.21 for a 34-year-old going to Spain and from £22.59 for the USA, on quotes taken on 12 November 2026 for a trip in January 2027. A family of four starts at £112.97.

• How much medical cover do I need for the USA?

  Aim for about £420,000 or more. Safe Start, Go Explore + and WorldSecure Platinum reach that level in the USA, and World Travel goes up to about £590,000. WorldSecure Basic stays at about £250,000.

• Are pre-existing medical conditions covered?

  Only by Safe Start among our UK plans, and only if the condition has not led to a hospital stay in the six months before you travel. The other five plans exclude conditions you already have.

• Is there an age limit?

  Yes: WorldSecure Basic up to 39, WorldSecure Platinum up to 65, Safe Start up to 69, Go Explore and Go Explore + up to 80 (65 for the USA and Canada) and World Travel up to 84.

• Do I have to pay the hospital myself?

  Not if you call the assistance line before admission: all six plans can pay the hospital directly for an admission, usually for stays over 24 hours. You pay doctors’ visits and medicine yourself and claim them back.

• Can I buy cover once I am already abroad?

  On some plans, but with a wait. Go Explore applies a 5-day waiting period before benefits start if you buy outside your home country. Bought before you leave, cover starts on day one.

• Does the policy cover emergency dental treatment?

  Only pain relief, up to a small amount: about £250 on Safe Start, Go Explore, Go Explore + and WorldSecure, about £170 on World Travel. Go Explore and WorldSecure double it if a tooth breaks in an accident.

• Does medical travel insurance cover Covid-19?

  On several of our UK plans, yes: World Travel covers health costs abroad including Covid-19, and Go Explore and Go Explore + include illness during an epidemic or pandemic, repatriation included.

• What is the difference between medical travel insurance and full travel insurance?

  Medical cover is the health part: treatment, hospital and repatriation. A full policy adds cancellation, baggage and personal liability, as World Travel and Go Explore + do.