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Family travel insurance – best cover for annual, single, worldwide and Europe trips
Travel insurance for family can save you loads of hassle and money if you have a travel glitch—and it might be cheaper than you think. Our guide has all you need to know about family travel insurance, which has some differences to solo or partner cover. Want quotes now? Click above! In just a couple of minutes you'll be presented with offerings for a range of budgets.
- Family travel insurance
- Annual family travel insurance (general information)
- Best family travel insurance
- Cheap family insurance
- Family travel insurance single trip
- Family travel insurance Europe
- Worldwide family travel insurance
- FAQs
Family travel insurance
Going on holiday as a family? Luckily you can buy one travel insurance policy to cover you and your kids. We'll do our best to explain what is covered, who is covered and some nuances to be aware of when buying family travel insurance.
WHAT does family travel insurance typically cover?
In terms of coverage and features, family travel insurance is similar to travel insurance for solo travellers and couples. The most common features would be:
- Medical emergency: Cover for medical expenses (e.g. doctors, hospitals, medication, etc.) if someone in your family has a medical emergency while abroad.
- Cancellation: Cover for non-refundable expenses (e.g. airfare, hotels, excursions, etc.) if you need to cancel for a covered event (note: you aren't ever covered for simply changing your mind; covered events include situations like a death or serious illness in the family).
- Baggage: Cover if your luggage is lost or damaged.
These three categories of cover are very common, although some policies in the market might not include them all. And in addition to these three main categories, there are also loads of other types of cover that may or may be included in a policy. And many different types of restrictions. Travel insurance coverage is highly variable—both in terms of what is covered, the maximum amount (£) of cover and the premium.
Other cover can include things like:
- Personal accident
- Financial failure of a provider
- Travel delays
- Delayed baggage
- Passport replacement costs in case of loss or theft
- Pet care
- Gadget cover
- Winter sports
- Golf
- Cruises
- Cancellation cover for natural events like storms and volcanic eruptions
WHO does family travel insurance typically cover?
Most of the policies we've looked at cover one or two adults who live at the same address plus one to five children. But what exactly counts as a family, as a partner, as a child? Each company will define these differently, so you'll need to check the terms of your policy to fully understand. Below we'll explain some of these nuances to look out for.
Adults usually count as part of the family if they are spouses or partners. What counts as a partner? The language on this varies, but broadly encompasses including someone living with you in a committed relationship. For example:
- Staysure says a family includes a partner who lives with you in a relationship for at least 6 months at the same address as you.
- Insure and Go includes in the family a partner of either sex that you live with as though they were your husband, wife or civil partner.
- Admiral travel insurance doesn't seem to put limits on what defines a partner—they just need to be named on the policy.
- Sainsbury's Bank says a family includes a person with whom you are permanently cohabiting in a marriage-like relationship.
Children are usually covered if they are under 18 years of age and living at home, dependent on you. Some policies may also include a child in the family if they're under the age of 21—so long as they're in full-time education. If you're divorced and your children don't live with you, be sure to check the language on a policy before you buy to see how the company will cover your kids. You can see how this varies across companies from the sampling below:
- Staysure includes in the family children under the age of 21 if they're in full-time education.
- Virgin includes in the family all unmarried dependent children, including adopted, foster and step-children, but if you're divorced they say they only include children not living with you on a permanent basis if they're natural (e.g. not adopted).
- Asda travel insurance counts dependent, adopted or fostered children who are aged under 18 and are either in full-time education or living with them.
- Post office travel insurance says if you are divorced or separated and your children do not live with you they can still be covered under your family or single parent policy.
Have a larger family? CoverForYou covers families with up to nine children, step children or foster children aged under 18.
Are my grandchildren covered by my family travel insurance?
Some family travel insurance companies will cover grandkids, but not all. Be sure to check the policy wording and search for the word 'grandchild' to learn more about a particular company. But be sure that your grandchildren are named on your policy or they certainly WON'T be covered.
- Insure and Go says they can cover the grandchildren of you or your partner, including step grandchildren and fostered or adopted grandchildren, provided that they are under 18 years old on the date cover commences and dependent on you or your partner (or in the case of grandchildren dependent on you or your partner or their parent(s)).
- Post Office says they include in a 'family' your grandchildren who are aged under 18 and are either in full-time education or living with you.
Are my children covered by our family travel insurance if they travel independently?
It depends. Companies treat this situation very differently, but it's important for many families who have children either going off with friends on a rail trip around Europe or simply joining a friend's family on their holiday abroad.
Some travel insurance companies will cover kids so long as they're travelling with someone responsible who is at least 18 years of age (even if this person is not named on your policy):
- Allsafe says children aged 17 or under may only travel independently if travelling with at least one adult aged 18 or over and with the full knowledge and consent of an insured parent or guardian. In other words, Allsafe should cover your underage child going on a trip with a friend's family, or even the rail trip around Europe so long as an 18 year old is in the group. These are slightly more generous rules than other companies.
- Staysure says an insured child must travel with a responsible adult over the age of 18 years for the duration of the trip.
- Admiral will cover an insured child if they are travelling with a responsible adult.
Some companies will not cover kids travelling without you. For example:
- AllClear and Insure and Go state they only cover children under the age of 18 provided they are travelling with an adult and are named on the same policy. And Virgin states outright in their terms that children travelling under a Family or Single-Parent Family policy are not covered if they're travelling independently.
- Sainsbury's does not cover children when travelling independently under a Family or Single-Parent Family policy.
Some companies might make exceptions to cover your situation. For example:
- As standard Aviva only insures kids under 16 years of age if they are travelling with an adult named on your policy schedule but they may agreed to it (get this in writing).
As you can see, you'll need to dig into your policy wording to see what's covered and it's best to contact your provider directly to ask about cover if your child will be travelling without you!
Is it cheaper to get family travel insurance?
Cheaper than what? Well, it's cheaper to get family travel insurance than to insure everyone individually, that's for sure in almost all cases. A rare exception to this statement could be if you have someone in the family with significant health conditions that greatly increase the price of travel insurance. In that case, it could be cheaper to insure that person separately under their own single trip cover, and insure the rest of the family on an annual policy (as these generally work out cheaper if you travel more than once a year).
What is the age limit for family travel insurance?
Under most policies, children will be covered up to the age of 18. Once they turn 18, they'll need their own, separate travel insurance policy. There are some exceptions:
- Staysure says they include in the family children under the age of 21—so long as they're in full-time education.
Annual family travel insurance
Annual family travel insurance is a policy that covers multiple trips in a policy year. There is typically no limit on the number of trips you take, but there are frequently limits on the number of days you are away each time. It's common for companies to allow for longer trips on more premium policies. For example:
- InsureFor annual policies bought directly from them will cover trips of up 32 days for Economy, Standard or Premier plans, but up to 60 days per trip if you have purchased Premier Plus cover.
Annual family travel insurance cost
Good news for your family holiday! Travel insurance companies give a massive discount to children on travel insurance policies for families. You typically have to pay only for the parents, or perhaps a little bit for the kids. But often kids are essentially covered for free.
In our research, we found that a policy for a family of 4 typically costs around 2-2.5x as much as cover for a single person. In our tests, we found that cheap annual multitrip travel insurance with worldwide cover for two children and two adults starts from around £116 per year:
| Comparing Costs of Basic and Premium Travel Insurance (Family) | Europe Multitrip | Worldwide incl. USA Multitrip |
|---|---|---|
| £1,000 Cancellation Cover | £43.5 | £115.7 |
| £2,000 Cancellation Cover | £55.1 | £144.3 |
| £5,000 Cancellation Cover | £71.4 | £154.9 |
Best family travel insurance
There is no one 'best' family travel insurance company for everyone, but that said, we do love comparing providers in a list! Below we have listed a number of popular providers, some of which are in the panel of insurers in our travel insurance comparison offering (get quotes here or click one of the "Compare deals" buttons below to get your quotes). We've included information on their Trustpilot ratings, including both their customer review score and the number of providers who've left reviews—this can give you an idea of how substantial a company is in the market, and the reliability of the rating. We also tell you if a company is a travel insurance specialist or more of a general insurance provider. One might not be better than another, but we find this information is welcome by our readers.
| Travel Insurance Company | Trustpilot Rating | Number of Trustpilot Reviews | Travel insurance specialist? | Compare or Buy Direct |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allclear | 4.8 | 134173 | Yes | Buy Direct |
| CoverForYou | 4.8 | 18721 | Yes | Compare Deals |
| Cedar Tree | 4.8 | 7150 | Yes | Compare Deals |
| LV= | 4.4 | 70663 | No | Buy Direct |
| Coverwise | 4.7 | 84453 | Yes | Compare Deals |
| Saga | 4.2 | 38419 | No | Compare Deals |
| Switched On Insurance | 4.5 | 5849 | Yes | Compare Deals |
| Puffin | 4.7 | 20499 | Yes | Compare Deals |
| esure | 3.6 | 34595 | No | Buy Direct |
| Direct Line | 3.8 | 19514 | No | Buy Direct |
| Insure & Go | 4.8 | 63004 | Yes | Buy Direct |
| Sainsbury's | 4.1 | 13742 | No | Buy Direct |
| Tesco | 4.3 | 25334 | No | Buy Direct |
| ERGO | 4.6 | 2503 | Yes | Compare Deals |
| Admiral | 4.5 | 69989 | No | Compare Deals |
Cheap family insurance
There is a lot of variability when it comes to travel insurance—cover varies widely from one policy to the next, and with it, price.
With that in mind, our two top tips for saving money on travel insurance would be:
- Don't buy a policy with features you don't need
- Compare prices in the market before buying a policy
Let's dig into the first point first. Only going on one trip this year? Only pay for a single trip policy; don't pay more for annual cover. Do you only book really cheap holidays, or are your plane tickets and accommodation fully refundable? If so, you won't need as much in the way of cancellation cover. Not planning on visiting North America this year? Don't include the USA, Canada and the Caribbean in your geographic area as these will significantly raise your premium. You get the idea.
As for the second point, it's worth noting how variable travel insurance premiums are. For example, we recently ran quotes for a family of 4 travelling for one week to the USA, for policies with £3,000 of cancellation cover. We found quotes ranging from £114 to £305—that is, some policies were nearly 3X as expensive as the cheapest cover. Of course, a more expensive policy can offer more extensive features, but whether or not these are worth the extra cost will be up to you (see above point).
Nowadays it's very easy to compare prices using a comparison engine (click below!). Once you put in your details, you'll see how variable prices are and how some companies are a lot more affordable than others—sometimes for quite comparable cover.
Family travel insurance single trip
Single trip family travel insurance can be a more economical way to go if you will only take one trip abroad in the coming year. But if there's any chance of a second trip, it's likely you'll save money on travel insurance by purchasing an annual policy (instead of single-trip policies for each trip). As you can see below, single trip cover can be found for a bit less than annual coverage, with the cheapest policies (e.g. those with just £1,000 of cancellation cover) starting from around £30-£40 for a family of four going to Europe or a bit over £100 for a family going to America.
| Comparing Costs of Basic and Premium Travel Insurance (Family) | France Single Trip | USA Single Trip |
|---|---|---|
| £1,000 Cancellation Cover | £37.0 | £112.8 |
| £2,000 Cancellation Cover | £34.1 | £144.1 |
| £5,000 Cancellation Cover | £43.0 | £157.3 |
Family travel insurance Europe
Do you need travel insurance for your family if you're going to Europe? Yes, family travel insurance can still provide a lot of protection. From covering losses if you need to cancel due to an unexpected, covered event like serious illness, lost luggage or even health costs, it can be a real help. Despite the fact that we're covered for some health expenses if we have GHIC cards, that won't cover everything and travel insurance can save you £ if you have a health emergency abroad. As you can see below, family travel insurance for Europe can be found for as little as £30 or so—less than the cost of one holiday meal for your family.
Worldwide family travel insurance
Worldwide family travel insurance includes nearly all countries in the world—excluding certain countries e.g. war-torn countries or countries where the FCO advises Brits not to travel—but including countries like the USA (which are notoriously expensive for travel insurance). If you're likely to take a few trips in the coming year and they'll include stops in the Americas then worldwide cover might be for you.
Read more about worldwide travel insurance here!
FAQs
What is immediate family for travel insurance?
It depends on the company. Check the policy wording to be sure. For example:
- Asda: "Family" is a person and their husband, wife or partner and their dependent, adopted or fostered children who are aged under 18 and are either in full-time education or living with them. A "close relative or relative" is a husband, wife, civil partner or partner, common-law partner, parent, parent-in-law, step-parent, legal guardian, children (including legally-adopted children, stepchildren and daughter and son-in-laws), sibling (including stepsiblings and sister and brother-in-laws), grandparent, grandchild and a fiancé or fiancée of any insured person.
- InsureforDirect: "Immediate Family" is your husband, wife, civil partner, partner, children or parents, who permanently live in your home.
- Staysure: "Family" is you and your wife, husband, civil partner or partner who lives with you in a relationship for at least 6 months at the same address as you, regardless of gender, your unmarried dependent children (including adopted, fostered and stepchildren) under the age of 18 years (or under the age of 21 if in full-time education), living in the same household, including children living away from home in full time education.
- InsureandGo: "Immediate relative" is your Mother, father, sister, brother, wife, husband, partner (same or different sex), son, daughter (including fostered/adopted son or daughter), grandparent, grandchild, parent-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, step-parent, step-child, step-brother, step-sister, or legal guardian.
Does family travel insurance cover children over 18
Most family travel insurance policies cover children through 17 years of age maximum, so you'd need to buy a separate travel insurance policy for your child once they turn 18. However, there are exceptions to this. For example:
- Staysure family travel insurance will cover unmarried dependent children under the age of 21 if they're in full-time education, living in the same household, including children living away from home in full time education.
Can I get travel insurance for my grandchildren?
There are a few companies that will sell you a family travel insurance policy that can cover grandchildren. For example:
- Insure and Go: Cover is only available for children (under the age of 18) provided they are travelling with an adult and are named on the same policy, including: your children, your partner’s children and the grandchildren of you or your partner, including step children, step grandchildren and fostered or adopted children or grandchildren, provided that they are under 18 years old on the date cover commences and dependent on you or your partner (or in the case of grandchildren dependent on you or your partner or their parent(s)).
- Post Office travel insurance says they include in a 'family' your grandchildren who are aged under 18 and are either in full-time education or living with you.
Does my travel insurance cover my kids?
Yes, so long as they are named on your policy, making it a family travel insurance policy. If only you (or only you and your partner) are named on the policy, then your children will NOT be covered!
Does family travel insurance cover individuals
It depends. Family travel insurance will typically the adults named on the policy if they ever travel alone. But kids are treated differently. Sometimes, children are still covered by a family travel insurance policy if they travel alone as an individual—but there may be restrictions (like they must travel with an adult over the age of 18), and sometimes they're only covered if travelling with an adult named on the policy.