Travel insurance claims and the stories behind them usually appear in the media when a traveler comes into difficulty after setting out without suitable insurance.
These stories make it clear how vital it is to ensure we have suitable insurance to cover a trip.
Are you aware of the types of things that can invalidate a travel insurance claim?
To assist, we’ve provided an insight into our claims process from start to finish. We’ll cover what you need to include on your claims form and what may affect it before sending it off. We also have some insider tips to share – so if you ever need to make a claim, it will assist in avoiding unnecessary delays and communication.
Will my travel insurance claim’s history affect the price of my policy?
No. It’s not like car insurance. When you purchase a travel insurance policy from the same or a different insurance company, we don’t request information about any previous travel insurance claims.
If you take out travel insurance regularly you may notice that the price of your policy can go up, which is primarily due to the number of claims and their value that an insurer has received when compared to the premium received.
Recently, due to the consequences of the Coronavirus pandemic, the cost of overseas medical claims has increased, leading to a significant rise in premiums.
What types of claims can I make?
If you refer to our Free Spirit Travel Insurance Policy, under each section, you can see what the cover limits are and what travel insurance claims you can make if you’re insured on the policy.
When taking out a quality travel insurance policy, you should be able to claim for the following:
- Cancellation or cutting short your trip.
- Delayed flights, missed departures, or connections.
- Medical expenses.
- Loss of Baggage, Personal Money and documents.
- Claims on gadgets.
Also, before purchasing any travel insurance policy, pay particular attention to what it won’t cover by referring to the benefits, exclusions, coverage limits plus any required waiting times under trip or baggage delay.
If you require a greater range of cover or cover for an activity not included in a Free Spirit policy, contact our team who can suggest a suitable policy for your trip.
Is there a time limit on making a travel insurance claim?
Some policies require you to claim within 48 hours of returning home. Be sure to check the time limit for making a claim by reading your policy post-purchase. Also, it’s advisable to keep all receipts and reports as you might need to submit this as evidence with your claim form.
How do I claim my travel insurance?
Free Spirit’s Claims Process
- Visit Free Spirit’s making a claim page.
- Download and print the right claims form.
- Complete your claim form in full.
- Identify and locate the correct documents you’ll need to send to the claims handler.
- Send the correct documents and form to the relevant address.
Our Free Spirit policy has two Claims Handlers you’ll need to contact.
- Roger Rich & Company looks after most claims. These include medical, cancellation claims and more (Cover Sections A-M).
- The Bastion Davis Group manages the gadget claims.
What happens when the form reaches the Claims Handler?
- Additional information may be requested from you in support of your claim.
- A claim will either be paid in accordance with policy terms or declined.
What information do I need to provide a Claims Handler?
The information you need to provide will depend on the type of claim you wish to make. Providing as much information as possible will help to speed up the claims process.
Cancellation claims require:
- A cancellation invoice to illustrate that the trip was cancelled or cut short. This could come from your travel agent, hotel, airline, or tour operator.
- Evidence of any refund or credit, that the supplier has given you as part of your reimbursement.
Quite often, the supplier may refund a portion of your costs. However, your insurer needs to see evidence of what the supplier has (or hasn’t) refunded you.
Medical claims require:
- All receipts and/or invoices for medical expenses.
- Your medical certification.
If you need medical treatment, contact your 24-hour Medical Assistance Company as detailed in the policy immediately to ensure they’re happy to cover the treatment and you are getting treatment from the appropriate facility.
All claims require:
- Evidence that the trip took place to confirm all costs, this includes the trip booking.
- All receipts and/or invoices that relate to the claim.
- The travel insurance policy schedule (single or annual) will provide the date the trip started and finished.
What can cause a travel insurance claim to be declined?
1. Non-disclosure.
Which is industry jargon for not telling us all the information we have asked for. This is especially important when it comes to providing details of any existing medical conditions.
2. Not being able to provide evidence of the loss.
For example, if you have lost your luggage during your trip and you have not logged this with the relevant authorities/airline.
3. Travelling to a destination not covered by your policy.
For instance, if you buy a policy to cover Worldwide destinations excluding the USA, Canada etc, an insurer will not pay a claim if you travel to a destination outside of this geographical area. The exception to this is if you are transiting through a country to get to your destination. Stopover rules will vary from policy to policy, so it’s important to check the rules on this.
4. Exceeding your trip limits.
An insurer won’t expect you to be completely T-total on holiday. However, a claim could be refused if an incident has occurred because you have had too much alcohol by exceeding the policy limit.
5. Not following the rules and laws of the country you are visiting.
This is an obvious one, but it’s important to check that you are aware of the laws and local customs. Refer to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) website to review up-to-date travel advice for each country around the world.
6. Staying overseas for longer than the period of insurance covered by your policy.
7. Private facilities.
Travellers should be aware that the policy might not cover treatment in private facilities if there were medically capable public facilities available. If it’s possible, you should contact the medical assistance team before undergoing any treatment as they will be able to tell you where the nearest suitable facility is located. A tour operator, your hotel, or the taxi company might try and direct you to a private facility, so be sure to check this!
8. Expensive items.
If you take an expensive item that exceeds the maximum amount you may not be able to claim on your policy. To cover this item, you might need to source a policy with increased baggage cover or check whether your home contents insurance covers this. Our Free Spirit Super Duper Policy covers gadgets up to £1,500. Plus, £3,000 worth of cover if personal possessions are lost, stolen, or damaged. However, cover for a single article, pair, or set limit is only £500.
Why would a travel insurance claim be thrown out?
A claim could be rejected if there is evidence of fraud, dishonesty, or misrepresentation.
What are the most frequently seen travel insurance claims?
Cancellation claims
Cancellation claims are quite common on travel insurance. Usually the closer you are to your departure date, the less chance there is of you needing to make a cancellation claim. So this might be reflected in the price of the policy.
What cancellation claims would be valid?
- When a trip has to be cancelled due to a family bereavement.
- If you had to cancel a trip because you became unwell due to an unexpected illness.
- If you’re suddenly called for jury service.
- In the event you’re made redundant.
Medical claims
Medical claims relating to treatment that you need on holiday, whether that’s inpatient or outpatient treatment. However, pre-existing conditions must be declared and screened or they may not be covered (and a claim may be refused).
Always remember: Travel insurance covers unexpected and unforeseen risks.
Baggage claims
This covers lost passports, lost bags, and missing items.
See the pie chart below which illustrates the percentage of claims Free Spirit received between the 1st of January 2023 to July 30th, 2024. As you can see the most frequent travel insurance claims received are cancellation claims followed by medical expense claims.
(Data sourced from Roger Rich claims log)
Travel insurance claims are paid out
Despite the media coverage, there is evidence of travel insurance claims paying out when a valid claim has been made.
Here are some figures from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) that were released in April 2023, which gives some examples of the different claims that insurers have paid:
- One traveller needed extensive medical treatment due to a serious blood infection while in Thailand. Their insurance covered the £250,000 medical bill plus, their air ambulance back to the UK.
- An insurer met medical costs of £92,000 after a traveller suffered a heart attack during a Caribbean cruise.
- To treat a kidney infection in Spain the cost was £15,000. Thankfully this was paid for by travel insurance.
Overall in 2022, travel insurers paid out £352 million.
Purchase a Free Spirit Travel Insurance Policy with confidence
After discussing the claims process with our Claims Manager and Product Manager, and referring to a few sources above, we have hopefully helped to give you a clear and thorough understanding of how the claims process works.
If you have recently returned from a trip and wish to claim on a Free Spirit policy proceed to our making a claim page.