Compare Annual Travel Insurance
An annual travel insurance policy could save you money if you’re planning two or more trips abroad within the next 12 months. Buying annual travel cover is often cheaper and more convenient, as you can avoid the hassle of applying for multiple single trip policies.
The UK’s top travel insurance companies all offer annual cover so that you can travel with peace of mind all year long. Some of the main options for annual travel insurance include popular insurance companies like Ageas, Avanti, and Staysure.
Annual travel insurance policies start from around £15 per year and allow you to have more flexibility with your travel plans. You can book last-minute holidays or change your departure date or destination without worrying about buying a new insurance policy.
Top benefits of annual travel insurance:
- Covered for as many trips as you want to take within the next 12 months.
- You only need to manage one policy and you would apply and pay once to protect all of your holidays within the next year (12 months).
- Buying annual cover can be much cheaper than buying multiple single trip policies, especially if you travel frequently (e.g. for business).
- Offers all of the same benefits as single trip policies, including emergency medical cover, cancellation cover, and personal liability cover.
- You can easily add your partner or children to your policy to protect your whole family.
Annual travel insurance is becoming increasingly popular with UK holidaymakers, as millions of people are now booking multiple holidays each year. The latest data from ABTA shows that 84% of UK residents are going on holiday around 3 times per year on average.
60 Second Summary – How to find the Best Annual Travel Insurance
Annual travel insurance provides financial protection for all your holidays over the next 12 months and covers you before and during your trips. It’s typically much more affordable to buy annual cover if you travel a lot or often book spontaneous trips.
You can even renew your policy every year if you’re happy with your travel insurance company, and some insurers will auto-renew the cover to make this easier for you.
- Annual travel insurance covers common holiday issues that could cost you £1000’s, like missed flights, lost luggage, or cancelled trips.
- Recent research by our travel insurance experts found that the average cost of annual travel insurance is around £21.58 for individual travel cover.
- Some insurers might refer to annual travel insurance as ‘multi-trip travel insurance’ or ‘annual multi-trip travel insurance’.
- You could save significantly if you often travel for business or are planning to go on holiday more than twice within the next year (12 months).
- Your policy will cover you for 12 months, even if you need to claim before the end of your policy term.
- Most annual travel insurance policies don’t cover trips longer than 31 days – 90 days maximum. Some insurers may also limit the total number of days you can travel per year (e.g. 180 days maximum).
What is annual travel insurance?
Annual travel insurance is a policy which covers you for multiple holidays within the next 12 months. It’s important to remember that you won’t be covered for every possible destination, as annual travel insurance is split into two categories:
- European Annual Travel Insurance: These policies will cover multiple trips to European destinations if they all take place within 12 months of your policy start date.
- Worldwide Annual Travel Insurance: These policies will cover multiple holidays within the next 12 months when you are travelling to destinations outside of Europe.
Annual travel insurance works similarly to single trip travel insurance, with the main difference being that you are covered for more than one holiday. You can buy annual travel insurance policies that cover one person, a couple, or a group or family.
It’s typically much easier to buy and manage one annual travel insurance policy compared to buying multiple single trip policies. The main reason to consider buying multiple single trip policies would be if you were travelling to a range of different destinations (e.g. holidays both inside and outside of Europe).
The cost of annual travel insurance will usually be slightly higher than a single trip policy but could save you money overall. You can take as many holidays as you want within the next 12 months, and you will be protected if your destination is covered by your policy.
Pros and Cons of Annual Travel Insurance
| Pro | Con |
| No limit to how many holidays you can be covered for. | There will normally still be a limit for the maximum length of each trip. |
| Can save you money as you don’t need to buy multiple single trip policies. | Might be cheaper to buy multiple single trip policy is if you’re not travelling much in the next year. |
| Already covered if you want to book a spontaneous holiday or weekend away. | Annual cover can be more expensive for people with pre-existing conditions. |
| Don’t need to specify your exact holiday destination every time you travel (as long as it’s covered by your policy). | There can be age limits for annual travel insurance policies depending on the insurance company. |
What does annual travel insurance cover?
Every insurance company is slightly different, but most annual travel insurance policies will include similar policy benefits. If you have an annual travel insurance policy, you can normally claim for unexpected issues like:
- Medical emergency cover (should include at least £1million cover).
- Cover for medical repatriation (covers the cost of returning to the UK if you die or are seriously unwell/injured).
- Cover for lost, damaged, stolen, or delayed baggage.
- Person liability cover (protects you if you accidentally hurt someone or damage their property while on holiday).
- Medical cancellation cover (if you need to cancel your holiday due to medical reasons).
- Cover for travel delays and missed flights.
- Cover for lost, damaged, or stolen personal possessions.
What doesn’t annual travel insurance cover?
Travel insurance companies won’t pay out for every possible issue with your holiday that could cause you to lose money. When you check your travel insurance terms and conditions, this will usually include a list of policy exclusions. This is anything that you can’t claim for, and common annual travel insurance exclusions include things like:
- Claims for extreme sports which aren’t covered by your policy.
- Any claim if you’ve travelled to a country that the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has advised against travelling to.
- Treating injuries that have been caused by abusing drugs or alcohol.
- Any claims related to illegal activity.
- Choosing to cancel your holiday voluntarily.
- Not being vaccinated or having received appropriate medical treatment before leaving for your holiday.
- Any claims related to pre-existing medical conditions that you didn’t declare when applying for your policy.
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How long does annual travel insurance cover you for?
An annual travel insurance policy will cover you for one year from the date that your policy starts. This might be the date that you’ve bought your policy or a date in the future that you have specified when you applied.
If you have asked for your policy to start on the first day of your holiday, you won’t be able to claim if you need to cancel your trip. You are only covered for cancellation once your policy has started. This is slightly different to how single trip travel insurance works, as a single trip policy will cover you for cancellation from the date that you bought your policy.
To find out more, you can read our full guide to ‘When should I buy travel insurance?’ which explains all the main rules about cancellation cover.
What is the best annual travel insurance policy?
Our team of travel insurance experts have compared dozens of policies to find the best and most affordable annual travel insurance policies in the UK.
Here, we look at which insurers work best for different types of travellers to help you choose the right annual travel insurance policies. There are also hundreds of other options for annual travel cover, and you can use our specialist comparison tool to compare quotes from the UK’s top travel insurance companies.
Top 5 annual travel insurance policies
Admiral
Trustpilot score: 4.5 out of 5.0 Stars
Defaqto rating: 5 Stars
Best annual travel insurance for: Couples and Over 50s
Admiral is one of the top three choices for annual travel insurance for couples, with most of its policies earning 4 or 5 Star ratings from industry body Defaqto. They consistently provide some of the most affordable options, helping couples save money on their annual travel insurance policies.
They’re also a great option for older travellers, and our experts recently rated Admiral the best over 50s travel insurance company in the UK. You can be covered up to age 85, and their customers have rated Admiral 4.5 out of 5.0 Stars for customer service on Trustpilot.
Post Office
Trustpilot score: 1.7 out of 5.0 Stars
Defaqto rating: 5 Stars
Best annual travel insurance for: Families
Our experts have found that Post Office offers some of the best travel insurance policies for UK parents and families. You can cover up to 8 family members under one policy, which is handy for larger families.
Post Office also promises to cover any under 18s for free, if they don’t have any medical conditions to declare. You can choose from three levels of cover to suit your family’s budget. A recent survey from Which? also found that Post Office paid out around 85% – 90% of all annual travel insurance claims, which is higher than the average of 76%.
Coverwise
Trustpilot score: 4.7 out of 5.0 Stars
Defaqto rating: 5 Stars
Best annual travel insurance for: Individuals and Solo Travellers
Earlier this year, our travel insurance experts rated Coverwise as the UK’s top insurance company for individual travel insurance. Coverwise’s annual travel insurance policies start from less than £15 for Standard cover, with the option to upgrade to Bronze, Silver Plus, or Gold cover.
Coverwise offers up to £20million emergency medical cover and up to £6,000 cancellation cover. Their policies are also underwritten by AXA, which can be reassuring for travellers who would usually opt for a larger insurance company.
Puffin Insurance
Trustpilot score: 4.7 out of 5.0 Stars
Defaqto rating: 5 Stars
Best annual travel insurance for: Groups
Puffin Insurance will cover groups of up to 8 friends or family members who want to travel together within the next year. They also cover travellers up to 84 years old, so can be a good option for groups with older travellers.
Silver annual travel insurance policies start from around £70 for a group of 4 people (roughly £17.50 each). All policies include £10million medical emergency cover and £500 emergency dental cover as standard.
Note: Puffin Insurance policies are fully underwritten by AXA, one of the UK’s most well-known and trusted general insurance companies.
Holiday Extras
Trustpilot score: 4.4 out of 5.0 Stars
Defaqto rating: 5 Stars
Best annual travel insurance for: Cruise holidays
Holiday Extras cruise travel insurance is available for both single trips and annual multi trip policies. Holiday Extras offers a comprehensive level of cover, which can make a big difference if something goes wrong while on a cruise.
Top benefits of Holiday Extras annual cruise travel insurance:
- Cover to replace lost or damaged evening wear (up to £150).
- Up to £2,000 missed port cover.
- Up to £1,000 cabin confinement cover.
- £500 cover for unused excursions (e.g. due to illness).
Other good options for annual cruise travel insurance include popular insurers like Post Office, Ageas, and Staysure.
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How much should annual travel insurance cost?
The cost of annual travel insurance starts at around £15 for younger applicants, and the exact price will vary based on each person who applies. If you have several holidays booked, it’s typically cheaper to buy one annual travel insurance policy than multiple single trip policies.
According to the latest figures from GoCompare, most UK travellers will pay around £48 for an annual travel insurance policy. They also claim that a single trip policy will cost roughly £22 for most travellers, so annual cover could save you money if you have booked 3 or more holidays.
Price Comparison – European Annual Travel Insurance
| Applicant age | Lowest price | Highest price |
| Age 20 | £15.36 | £96.71 |
| Age 30 | £12.00 | £107.67 |
| Age 40 | £12.36 | £117.04 |
| Age 50 | £13.58 | £131.08 |
| Age 60 | £19.31 | £262.60 |
Price Comparison – Worldwide Annual Travel Insurance (Excluding USA, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean)
| Applicant age | Lowest price | Highest price |
| Age 20 | £30.14 | £326.68 |
| Age 30 | £25.84 | £328.20 |
| Age 40 | £28.45 | £328.22 |
| Age 50 | £31.87 | £259.54 |
| Age 60 | £44.74 | £413.04 |
Price Comparison – Worldwide Annual Travel Insurance (Including USA, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean)
| Applicant age | Lowest price | Highest price |
| Age 20 | £38.35 | £333.04 |
| Age 30 | £39.52 | £340.63 |
| Age 40 | £39.50 | £351.12 |
| Age 50 | £46.58 | £439.89 |
| Age 60 | £77.33 | £715.93 |
How do I find cheaper annual travel insurance?
There are a few quick and easy ways to save money on annual travel insurance if you’re struggling to find affordable quotes. Our main top tips for finding low cost annual travel insurance are:
- Avoid adding any extra benefits that you’re not likely to claim on (e.g. gadget cover).
- Choose a higher excess (make sure this is still affordable if you need to claim).
- Shop around for the best quotes (it can be helpful to use an online price comparison tool).
Remember, while it’s best to avoid overpaying for your cover, it’s better to pay more if it means that you have the right level of cover. This is especially important for people with pre-existing conditions, who often need more cover for medical expenses, medication, equipment etc.
Can you add extra benefits to annual travel insurance?
Most travel insurance companies will allow you to add extra benefits to an annual travel insurance policy, so you can tailor your cover to suit your holiday plans. Common benefits that can be added to annual travel insurance include:
- Winter Sports Cover: If you’re planning to enjoy winter activities like skiing or snowboarding during your holiday, this benefit protects both you and any equipment that you need to bring.
- Cruise Cover: Designed for cruise holidays, this benefit provides extra cover for unique situations like being confined to your cabin or your cruise being interrupted.
- Gadget Cover: Gadget cover pays out to help you replace electrical items like phones or tablets if they are lost, stolen, or damaged during your trip.
Note: Before adding extra benefits, you should think about if you need these benefits for every holiday within the next year and if the additional cost is worth it for you.
What if I can’t find suitable travel insurance?
Choosing the right travel insurance policy and provider for your trip can be difficult, as there are potentially hundreds of options to choose from. If you’re having trouble finding the right cover, BIBA’s ‘Find Insurance’ service can help.
The British Insurance Brokers Association (BIBA) is a reliable resource, offering a comprehensive directory of both mainstream and specialist travel insurance companies.
What to do if you can’t find travel insurance
There are certain options and support mechanisms that are available to you if you’re struggling to find travel insurance. One of the bodies to support consumers with travel insurance is the British Insurance Brokers Association (BIBA) which covers all insurance services in the United Kingdom.
BIBA provides a Find Insurance service that allows you to search for a recommended member who might be able to help you.
Telephone (Insurance Help)- 0370 950 1790
Telephone (General Enquiries) – 0344 7700 266
Email – enquiries@biba.org.uk
Should I buy annual travel insurance?
There are a lot of pros and cons to buying annual travel insurance and you should consider how much you plan to travel within the next year before choosing your policy. If you only plan to travel once or twice, a single trip policy might be the best choice for you.
If you’re already planning multiple trips within the same area (e.g. Europe), an annual policy can save you time and money. You can also tailor your policy in the same way that you can with a single trip cover, by adding extra benefits such as gadget cover or cruise cover.
The easiest way to work out if single trip or annual cover is right for you is by comparing multiple travel insurance quotes. Any good price comparison site will let you easily switch between annual and single trip quotes, to help you work out what is best and cheapest for you.
CLICK HERE to get your personalised annual travel insurance quotes in minutes from the UK’s top travel insurance companies.
