Travel insurance is not a general promise that every travel loss will be paid. Start with the insured event, the exact policy wording, what other recovery routes exist and the evidence the insurer says is missing.
Start with the transaction and the disruption that actually occurred. Travel disputes often involve several businesses, but their responsibilities are not interchangeable.
Key points
- Travel-provider refunds and statutory compensation should usually be pursued first where available because policies often do not cover recoverable losses.
- Common disputes involve declined claims, limits/excesses, pre-existing conditions, changes in health, delay/abandonment, medical expenses and baggage.
- An insurer should apply exclusions and disclosure/misrepresentation rules fairly and in line with insurance law, not simply point to a broad exclusion label.
- After a formal complaint, unresolved insurance disputes can go to the Financial Ombudsman Service, usually after a final response or eight weeks.
Diagnosis
First: what exactly happened?
Identify the problem before choosing the remedy or escalation route.
| What happened? | What to check first |
|---|---|
| You cancelled because you could not travel | Identify the insured cancellation reason and supporting evidence. |
| The insurer says the condition was pre-existing | Check what questions were asked, what was disclosed and the causal link to the claim. |
| You became ill abroad | Check emergency-assistance, medical-expense and repatriation provisions and contact requirements. |
| You missed departure or abandoned the trip | Check the specific covered causes, minimum delay and evidence required. |
| The airline/hotel also owes a refund | Pursue the travel provider first and identify only the unrecovered loss for insurance. |
Start with the insured event
Policies are structured around defined sections such as cancellation, curtailment, medical expenses, baggage, missed departure and travel delay.
A real loss is not necessarily insured unless it falls within the wording. Read the applicable section and the general exclusions together.
Recoverable from another source
Current FOS guidance says travellers should first ask airlines/travel providers for refunds or compensation where available because many policies do not cover losses recoverable elsewhere.
Get any refusal or shortfall in writing so the insurer can see what remains unrecovered.
Pre-existing medical conditions and disclosure
If the insurer says a condition was not disclosed, preserve the original application questions and your answers. Under consumer insurance law, the quality of the question and whether any misrepresentation was careless/deliberate/reckless matter to the remedy.
Do not accept "you had seen a doctor before" as a complete analysis if that was not what the insurer actually asked.
Changes in health after purchase
FOS updated guidance in 2026 says some policies require notification of significant changes in health during the policy period. Whether the insurer can alter/withdraw cover depends on the wording, significance of the change and fair application of the term.
Medical expenses and repatriation
Keep medical records, bills, assistance-company communications and treating-doctor recommendations. Disputes often concern whether treatment was necessary, whether repatriation should have happened earlier/later, or whether a pre-existing condition caused the event.
FOS can compare the insurer medical evidence with the treating clinician's evidence rather than simply accepting an insurer's medical opinion.
Missed departure, delay and abandonment
Missed departure is not the same as flight delay. Policies commonly specify covered causes such as public-transport failure or vehicle breakdown and expect the traveller to have allowed reasonable time.
Delay benefits are often fixed sums, while abandonment can require a specified delay - commonly around 24 hours, but check the actual policy.
Baggage and valuables
Check overall baggage limit, single-item limit, valuables sub-limit, excess and unattended-property terms.
An airline baggage claim and insurance claim can overlap; tell the insurer what the airline has paid.
Complaining to the insurer and FOS
Make a formal complaint identifying the policy clause, insurer reason, evidence and requested settlement. If the business does not send a final response within eight weeks, or you disagree with the final response, the Financial Ombudsman can usually be approached within its time limits.
Who is responsible?
The insurer is responsible for applying the insurance contract and insurance law fairly; a broker/intermediary can be responsible for the sale/advice. The airline, organiser or hotel remains responsible for any travel right/refund it owes. Insurance usually covers the residual insured loss rather than replacing those primary remedies.
What can you realistically ask for?
Seek the contractual benefit due under the relevant section, interest where appropriate, and correction of an unfair claims decision. FOS can require a business to put the consumer back in the position they would have been in and may consider distress/inconvenience caused by poor handling. It will not rewrite a policy to cover a risk that was never insured merely because the event was unfortunate.
What to say after a rejected claim
Ask the insurer to identify the exact policy clause, the factual finding that triggers it, and the evidence relied on. If the refusal concerns medical disclosure, ask for the original sales questions/answers and the underwriting outcome it says would have applied. If it concerns delay, ask which insured event/threshold was not met.
Escalation
Make a formal complaint to the insurer or broker responsible. If there is no final response within eight weeks, or the response is unsatisfactory, use the Financial Ombudsman subject to its time limits. Keep pursuing airline/organiser refunds in parallel where the policy expects that, but tell each party about amounts recovered.
Important exceptions and edge cases
Annual multi-trip policies can have trip-length limits, age limits and renewal/change-in-health obligations. EHIC/GHIC and reciprocal healthcare do not replace travel insurance and may not cover repatriation. Alcohol, adventure activities, unattended belongings and travelling against medical/FCDO advice can trigger exclusions depending on wording. A policy bought after the event became known may exclude the loss as a known circumstance. Always use the policy version covering the trip, not a current website summary.
Evidence worth keeping
Travel disputes are usually won or lost on the booking chain, timings and contemporaneous evidence. Preserve the original record rather than relying on screenshots taken weeks later where possible.
Common responses - and what they do not necessarily prove
| The business says | ConsumerWise view |
|---|---|
| "You should have disclosed this medical condition." | Check the exact question asked and the consumer-insurance misrepresentation rules; hindsight is not enough. |
| "You did not contact us before coming home, so the claim automatically fails." | FOS guidance indicates this should not always be treated as an automatic bar; necessity and circumstances matter. |
| "The airline should pay, so the insurance claim is rejected." | The airline may cover some heads, but insurance can still cover an unrecovered insured loss. |
| "The exclusion says war/disruption, end of claim." | Exclusions can be valid, but the insurer must apply the actual wording fairly to the facts. |
What to do
A practical next-step plan
- Identify the policy section and insured event.
- Pursue provider refunds/statutory recovery that the policy expects you to pursue.
- Send the insurer a focused evidence set tied to each policy condition.
- If declined, ask for the precise clause, factual finding and underwriting/medical basis where relevant.
- Make a formal complaint and escalate to FOS if unresolved.
Official sources
Check the current source material.
Travel rights can depend on route, airline, booking structure, country, provider membership and the date of the event. Check the live official source before relying on a formal deadline, compensation amount or scheme rule.