--- title: "What travel insurance covers: cover and exclusions" description: "The cover all looks alike; the exclusions do not. What to check before you buy and the five pieces of small print that decide it." url: https://getgigapass.com/en/blog/what-travel-insurance-covers markdown: https://getgigapass.com/en/blog/what-travel-insurance-covers.md lang: en site: Gigapass generated: 2026-10-24 languages: es: https://getgigapass.com/blog/que-cubre-un-seguro-de-viaje de: https://getgigapass.com/de/blog/was-deckt-eine-reiseversicherung-ab it: https://getgigapass.com/it/blog/cosa-copre-un-assicurazione-di-viaggio fr: https://getgigapass.com/fr/blog/que-couvre-une-assurance-voyage pt: https://getgigapass.com/pt/blog/o-que-cobre-um-seguro-de-viagem nl: https://getgigapass.com/nl/blog/wat-dekt-een-reisverzekering ja: https://getgigapass.com/ja/blog/ryoko-hoken-hosho ko: https://getgigapass.com/ko/blog/yeohaeng-boheom-bojang zh-hans: https://getgigapass.com/zh-hans/blog/lvyou-baoxian-baozhang pl: https://getgigapass.com/pl/blog/co-obejmuje-ubezpieczenie-podrozne sv: https://getgigapass.com/sv/blogg/vad-tacker-en-reseforsakring no: https://getgigapass.com/no/blogg/hva-dekker-en-reiseforsikring da: https://getgigapass.com/da/blog/hvad-daekker-en-rejseforsikring tr: https://getgigapass.com/tr/blog/seyahat-sigortasi-neyi-kapsar ru: https://getgigapass.com/ru/blog/chto-pokryvaet-strahovka zh-hant: https://getgigapass.com/zh-hant/blog/lvyou-baoxian-baozhang ar: https://getgigapass.com/ar/mudawana/ma-yughattih-tamin-alsafar he: https://getgigapass.com/he/blog/ma-mechase-bituach-nesiot index: https://getgigapass.com/llms/en.txt --- # What travel insurance really covers (and what it never covers) > The cover all looks alike; the exclusions do not. What to check before you buy and the five pieces of small print that decide it. [Home](https://getgigapass.com/en) › [Blog](https://getgigapass.com/en/blog) › What travel insurance really covers (and what it never covers) Money and insurance The cover all looks alike; the exclusions do not. What to check before you buy and the five pieces of small print that decide it. **Tomás Berruezo** 10 Aug 2026 7 min Photo by Match Sùmàyà on Unsplash In this article › What is usually covered › The five pieces of small print that decide it › How to use it when the time comes › And for travel within Europe En corto - What decides a policy is not the cover, it is the exclusions. - Per-item limits matter more than the headline total. - Risky activities almost never fall under the basic policy. - And pre-existing conditions usually do not either. Every travel policy says roughly the same thing on the front page. Where they differ, and where you find out whether yours is any use, is the long document nobody opens until they need it. ## What is usually covered - Medical and hospital care at the destination, with a limit per person. - Medical repatriation, which is the genuinely expensive cover and the main reason to buy a policy. - Lost or delayed luggage, with low limits. - Delays and missed connections, with minimum-hours conditions. - Third-party liability. ## The five pieces of small print that decide it 1. Pre-existing conditions: most basic policies exclude them, and that includes things you would not even call an illness. 2. Activities: diving, motorbikes, off-piste skiing or trekking above a certain altitude usually need an add-on. 3. Alcohol and drugs: any claim with either involved falls outside the cover. 4. Areas advised against: if your country's foreign ministry advises against travel there, the cover can fall away. 5. Excesses and per-item limits: a large headline sum with a low limit per broken tooth is still a low limit. ## How to use it when the time comes Call BEFORE you see a doctor, whenever that is possible. Most policies require prior authorisation, and a bill you pay yourself without telling them can end up unreimbursed. That is why the assistance number goes on paper and into your phone, not buried in a PDF in your inbox. > Insurance is not read when you buy it: it is read when reading it no longer helps. ## And for travel within Europe Inside the Union there is the European Health Insurance Card, which is not insurance and does not cover the same things. It is worth understanding the difference before deciding whether it is enough. The comparison is in [what the European Health Insurance Card covers](https://getgigapass.com/en/blog/european-health-insurance-card). General information and not insurance advice: what your policy covers is in your own terms and conditions, and those are what count. Know where you're going? Pick your destination, days and data. Install it before you leave and pay once. [See destinations](https://getgigapass.com/en#destinos) Tomás BerruezoPlans and small print Thirty years reading operator terms, first for work and now out of habit. If something is billed separately, he finds it. ## Frequently asked questions **What does travel insurance cover?** Medical care at the destination, repatriation, luggage, delays and third-party liability, always with per-item limits worth checking. **What does it never cover?** Whatever is excluded: pre-existing conditions in basic policies, risky activities without an add-on, claims involving alcohol or drugs, and travel to areas advised against. **Do I have to call before seeing a doctor?** Yes, whenever possible: most policies require prior authorisation, and paying yourself without telling them can leave you unreimbursed. **Is the European Health Insurance Card any use to me?** It is issued to people insured in an EU or European Economic Area country. If your health cover comes from elsewhere it will not be issued to you, and travel insurance remains the only route. ## Keep reading - [Money and insurance](https://getgigapass.com/en/blog/falling-ill-on-a-trip) | Falling ill on a trip: what to do, in what order and who to call | 6 min - [Money and insurance](https://getgigapass.com/en/blog/trip-cancellation-insurance) | Cancellation insurance: which reasons it actually covers | 5 min - [Money and insurance](https://getgigapass.com/en/blog/paying-by-card-abroad) | Paying by card abroad without giving away fees | 6 min