Cheap group travel insurance

When you’re holidaying with a group of friends, is it sensible to get group travel insurance, or should you each get it individually? We look at the pros and cons to help you decide.

Josh Daniels

From the Travel team

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Posted 28 JANUARY 2020

What is group travel insurance?

Group travel insurance covers a collection of individuals - not necessarily a family - who are travelling together. This means everyone in the group can be covered on the same insurance policy, which can simplify your paperwork.

In 2017, 1 in 5 holidaymakers travelled as part of a group of adults, so group travel insurance is a common choice.

However, it’s not always the right choice. Our guide should help you to choose the right policy.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE

A travel traffic light system has been introduced for international travel. From 19 July 2021, trips to green and amber listed countries are legally permitted if you live in England and Scotland. However, you’ll still need to fulfil any pre-departure requirements, such as testing. If you live in Wales and Northern Ireland, you still need to follow the rules for your relevant local authority.

If a country is on the green or amber list, you still need to check the latest travel advice and entry requirements for each country you visit or transit through. This is to ensure you’re aware of any specific requirements relating to entry and to check travellers from the UK are permitted. Countries can have their traffic light status changed at short notice and you should take this into consideration when looking to travel. Please check the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) advice for the latest information.

The FCDO currently advises against all but essential travel to red listed countries. Should you choose to travel against the FCDO rules, you will not be covered by any travel insurance policy you purchase. Some providers do offer cover for international travel if you’re travelling for essential purposes, however most do not. In all cases, should you have any queries please check the policy wording or contact your chosen provider before purchasing to ensure the cover meets your needs.

Travel within England, Scotland and Wales is permitted under the current guidelines. However, public health rules and lockdown restrictions continue to vary, including entry restrictions for Northern Ireland. Check the latest guidance from the official tourism boards for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Find out more here

Customers with more serious pre-existing medical conditions

Our panel includes insurance providers who quote cover for all medical conditions declared on our website, with no exclusions.

The Money and Pensions Service (MaPs) has launched a directory of insurance providers on its Money Advice Service website that may be able to provide quotes over the phone, if you have more serious medical conditions. Find more information at the Money Advice Service or by calling the British Insurance Brokers’ Association on 0370 950 1790.

Why choose group travel insurance?

The benefits of group travel insurance are:

It can be simpler and less stressful to have only one set of insurance. You only have to buy one policy, and you can often all claim together if something happens.
It can be a cheaper option, or insurance providers may throw in extras such as sports cover. Cheap group travel insurance isn’t guaranteed to offer the best price or the best cover, though, so always compare your options.
If someone in the group falls ill, group travel insurance will often allow everyone to cancel the trip. This might be more difficult if you’re insured separately.

Why might you not choose group travel insurance?

In some cases, group travel insurance might not be right for your situation. For example:

If one of you has a pre-existing medical condition or is significantly older than the rest, they will cost more to insure, and might even need specialist insurance. It could make getting travel insurance and splitting the bill very complicated.
If you’re getting separate flights you might not all be covered under a group travel insurance policy – always check the policy details to make sure.
If you’ll be going on other trips in the same year, separately from the group, it might be cheaper overall to get an annual multi-trip policy or you may already have travel insurance packaged in with your bank account for example.
If some of your party live in a different country from the rest, for example a group of friends going to a wedding overseas and a couple of them live in the Republic of Ireland

Do you have to be related to get cheap group travel insurance?

Not necessarily – group travel insurance is for any group of people, and you don’t have to be related to get great group deals. You just need to be travelling together. Children can be included on a group policy too.

How many people do you need for group travel insurance cover?

It depends on the insurance provider that you choose to cover you. With Compare the Market, you can search for cheap group travel insurance quotes covering up to 10 people. With extremely large groups, you may need a specialist insurance policy.

How does group travel insurance work?

Overall, group travel insurance works very much like any other type of travel insurance – the only difference is that it covers a group of people travelling together. You’ll usually be covered for certain events, such as cancellation, lost luggage, medical treatment overseas and emergency repatriation – the exact coverage should be set out in your policy documentation.

Of course, as with all travel insurance, there are things you need to be aware of, such as:

Exclusions – for example, if insurance providers could believe excessive drinking led to a claim, this could lead to medical costs being rejected because of an alcohol exclusion clause.
Limits
Your policy excess
Pre-existing medical conditions
Policy extras like sports cover, water sports, or extreme sports

You all need to be happy with the level of cover and the amount of excess. Increasing the amount of excess can reduce the cost of the policy, but you all need to be able to afford it if you make a claim.

For group cover, you should make sure you have enough cover for the highest possible claim you could make – for example, if everyone's luggage went missing or an accident meant you all had to be repatriated. Make sure the whole party know any single item limits too – so they know the maximum that could be claimed for any one item.

You can find out more basic travel insurance information in our travel insurance guides.

Is travel insurance cheaper for groups?

Group travel insurance can be cheaper than buying individual cover - but that’s not necessarily the case. The prices will vary depending on the insurance provider, the size of your group, and a whole host of other factors.

On the one hand, it’s in the insurance provider’s interest to offer cheap group travel insurance to a big group – they want your business!

On the other hand, the more people you have travelling together in a group, the higher the possibility that someone will make a claim. Some insurance providers may increase the overall policy excess with each additional traveller as the possibility of a loss increases. This can quickly mount up.

Always compare travel insurance to find a policy and a price that’s right for you.

Where can you get cheap group travel insurance?

At Compare the Market, we search a wide range of providers to find travel insurance that suits you. Use our comparison service to compare travel insurance quotes for groups of up to 10 people.