How to Make a Claim on Your Travel Insurance

It's natural to prioritise getting home or finding a doctor when something goes wrong on a holiday, and most people assume they can sort out the insurance paperwork once they return. But waiting until you land can immediately put your travel insurance cover at risk. Insurers impose strict reporting deadlines for medical emergencies and thefts, and missing them gives a loss adjuster a reason to refuse a payout.

Reporting the Incident Within the First 24 Hours

Travel insurance policies usually require you to report a theft to the local police within 24 hours and get a written police report. For a medical emergency, you are expected to call the insurer's 24-hour helpline before agreeing to treatment. Missing these windows is one of the most common reasons an insurer can turn down a claim.

But a missed deadline does not automatically end the matter. Policies require you to report a claim within a reasonable time or a stated period. An insurer can only refuse for late notification if they can show the delay actually cost them something or damaged their position, for example by reducing their chance of recovering from whoever caused the loss.

Take the situation of a phone in a jacket in a club, where the owner briefly stepped away but the jacket stayed with their group. If the phone is stolen and the policyholder cannot get a police report until the next morning, the insurer cannot simply point to the 24-hour rule to reject the claim. They have to instead prove that the short delay prejudiced their position.

Ask the Airline or Hotel for a Refund First

Insurers usually expect you to make a reasonable attempt to recover your money from the vendor before the policy pays out. If a flight is cancelled or a hotel room is uninhabitable, the primary responsibility sits with the airline or the accommodation provider. Your travel insurance is designed to step in only when those avenues fail.

This means a loss adjuster will ask to see what the vendor said when you asked for your money back. You should therefore request an airline compensation or refund directly, or approach the tour operators who booked the trip. Additionally, make sure to keep a copy of your flight itinerary and any written rejection from the vendor. If an airline refuses a refund because the cancellation was outside of their control, that refusal letter is the exact proof your insurer needs to process the claim.

Proof You May Need to Make Your Case

To make a successful claim, you must show that it happened and what it was worth. Whatever the policy documents specify, any reasonable form of proof will do. A bank or credit card statement can stand in for a lost receipt as well.

Insurers will then likely ask for evidence to back up your out-of-pocket expenses. This usually means providing medical notes from a local hospital, police reports for stolen items, and booking confirmations.

If you need to buy replacement items while you are away, keep a record of those costs. If you are wondering how to claim holiday insurance without a physical receipt, it doesn't automatically doom the claim, so long as you can show the transaction on your bank statement.

Common Travel Claims Rejection Reasons to Avoid

Insurers frequently reject travel claims by pointing to specific clauses in the general exclusions section of your policy wording. They will look closely at whether you took reasonable care of your belongings, and perhaps two of the most common reasons for refusal involve unattended items and medical history.

Many policies refuse theft claims if an item was left unattended in a public place, and insurers often stretch this definition. Most policies define this as meaning the item was both out of sight and beyond arm's length. However, luggage handed to a hotel porter to load onto a departing taxi or coach is not considered unattended.

Insurers also tend to widen medical exclusions to catch symptoms present before the policy started without any diagnosis. To count as a pre-existing medical condition, you must have had treatment, advice or counselling for the actual condition being claimed for.

Be careful with alcohol consumption as well. While it is common to have a drink at lunch, if that is followed by an injury and alcohol is recorded in the medical notes, an insurer may try to rely on an intoxication exclusion to turn down your claim.

Steps to Take Before You Submit Your Travel Insurance Claim

Before you log into the insurer's online portal to file a travel insurance claim, gather your paperwork and verify your cover limits. This stops you making mistakes on the claim form that could complicate the process later.

1. Check this document to confirm your exact cover limits and the excess you will have to pay.

2. Complete the online or app submission accurately, ensuring the details match your police report or medical notes.

3. Upload all your receipts, booking confirmations, and any vendor rejection letters at the same time.

4. Keep a copy of every document and communication for your own records in case the insurer loses a file.

How SmarterClaims Can Help

If your insurer refuses your travel claim by citing unattended luggage or a pre-existing condition, you can challenge the decision. Doing it yourself, however, means decoding insurer policy wording, identifying the clause they are leaning on and whether it actually fits the facts, and phrasing a rebuttal in the terms a complaints team will act on.

A solicitor is usually too expensive for an everyday holiday claim as well. SmarterClaims sits between doing it yourself and paying a solicitor. If the insurer says no, SmarterClaims can review the refusal letter and your policy documents. We identify arguments relevant to the dispute based on Financial Ombudsman Service rules and consumer law, and draft a formal complaint that you can send yourself.

If the insurer upholds their refusal in a final response letter, or if they miss the eight-week rule for resolving complaints, you can then escalate the matter to the Ombudsman.

SmarterClaims is built on the playbook of Steve Smart, former UK General Counsel at AIG and current Chairman of Lancashire Insurance UK. Over a 40-year career inside the insurance industry, Steve built the library of arguments that smarterclaims runs on — more than £25M has been recovered in refused claims with it.

Disclaimer: SmarterClaims is not a law firm or a claims management company and we don't give advice. We are a digital tool for UK consumer insurance disputes. Using artificial intelligence, we publish legal information and write letters that you can send yourself to help you overcome an insurance claim refusal. Our database of know-how contains 40 years of expertise drawn from inside both the insurance and legal industry to ensure its high accuracy.

Final Thoughts

Speed of reporting and thorough evidence gathering are your most useful tools when claiming on travel insurance. Notifying the local police and the insurer's helpline immediately gives you the foundation you need to prove the claim happened.

If an insurer turns down your claim based on a technicality, that isn't necessarily the end of the road. Insurers frequently stretch the definitions of unattended items or pre-existing conditions, so you can often challenge a refusal you believe is incorrect.