What Travel Insurance Does Not Cover
Travel insurance claims are declined for a small number of recurring reasons, and knowing them in advance prevents nearly all of them.
Undeclared medical conditions
The largest category. Any condition diagnosed, treated or investigated within the look-back period must be declared, including well-controlled ones.
Non-declaration typically voids claims connected to that condition, and connection is interpreted broadly.
Alcohol and substances
Claims arising from incidents where you were intoxicated are commonly excluded, and insurers do check medical records.
The threshold is not always defined precisely, which makes the exclusion broad in practice.
Unattended possessions
Items left unattended, including on a beach, in a vehicle, or beside you in a café, are excluded by most policies.
Theft claims usually require a police report obtained within a short period, frequently twenty-four hours.
Valuables above a single-article limit require specifying, and the limit is lower than most people assume.
Activities
Standard policies exclude a long list: winter sports without an extension, scuba diving beyond a depth, motorcycling, climbing, and many organised adventure activities.
Riding a moped without an appropriate licence and helmet is a common and expensive exclusion in exactly the destinations where mopeds are ubiquitous.
Extensions exist for most activities and cost little compared with the claims they cover.
Foreseeable events
Disruption from an event already publicised when you booked or bought the policy is typically excluded.
This covers strikes announced in advance, weather events already forecast, and travel advisories already in place.
Buying insurance at the time of booking rather than before departure is what protects cancellation cover.
Other frequent grounds
Travelling against official advice for the destination.
Travelling against medical advice, or when unfit to travel.
Business or manual work not declared.
Claims without documentation: no receipts, no police report, no medical records.
Practical steps
Read the exclusions section, which is short, before buying.
Buy at the point of booking.
Declare everything, extend for activities, keep receipts, and photograph valuables.
General information rather than insurance advice.
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