Travel Insurance for the UK
The UK has enough bucket list attractions to compete with any travel destination around the world. With the historical magnificence of Buckingham Palace, the charming beauty of the English countryside, the prehistoric intrigue of Stonehenge and the raw wilderness of Scottish shores, it’s little wonder that thousands of Kiwis explore the UK each year.
The UK is made up of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, and each region has its own identity, attractions and potential challenges for travellers. While some areas of the UK might feel like a home away from home for many Australians New Zealanders, your holiday still needs research, preparation and the right travel insurance for your journey.
What should my travel insurance for the UK include?
Your travel insurance for the UK should provide cover for the unexpected. The level of cover should be right for you and your journey, so be sure to do your research before choosing your policy and provider.
Some Kiwis might assume that because of New Zealand's close relationship with the UK, they don’t need travel insurance when visiting. However, while New Zealand and the UK share a reciprocal health agreement, that provides limited medical cover for New Zealanders in the UK, this doesn’t include protection for emergency dental care, flight cancellations caused by injury, medical evacuation, or any treatment from a medical provider that isn’t part of the National Health Service Scheme.
Why choose Southern Cross Travel Insurance?
+Based upon the total number of travellers trips we have insured across the markets where we operate for all our travel insurance products from January 1995 to October 2023.
#Based upon the total number of claims we paid as a proportion of all claims we received across the markets where we operate for all our travel insurance products from 1 January to 31 December 2023.
What types of travel insurance could I get for the UK?
Our travel insurance offers a range of cover options for your trip to the UK.
International Comprehensive
Our International Comprehensive travel insurance policy, can protect you with a variety of benefits, policy limits and a supportive claims team. You’ll gain access to our worldwide emergency assistance team, who are there to help 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Our International Comprehensive travel insurance includes cover for:
- Unlimited medical and evacuation expenses that arise due to unexpected events while on your journey
- Cancellation fees and lost deposits – increase your cover depending on the cost of your journey
- Damaged or lost baggage
- Personal items if they are stolen or damaged
- Rental car excess should you have an accident
- Emergency dental treatment
- Funeral costs
- Optional add-ons for cruise, moped and ski cover.
Annual Multi-trip
Heading overseas a few times this year? We know family visits, events and holidays can mean we’re not just taking the one trip per year! We offer an Annual Multi-trip policy that provides the same great benefits as the International Comprehensive, and means that you’re covered for an unlimited number of return journeys overseas, over a period of 12-months. You’re able to choose to have your journeys covered up to a maximum of 30, 60 or 90 days in length. This can make it easier to sort your travel insurance for all of your upcoming trips, and you can focus on what matters – the adventure!
Planning to work in the UK? Check out our Working Overseas policy.
A popular spot for a gap year or overseas experience, we know how important it is to have cover during your stint in the UK.
Our Working Overseas policy is designed to protect you from the unexpected while away from home. It provides the comprehensive cover of a standard travel insurance policy, while also covering living and working abroad with tailored benefits such as optical treatment, maternity care, rehabilitation and occupational therapy and repatriation. You’ll also automatically have cover for all add-ons, such as skiing and snowboarding cover, cruise, and moped cover.
A range of travel-related issues are covered under the Working Overseas policy, such as medical expenses, emergency medical evacuation, trip cancellation, trip interruption, resuming your journey, lost or stolen baggage and more.
Things to consider with Travel insurance for the UK
Does my insurance cover me for medical and hospital bills?
Whether it’s a slip and fall, a contaminated restaurant meal, or a bad bout of the flu, medical emergencies can be incredibly expensive. As well as the cost of medical treatment, you may need to pay for more spacious seats on the plane (to accommodate a broken leg, for example). Some injuries and illnesses might force you to extend your holiday, meaning you have to pay for extra accommodation and living expenses until you’re fit to fly.
We understand how upsetting medical emergencies can be while you’re on holiday, which is why our International Comprehensive and Working Overseas and International Medical Only travel insurance policy’s can cover you for unlimited medical and evacuation expenses that arise due to unexpected events while on your journey.
Am I covered for stolen or damaged valuables, like my phone, camera and laptop?
The UK can feel like a second home for many Aussies Kiwis, however that shouldn’t make them complacent with their valuables. Pickpocketing and petty theft is common in the UK. We understand how upsetting it can be to have your valuables stolen overseas, which is why our International Comprehensive, Annual Multi-trip and Working Overseas travel insurance policy can cover you for loss, damage or theft to valuables that occurs from an unexpected event.
What is an ‘unexpected event’? Your policy defines an unexpected event as something that was unforeseeable, sudden, unintended and out of your control. You can read more about your cover under our relevant travel insurance policy documents.
Does my cover include flight cancellations and delays?
Whether it’s severe weather, volcanic ash clouds, or airline workers on strike, there are a number of ways your flight plans can be disrupted. For uninsured travellers, these disruptions can be costly and frustrating, especially when you need to extend your accommodation bookings.
Our International Comprehensive, Working Overseas and Annual Multi-trip travel insurance policy includes travel interruption cover, that can insure you for the additional costs of accommodation, transport and meals if your travel is interrupted for more than 12 hours. If you’re attending a special event (e.g. a wedding or concert) and your travel is disrupted by an unexpected event, we may also cover alternative transport costs to get you there on time.
Am I insured if I rent a car in the UK?
Heading beyond the city centres in a rental car is a great way to explore the charming UK countryside. Raw coastline, rolling hills and rustic villages can all be easily reached in a rental car.
But before hitting the open road in a rental car, travellers should ensure that they’re covered for unexpected accidents under their insurance. If your rental vehicle is damaged or stolen due to an unexpected event, our International Comprehensive, Annual Multi-trip and Working Overseas policies can cover non-refundable excess up to $5,000.
If you plan to hit the open road overseas, remember to:
- Obey all local driving laws
- Hire your vehicle from a licensed rental car agency
- Comply with the terms of the rental vehicle agreement
- Only drive on formed or paved roads and car parks
- Don’t drink or drive under any circumstances
Do I need to declare transit stops as destinations on my travel insurance policy?
It’s a given that you’ll have at least one transit stop on your way over to Europe, so it’s important to know whether you need to declare transit stops as destinations on your travel insurance policy.
Under our International Comprehensive, International Medical Only, Working Overseas, or Annual Multi-trip polices, you do not need to declare transit stops where you are there for less than 48 hours.
Pre-Existing Medical Conditions
Pre-existing medical conditions are not automatically covered under your travel insurance policy. We want to help you understand what a pre-existing medical condition is, and what you need to do if you have any, so that you know what you are covered for under your travel insurance policy for your Europe trip.
What is a pre-existing medical condition?
We consider a pre-existing medical condition to be any illness, injury or health symptom to which all the following apply.
- You know about it, or a reasonable person should have known about it before the date your insurance starts
- In the 3 years before the date your insurance starts, any of the following applied:
- You sought or received medical help
- Someone recommended you seek or receive medical help
- A reasonable person would have sought or received medical help
- You were waiting for medical help
In this definition, ‘medical help’ means any of the following:
- Advice from a health professional
- Tests, investigations, or specialist consultations
- Care, treatment, or medical attention, including surgery
- Medication or a script for medication
An illness, injury or health symptom doesn’t need a confirmed medical diagnosis to count as a pre-existing medical condition.
Find out more about pre-existing medical conditions for our International Comprehensive, Annual Multi-trip and Working Overseas polices.
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What you need to know
This page includes some information about our products but, as with all insurance policies, terms and conditions apply. For our terms and conditions (including information about exclusions, excesses and sub limits) we recommend you read the relevant policy documents to ensure our travel insurance products are right for you.
You can find the relevant documents for all our policies here: International Comprehensive, Annual Multi-trip, Domestic, Working Overseas, Visiting New Zealand, International Student
Need some help?
If you’d like to get in touch, check out the ways you can contact us. Our friendly insurance experts are happy to help!
