The Best Travel Insurance in 2026: Nomad, Annual and Expat Cover Compared

Travel insurance is the one thing you buy hoping never to use, which is exactly why the small print gets skimmed. We read it so you don’t have to guess: seven policies, from backpacker cover bought in a hostel to expat health plans built for a new life abroad, compared on medical limits, excess, gadgets, sports, pre-existing conditions and who actually pays when things go wrong.

Quick Picks: The Right Policy for Your Kind of Trip

• Best overall for UK and EEA travellers: True Traveller, with £10m of medical cover on every plan and screening for medical conditions.
• Best for expats settling abroad: Cigna Global, private health cover you can tune with a deductible and cost share.
• Best for active trips bought on the road: World Nomads, which you can buy or extend online after you have left home.
• Best for holidays with a doctor in your pocket: Heymondo, with medical limits up to US$10m and a 24/7 doctor chat in the app.
• Best for open-ended nomad life: SafetyWing, a rolling four-weekly subscription with no deductible on Essential.
• Best health-only cover with a European insurer: Genki, €1,000,000 of cover and fast reimbursements.
• Best for American families: Travelex Insurance, with one child included per insured adult.

The Top 7 Travel and Health Insurance Policies, Ranked

Prices are shown in the currency each provider charges, with conversions at mid-market rates. Several insurers quote only once you enter your age and trip, so where no starting price is published we say so.

Travel Insurance Compared: Limits, Excess and Small Print

Provider	Rating	Type	Who can buy	Top medical limit	Excess or deductible	Pre-existing conditions	Buy while abroad	Age limit	Gadgets	Promo Code
True Traveller	4.4	Single trip, annual multi-trip	UK and EEA residents	£10m, every plan	£35 to £125, by plan	Screened, may be covered	Yes, 48-hour wait	75 single trip, 65 multi-trip	Valuables £250 to £500; specified items extra	None needed
Cigna Global	4.2	International health insurance	People living abroad, subject to underwriting	Paid in full on Platinum	US$0 to US$10,000, your choice	Assessed; covered, excluded or extra premium	Not stated	Not stated	Not applicable (health plan)	None needed
World Nomads	4.1	Single trip; annual for UK and Irish residents	UK residents (UK policy)	£10m on Explorer	£100	Excluded	Yes, 72-hour wait	64 at purchase	Valuables £250 or £500; specified items extra	WNFOUND, direct purchases only
Heymondo	4.0	Single trip, annual, long stay	Anyone travelling outside their home country	US$10m	None by default on single trip; US$250 on Annual and Long Stay	Excluded	Not stated	69 (up to 29 days); 49 (30 days or more, Annual, Long Stay)	Optional, 50% to 100% of baggage limit	LOCALS
SafetyWing	4.0	Nomad subscription	Any nationality except Cuban citizens	US$250,000 (Essential), US$1.5m a year (Complete)	None on Essential	Excluded	Yes	69 (Essential)	Add-on, US$1,000 per item	None needed
Genki	4.0	Nomad health subscription	Any nationality and residence	€1,000,000 (Traveler)	€50 per case	Excluded on Traveler	Yes	69 (Traveler)	Not covered	None needed
Travelex Insurance	3.9	Single trip	US residents only	US$250,000 (Ultimate)	US$50 medical, seven states only	Waiver on Ultimate within 21 days	Not stated	Not stated	Within baggage limit, US$500 per item on Ultimate	None needed

Nomad, Single-Trip, Annual or International Health: Which Do You Need?

The word “insurance” covers four different products here, and buying the wrong one is the commonest mistake.

Single-trip travel insurance covers one journey with fixed dates: medical emergencies, repatriation, cancellation, lost bags. True Traveller, World Nomads, Heymondo and Travelex all sell it.

Annual multi-trip cover insures every trip in a year, but each journey has a ceiling: 60 consecutive days on Heymondo’s Annual plan, 30 days on True Traveller (70 on Traveller Plus). If a long summer trip sits alongside the city breaks, check that ceiling first.

Nomad insurance is a subscription. SafetyWing renews every 28 days until you stop it; Genki Traveler runs month to month for up to 12 months. Both can start after you have left home.

International health insurance is for people who live abroad. Cigna Global and Genki Native pay for the scans, specialist referrals and long-term treatment you would otherwise get from a national health service. Neither is built for a fortnight in Portugal.

Worked Example: Six Months in South-East Asia

A 34-year-old copywriter from Manchester plans six months between Chiang Mai, Hanoi and Bali, working remotely. At the starting prices:

• Heymondo Long Stay: US$162 (£121.56 / €144.28) for 90 days plus three 30-day renewals from US$54 (£40.52 / €48.09) comes to US$324 (£243.12 / €288.55) for 180 days, excluding the USA, with US$2.5m of medical cover and a US$250 medical excess.
• SafetyWing Essential: six four-week periods at US$62.72 come to US$376.32 (£282.42 / €335.16) for 168 days, with US$250,000 of medical cover and no deductible.
• Genki Traveler: six months at the published price for a 24-year-old come to €315 (£265.44 / US$353.70); at 34 she will pay more. Cover is €1,000,000, with a €50 deductible per case.

Heymondo is cheapest on paper with the highest limit, but its age limit for long trips is 49 and it offers nothing back home. SafetyWing costs a little more, includes lost luggage and adds emergency cover on visits home after 90 days. Genki brings a European insurer and the widest sports cover, but her laptop would need insuring separately.

Medical Limits: What the Big Numbers Mean

The medical limit is the most an insurer will pay for treatment, hospital stays and, usually, getting you home. It matters more than any other figure: a stolen rucksack is an annoyance, a serious accident far from home is not.

The spread is wide. True Traveller offers £10m on every plan and World Nomads £10m on Explorer; Heymondo reaches US$10m on Premium. Genki pays up to €1,000,000, SafetyWing Essential US$250,000 and Travelex Essential just US$25,000, which is fine for a weekend in Cancún but thin for a serious accident in Europe or Asia. Check evacuation too: SafetyWing Essential caps it at US$100,000 over your lifetime.

The USA needs its own check. SafetyWing excludes it without an add-on, Genki Traveler gives seven days of emergency-only cover per stay unless you pay more, and Cigna Global’s cover excluding the USA still pays for emergency hospital treatment there within its out-of-area limit.

The Excess: Why the Cheapest Policy Can Cost You More

The excess, or deductible, is the slice of each claim you pay yourself. It is easy to ignore at checkout and impossible to ignore when you claim.

Worked Example: A Stolen Phone in Goa

A teacher from Bristol has her £300 phone stolen on a beach in Goa. On True Traveller, her plan decides the payout:

• True Value: £150 single-item limit, £125 excess. She receives £25.
• Traveller: £300 limit, £75 excess. She receives £225 (about US$300 / €267).
• Traveller Plus: £350 limit, £35 excess. She receives £265 (about US$353 / €314).

A little more premium can be worth ten times as much at claim time.

World Nomads charges £100 per person, per insured event on most sections. Heymondo has no excess by default on single trips, but US$250 on medical claims under Annual and Long Stay. Genki takes €50 per case: a €180 clinic bill for an ear infection returns €130, and follow-up visits count as the same case.

Cigna Global lets you choose. On Gold with a US$750 (£563 / €668) deductible and a 10% cost share, a US$8,000 (£6,003 / €7,125) knee operation in Lisbon costs you US$1,475 (£1,107 / €1,314) and Cigna pays the remaining US$6,525 (£4,896 / €5,811). A higher deductible lowers the premium, which suits healthy people with savings to absorb a bad year.

Phones, Laptops and Cameras: How Gadget Cover Works

Most policies treat electronics as an afterthought. World Nomads and True Traveller put phones and laptops under a valuables limit of £250 to £500, and both sell specified items cover that lifts the per-item limit: to £750 on World Nomads Explorer and £850 on True Traveller’s Traveller Plus. Heymondo’s optional gadget cover is worth up to 100% of the baggage limit on Top and Premium, so Premium’s US$2,500 has to cover bags and electronics combined. Genki covers neither.

Worked Example: A Laptop Stolen in Canggu

A designer’s laptop, bought two years ago for US$1,500, is taken from a café table in Canggu. SafetyWing’s electronics theft add-on pays up to US$1,000 per item, but depreciation runs at 2% a month from purchase. After 24 months the laptop has lost 48% of its value, so the most she could recover is US$780 (£585.37 / €694.69), and only with a police report filed within 24 hours. Accidental damage is never covered.

On a UK policy with specified items cover, the ceiling is the per-item limit less the excess: up to £650 on World Nomads Explorer and £815 on Traveller Plus. For a camera and laptop together, a separate gadget policy may be the better answer.

Adventure Sports: Read the Altitude, Not the Activity Name

Activity cover is where policies differ most and where claims most often fall apart. The question is rarely whether trekking or diving is covered, but to what height or depth.

Worked Example: Everest Base Camp

A couple from Leeds plan to trek to Everest Base Camp, which tops out at about 5,364m. True Traveller’s Adventure Pack covers trekking to 4,600m, so they need to check the higher packs against their highest night. Heymondo’s adventure add-on stops at 5,000m. SafetyWing’s add-on covers mountaineering below 6,000m. On World Nomads, they should read each level’s activity list; anything not listed needs confirming before purchase.

Diving works the same way. Genki covers dives to 30 metres, Heymondo’s add-on goes below 20 metres and True Traveller’s Extreme Pack to 50m, while SafetyWing and World Nomads cover you within your certified depth. For skiing, SafetyWing covers on-piste with a helmet, Genki marked runs and World Nomads conventional skiing only; True Traveller’s Winter Sports option includes off-piste.

Pre-Existing Medical Conditions: Who Covers What

If you have asthma, diabetes, a heart condition or anything you have seen a doctor about recently, this table matters more than the price.

Provider	Approach
True Traveller	Online medical screening; conditions accepted in writing are covered, sometimes for an extra premium
Cigna Global	Full medical history at application; a condition may be covered, excluded or covered for more
Travelex Insurance	Waiver on Ultimate only, if bought within 21 days of your first trip deposit
Genki	Traveler excludes anything treated or diagnosed in the year before cover starts; Native uses a questionnaire
World Nomads	Excluded if you knew of it, or had advice, treatment or medication in the 180 days before buying
SafetyWing	Excluded; on Complete, anything ever diagnosed or treated, or with symptoms in the past two years
Heymondo	Excluded

Declare everything honestly, because inaccurate answers can void a claim or the whole contract, and tell the insurer if your health changes before you travel.

GHIC and EHIC: Useful, but Not a Substitute for Insurance

UK residents can get a UK Global Health Insurance Card, or GHIC, free from the NHS. Valid for up to five years, it gives access to state healthcare that cannot reasonably wait until you get home, including emergency treatment and care for long-term or pre-existing conditions, on the same terms as local residents. If locals pay a charge, so do you.

It works across the EU and in a short list of other places, with Switzerland covered only for certain nationalities. It does not pay for medical repatriation, private clinics or ski and mountain rescue, which is why the NHS itself advises taking out travel insurance too. Apply only through the NHS GHIC page; unofficial sites charge for a card that is free.

Picture a walker who breaks a wrist on a path above Sóller. Her GHIC gets her treated in a Spanish state hospital. It will not pay if she ends up in a private clinic, or needs a stretcher flight back to Gatwick. That is where her travel policy earns its keep. EU and EEA residents carry a European Health Insurance Card from their own health system, with the same gaps.

Buying Mid-Trip, and Cover When You Fly Home

Forgot to insure before you left? World Nomads applies a 72-hour wait and True Traveller a 48-hour wait, neither with cancellation cover. SafetyWing and Genki can be started from anywhere, though Genki covers only emergencies in the first 14 days.

At the other end, Heymondo’s cancellation cover applies only if you buy within seven days of your first trip booking, a rule that catches out people who book flights in January and insurance in June.

Nomads should check home-country rules. SafetyWing covers emergencies on visits home once a plan has run for 90 days; Genki Traveler covers emergencies for the first six weeks of a home stay after at least four weeks abroad; Heymondo covers nothing at home.

Making a Claim That Gets Paid

Missing paperwork is the commonest reason claims stall, and the insurer named on your certificate, not the brand on the website, is the one that pays. The same habits help everywhere:

1. Call the assistance line first. True Traveller wants a call within 48 hours of an ambulance admission, and Cigna Global cuts payments by 20% without prior approval for planned treatment.
2. Report theft within 24 hours. True Traveller and SafetyWing both want a police report.
3. Get a carrier report for lost bags, or write to the airline within seven days on True Traveller.
4. Keep originals: receipts, medical reports and proof of ownership.
5. Ask before cutting a trip short. True Traveller and World Nomads both want authorisation first.
6. Watch the deadlines. Cigna Global wants claims within 12 months of treatment.

Save the policy wording and emergency number on your phone, ideally on a travel eSIM that works the moment you land. Our travel essentials guide covers the rest of the kit.

How We Test and Compare Travel Insurance

We read each provider’s policy wording and plan pages, checked the insurer of record and its regulator, and compared Trustpilot and app store ratings for patterns in claims complaints. Scores are weighted as follows:

• Cover and limits (30%): medical, evacuation, cancellation, baggage and gadgets
• Small print (20%): excess, exclusions, pre-existing conditions and age limits
• Flexibility (15%): buying abroad, extensions and home-country cover
• Price and value (15%): published prices and what each saving is worth
• Claims and support (10%): assistance lines and what customers report
• Regulation (10%): who the insurer is and where a dispute would go

Travel Insurance Questions, Answered

What is the best travel insurance for UK travellers?

True Traveller, for most people: £10m of medical cover on every plan, cover you can buy from abroad and screening for medical conditions. World Nomads suits healthy under-65s on active trips.

What is the difference between travel insurance and international health insurance?

Travel insurance pays for emergencies on a trip and gets you home. International health insurance, such as Cigna Global or Genki Native, pays for routine and long-term care while you live abroad.

Is a GHIC enough for a holiday in Europe?

No. It covers necessary state healthcare on local terms, but not medical repatriation, private clinics or mountain rescue. The NHS advises taking travel insurance as well.

How much medical cover do I need on travel insurance?

As much as you can sensibly get, especially for the USA. True Traveller and World Nomads Explorer offer £10m; SafetyWing Essential’s US$250,000 and Travelex Essential’s US$25,000 are low by comparison.

Can I buy travel insurance when I am already abroad?

Yes, with some providers. World Nomads applies a 72-hour wait and True Traveller a 48-hour wait, neither with cancellation cover. SafetyWing and Genki can be started from anywhere.

Does travel insurance cover phones and laptops?

Usually only up to a modest valuables limit, such as £250 to £500 on World Nomads and True Traveller, unless you pay for specified items cover. Genki covers no gadgets at all.

Can I get travel insurance with a pre-existing medical condition?

Yes. True Traveller screens conditions online and covers those it accepts, and Cigna Global assesses your history. World Nomads, Heymondo and SafetyWing exclude pre-existing conditions.

Which travel insurance covers trekking at altitude?

True Traveller covers trekking to 3,000m as standard and 4,600m with its Adventure Pack. Heymondo’s add-on reaches 5,000m, and SafetyWing’s covers mountaineering below 6,000m.

Can I get travel insurance over 65?

True Traveller sells single-trip cover up to 75 and multi-trip up to 65. World Nomads UK stops at 64, SafetyWing Essential at 69, and Heymondo at 69 for trips of up to 29 days.

When should I buy travel insurance?

As soon as you book. Heymondo’s cancellation cover only applies if bought within seven days of your first booking, and Travelex’s pre-existing waiver within 21 days of your first deposit.

Is there a travel insurance Promo Code?

Heymondo’s Promo Code LOCALS gives a partner discount at checkout. World Nomads publishes its own code, WNFOUND, for 5% off when you buy directly, though not through affiliate links.

Can I buy Travelex travel insurance in the UK?

No. Travelex’s UK business sells currency and the Travelex Money Card; its travel insurance is a US product for US residents.