Last updated: September 2026
Compare the Market reviews for travel insurance are the fourth this site has checked, after MoneySuperMarket, GoCompare and Confused.com. It compares travel insurance from 42 FCA-regulated UK providers, with quotes from £1.38, and buying a policy unlocks a year of Meerkat Rewards, discounted meals and cinema tickets through the Meerkat app. It doesn’t underwrite anything itself. This guide checks the evidence behind the comparison and looks at what that reward is actually worth weighing against.
| What you get | The detail |
|---|---|
| What it is | A comparison site, not an insurer |
| Panel size | 42 UK providers |
| Trustpilot score | 4.9/5 from 143,826 reviews |
| If you buy | Protection sits with the insurer, not Compare the Market |
Short answer: are Compare the Market reviews good?
Strong, on the evidence, and the best-rated of the four comparison sites this site has now checked. Compare the Market’s Trustpilot score is 4.9 out of 5 from 143,826 reviews, enough to rank it #1 of 40 price comparison sites and #8 of 228 insurance agencies on Trustpilot’s own leaderboards. Like every score on this page, it’s company-wide, blending car, home, pet and travel insurance into one number, so it doesn’t confirm the travel arm specifically is the strongest part of the business. It’s still the best publicly available signal, and a genuinely high one.
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Checking the evidence beyond Trustpilot
One rating, even a strong one, isn’t the whole picture. Smart Money People is an independent UK financial-services review site used elsewhere on this site to check other insurers. It carries a Compare the Market listing, but flags it as an “unverified business.” The sample is small: 4.36 out of 5 from 49 product reviews, with 71% five-star and one recent 1-star review naming the covers as “very expensive.” That 49-review sample can’t carry the same weight as Trustpilot’s 143,826 reviews. It’s still worth reading before you buy, rather than relying on the bigger number alone.
| Site | Trustpilot score | Review count |
|---|---|---|
| Compare the Market | 4.9/5 | |
| MoneySuperMarket | 4.8/5 | |
| GoCompare | 4.7/5 | |
| Confused.com | 4.5/5 |
Is your money protected if you buy through Compare the Market?
Yes, but the protection comes from whichever insurer you choose, not from the comparison site itself. Compare the Market’s footer names Compare The Market Limited, not a separate arranging business, as the FCA-authorised entity (Firm Reference Number 778488). That differs from Confused.com and GoCompare, both of which name theidol.com as their separate arranging business, though this review can only report what each footer discloses. If your insurer ever failed, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme would cover 90% of a valid claim with no upper limit, the same backstop behind Staysure, Avanti and Holiday Extras.
Compare the Market launched in 2006, founded by Matthew Donaldson and Peter Winslow, and is part of the BGL Group, the same group that started as an underwriter of car insurance. It says it has helped people buy more than 3.5 million travel policies in the past year, a company-reported figure this review can’t independently audit.
“A year of discounted meals and 2-for-1 cinema tickets is a real bonus if you’re buying travel insurance anyway, and it’s worth having. It shouldn’t be the reason you pick a policy over one that’s cheaper or better suited to your actual trip. Read the Smart Money People reviews too, small sample and all, before you let the reward decide for you.”
Kate Acaster, Chief Editor, Flight Tribe
The 42-provider panel, checked
Compare the Market names Admiral, Sainsbury’s, Post Office, Tesco, Virgin Money, Cover For You and TravelInsurance4Medical among the 42 providers on its travel panel, all FCA-regulated in their own right. It’s the smallest panel of the four comparison sites this site has checked, against Confused.com’s 45, GoCompare’s 46 and MoneySuperMarket’s 63. A smaller panel isn’t automatically worse if the providers on it suit your trip.
UK insurers paid out £472 million across more than 500,000 travel insurance claims in 2024, according to the Association of British Insurers. Medical costs made up over a third of that total, averaging £1,528 a claim. That’s the real-world reason a £1.38 headline price shouldn’t be the only thing that decides which quote you pick, regardless of which comparison site found it.
Pre-existing medical conditions
You can still get cover, but declare every condition accurately when you get your quote. Compare the Market’s panel includes providers such as TravelInsurance4Medical, built specifically for more complex medical histories, alongside mainstream insurers that may load the premium heavily or decline a serious condition outright. Declaring a condition usually raises the price. Failing to declare one can invalidate the whole policy, not just the part connected to it, regardless of which comparison site you quoted through.
Meerkat Rewards: what it’s worth and what it isn’t
Buying a qualifying product through Compare the Market, including single-trip travel insurance, unlocks a year of Meerkat Rewards. That means discounted meals through Meerkat Meals and 2-for-1 cinema tickets through Meerkat Movies, both redeemed via the Meerkat app once your policy is live. It’s a real, checkable perk, not marketing spin, and it’s the one benefit none of the other three comparison sites reviewed on this site currently offer.
The catch isn’t hidden, it’s just easy to lose sight of once the reward is in front of you: the value of a year’s Meerkat Rewards doesn’t change what a policy actually covers. A cheaper policy with a lower medical or cancellation limit doesn’t become better value because it came with free pizza. Compare the cover first, then treat the reward as a genuine bonus on top of the right policy, not a reason to pick the wrong one.
Should you use Compare the Market for travel insurance?
Consider it if you want the best-rated comparison site of the four checked here, backed by the strongest Trustpilot score of any of them, plus a reward scheme worth having on top. The trade-off is a smaller panel than its rivals, and a Smart Money People sample too small to lean on heavily. Check the cover on its own terms first, then let Meerkat Rewards be the bonus rather than the deciding factor. To compare current quotes, visit Compare the Market directly.
Frequently asked questions
Is Compare the Market good for travel insurance?
Yes, on the evidence. Its Trustpilot score of 4.9 out of 5 from 143,826 reviews is the highest of the four comparison sites this site has checked, though like every score here it’s company-wide rather than travel-specific.
Does Compare the Market sell its own travel insurance?
No. It compares quotes from 42 UK providers, and you buy directly from whichever one you choose since it doesn’t underwrite or pay out on any policy itself.
Is Compare the Market regulated?
Yes, Compare The Market Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority for insurance distribution and credit broking (Firm Reference Number 778488). It doesn’t carry the risk on any policy sold through it, so your protection if an insurer fails comes from the underwriter you picked, not from the site itself.
How many insurers does Compare the Market compare for travel insurance?
42, according to Compare the Market’s own published figure. Named providers include Admiral, Sainsbury’s, Post Office, Tesco, Virgin Money, Cover For You and TravelInsurance4Medical, alongside other named and smaller specialist insurers.
Can I get travel insurance through Compare the Market with a pre-existing medical condition?
Yes, if you declare it accurately when you get your quote. Compare the Market’s panel includes TravelInsurance4Medical among other specialist insurers built to cover more serious or complex conditions, though the premium and terms depend on the condition itself.
Does travel insurance bought through Compare the Market cover COVID-19?
Only if the specific policy you choose from the panel includes it, since the site doesn’t set policy terms itself. Check the individual policy wording for COVID-19 and pandemic exclusions before you buy.
What are Meerkat Rewards, and do they apply to travel insurance?
Yes. Single-trip travel insurance is a qualifying product, and buying one unlocks a year of Meerkat Meals and Meerkat Movies, redeemed through the Meerkat app once your policy is live.
More on travel insurance and your trip
For comparison sites with their own travel insurance review scores, see MoneySuperMarket, GoCompare and Confused.com. For a direct insurer, see Staysure, its cruise-focused sister brand Avanti, Goodtogoinsurance for serious or complex medical histories, or Holiday Extras, the only one of the four with gadget cover as standard. Checking whether your airline’s own bundled cover is worth it instead? See our guides on Ryanair’s travel insurance, easyJet’s travel insurance, TUI’s travel insurance or Virgin Atlantic’s travel insurance. For the wider picture, see our guide to UK travel insurance providers.
Kate Acaster is Chief Editor at Flight Tribe. She writes about practical travel planning, budget airlines, baggage rules, city breaks, beach holidays and good hotels that do not cost daft money.
Kate has travelled through Europe, South America and beyond, usually with a notebook, a half-formed plan and a strong opinion on airport snacks. At Flight Tribe, her work focuses on helping UK travellers understand what is included, what costs extra, and whether a trip is worth booking at the price shown.
How Kate works
Kate checks the details that can change the value of a trip, including cabin-bag rules, airline fees, hotel location, seasonality, travel dates and booking conditions. She is especially interested in offers that look useful on the surface but need a proper reader-first check before they are worth recommending.
Editorial standards
Flight Tribe covers deals and travel advice for readers first. Affiliate links do not decide whether an offer is worth writing about.
