Last updated: September 2026
GoCompare reviews for travel insurance start from the same place MoneySuperMarket reviews do: it’s a comparison site, not an insurer. It compares quotes from other providers’ policies rather than selling one itself. Its travel insurance page advertises 46 UK providers, all Defaqto star rated, with quotes from 85p a day. It’s also the only comparison site invited to join the British Insurance Brokers Association, and the first comparison site to join Cifas, the fraud-prevention body, in 2019. This guide checks that evidence, plus one detail about the panel itself that GoCompare’s own marketing doesn’t mention.
| What you get | The detail |
|---|---|
| What it is | A comparison site, not an insurer |
| Panel size | 46 UK providers |
| Trustpilot score | 4.7/5 from 175,000+ reviews |
| If you buy | Protection sits with the insurer, not GoCompare |
GoCompare reviews: the short answer
Good, on the evidence, but a company-wide score is the only one available here. Unlike MoneySuperMarket, which carries a separate Trustpilot widget just for its travel insurance page, GoCompare’s Trustpilot profile blends every product it compares, car, home, energy and travel alike, into one number: 4.7 out of 5 from more than 175,000 write-ups. There’s no travel-insurance-specific breakdown to check it against, so this review leans harder on the credentials behind the comparison itself, since the review evidence alone can’t isolate the one product this guide is actually about.
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Checking the evidence beyond Trustpilot
One rating, even a strong one, isn’t the whole picture. Smart Money People, an independent UK financial-services review site used elsewhere on this site to check other insurers, has no dedicated listing for this brand at all, so there’s nothing to weigh against Trustpilot there. Fairer Finance does carry a GoCompare brand page, but its star-rating widget wouldn’t load for this review. Rather than guess at a figure, this guide leaves it out and relies on the industry-body memberships set out below instead.
| Source | What it shows | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Trustpilot, company-wide | 4.7/5, 175,000+ reviews | |
| British Insurance Brokers Association | Only comparison site invited to join | |
| Insurance Fraud Bureau & Cifas | Joined both, 2019, first comparison site into Cifas |
The two memberships are worth reading past the headline. GoCompare joined the Insurance Fraud Bureau in May 2019. Later that year it became Cifas’s 500th member, the first comparison website to join. Both are independently run fraud-prevention bodies it pays to join. The BIBA invitation traces to a separate fact: GoCompare was first to focus comparisons on policy features rather than just price. None of this replaces reading the individual insurer’s own reviews once a quote wins. It is a check on the comparison site itself, run by an outside body, not a rating of how it felt to use.
The comparison itself works in three steps. You enter your destination, dates, trip cost and traveller details, including any medical conditions to declare. GoCompare then checks its panel and returns quotes ranked by price. You pick a policy and buy it from the insurer directly. Its own page names recognisable providers including Direct Travel, AllSafe, Fit2Travel and Free Spirit, alongside Goodtogo, the same specialist insurer reviewed separately on this site for serious or complex medical histories.
“GoCompare’s fraud-prevention memberships are checkable, which is more than you can say for most comparison-site marketing. What’s harder to spot is that its travel insurance runs on the same underlying panel as two of the other comparison sites on this site’s own queue. Compare all three if you like, just don’t expect three different sets of quotes.”
Kate Acaster, Chief Editor, Flight Tribe
Is your money protected if you buy through GoCompare?
Yes, but the protection comes from whichever insurer you choose, not from the comparison site itself. GoCompare.com Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, FCA register number 465053, to arrange insurance in the UK. It doesn’t carry the risk on any policy sold through it. If your chosen underwriter ever failed, protection would come from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme instead, the same safety net that stands behind Staysure, Avanti and Holiday Extras. It covers 90% of a valid claim with no upper limit. Check who’s underwriting your policy before you buy.
The 46-provider panel, checked
46 providers, all Defaqto star rated, is a wide panel. Defaqto independently rates every policy for the strength of its cover, not just its price. What GoCompare’s marketing doesn’t say is who actually runs the panel. Its “how we get paid” disclosure names theidol.com as the travel insurance partner, the same operator behind Confused.com and Compare the Market, both still queued for review here. Comparing all three won’t necessarily turn up different quotes. It’s still worth doing on price, since the ranking differs, but it’s not three independent shots at the market.
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 an 85p 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 through a short medical questionnaire at quote stage. Specialist insurers on the panel, including Goodtogo, are built around covering conditions like diabetes, asthma or a cancer diagnosis that a mainstream policy might load heavily or decline. Declaring a condition usually raises the premium. Failing to declare one can invalidate the whole policy, not just the part connected to it, regardless of which comparison site you quoted through.
Starting a quote: what GoCompare asks for first
GoCompare’s own quote journey opens by asking for your title, first name, surname and email address, before it shows a single price. That’s the same pattern used by Confused.com and Compare the Market, consistent with all three running on the same underlying theidol.com panel, and it means this review can’t independently confirm the exact list of insurers a real quote would return. If you’d rather see a price before handing over contact details, that’s worth weighing against the panel’s other credentials before you commit to starting the form.
Should you use GoCompare for travel insurance?
Consider it if you want a wide, Defaqto-rated panel from a comparison site with checkable fraud-prevention and industry-body memberships behind it, not just a customer star rating. The trade-off is twofold: there’s no travel-insurance-specific review score to check separately from GoCompare’s whole business, and the panel itself runs on the same underlying operator as two of its closest comparison-site rivals, so treat “three different comparisons” with some caution. Use the comparison to find the field, then check the insurer on its own terms once a quote actually wins. To compare current quotes, visit GoCompare directly.
Frequently asked questions
Is GoCompare good for travel insurance?
Good, on the evidence, though there’s no travel-insurance-specific review score to check it against, only a company-wide Trustpilot rating of 4.7 out of 5. GoCompare’s industry-body memberships, including being the only comparison site invited to join BIBA, count for more here than a single star rating would.
Does GoCompare sell its own travel insurance?
No. It compares quotes from 46 UK providers and you buy directly from whichever one you choose. GoCompare doesn’t underwrite or pay out on any policy itself.
Is GoCompare regulated?
Yes. GoCompare.com Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority to arrange insurance in the UK. 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 comparison site.
How many insurers does GoCompare compare for travel insurance?
46, according to GoCompare’s own published figure, all Defaqto star rated. The panel includes providers such as Direct Travel, AllSafe, Fit2Travel, Free Spirit and Goodtogo, alongside other named and smaller specialist insurers.
Can I get travel insurance through GoCompare with a pre-existing medical condition?
Yes, if you declare it accurately through the medical questionnaire at quote stage. Specialist insurers on the panel, including Goodtogo, are built to cover conditions like diabetes or a cancer diagnosis, though the premium and terms depend on the condition itself.
Does travel insurance bought through GoCompare cover COVID-19?
Only if the specific policy you choose from the panel includes it, since GoCompare doesn’t set policy terms itself. Check the individual policy wording for COVID-19 and pandemic exclusions before you buy.
Does GoCompare use the same panel as other comparison sites?
For travel insurance specifically, yes. GoCompare’s own disclosure names theidol.com as its travel insurance partner, the same underlying operator behind Confused.com and Compare the Market. The three sites won’t necessarily turn up a different set of quotes for the same trip.
More on travel insurance and your trip
For a comparison site with its own separate travel insurance review score, see our review of MoneySuperMarket. For a direct insurer rather than a comparison site, see our reviews of Staysure, its cruise-focused sister brand Avanti, Goodtogoinsurance for serious or complex medical histories, or Holiday Extras, the only one of the four to include 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.
