Published 30 August 2026 | Updated 4 September 2026 by Kate Acaster
We’ve reviewed five UK travel insurance providers in full. Staysure is the biggest of the five by review volume. Avanti is its cruise-focused sister brand. Goodtogoinsurance is the strongest option if you’ve been declined or quoted punitively elsewhere over a medical condition. Holiday Extras is the only one of the five to include gadget cover as standard. Just Travel Cover is a broker matching you across its own panel of underwriters rather than a single insurer. Each guide below covers policy limits, regulatory protection and what genuine customers say across multiple review platforms.
Our travel insurance reviews
Staysure
The UK’s biggest travel insurer by Trustpilot review count (546,000+), with unlimited medical cover on its top policy.
Avanti Travel Insurance
Staysure’s sister brand, built around cruise cover, with the highest review score of the three: 4.8/5 on Trustpilot, plus a Defaqto 5-star rating on its Deluxe policy.
Goodtogoinsurance
Cover for serious or complex medical histories that other insurers turn away, with a 14-day cooling-off period.
Holiday Extras
Best known for airport parking and lounges, with gadget cover included as standard on every tier.
Just Travel Cover
A broker matching you across several branded schemes and underwriters in one place, with no upper age limit in the UK and Europe.
How the five compare
We’ve left prices out of this table on purpose. A quote moves with your age, destination and any condition you declare, so a snapshot price goes stale within weeks. Policy substance doesn’t. Figures below are each insurer’s mid-range tier (Free2Travel Silver for Just Travel Cover, its newest scheme); cheaper and pricier tiers, and other panel schemes, exist for all five.
| Max medical cover | Cancellation limit | Baggage limit | Standard excess | FSCS protected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Staysure | Unlimited | £5,000 | £2,500 | £99 | Yes |
| Avanti | Unlimited | £7,500 | £3,000 | Nil | Yes |
| Goodtogo- insurance | £10,000,000 | £2,000 | £2,000 | £75 | Yes |
| Holiday Extras | £20,000,000 | £2,500 | £3,000 | £99 | Yes |
| Just Travel Cover | £10,000,000 | £2,500 | £2,500 | £50 | Yes |
Staysure and Avanti: same owner, different specialism
Staysure and Avanti aren’t independent alternatives to each other. Both trade under the same Staysure Group ownership and both underwrite the bulk of their cover through Great Lakes Insurance UK Limited. Staysure covers the widest range of pre-existing conditions of the two; Avanti is built around cruise-specific extras like cabin confinement and missed-port compensation that Staysure doesn’t carry. One practical difference either way: Staysure’s own quote tool asks for an email address and phone number before it shows a price, while Avanti quotes anonymously.
What FSCS protection actually means
All three insurers here underwrite through an insurer within Financial Services Compensation Scheme protection. That’s a specific legal backstop, not a marketing claim: if the underwriter behind your policy collapsed before you claimed, the FSCS’s own rules guarantee 90% of a valid claim with no upper limit. Staysure and Avanti underwrite through Great Lakes Insurance UK Limited, directly authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority, while Goodtogoinsurance underwrites through Red Sands Insurance Company (Europe) Limited, a Gibraltar-regulated insurer also within FSCS scope. It’s a real safety net if an underwriter fails. It doesn’t guarantee your own claim gets paid quickly.
Which insurer fits your situation
A quick way to narrow down which guide to read first.
| If you’re… | Start here |
|---|---|
| Cruising | |
| Declined or quoted punitively elsewhere | |
| Travelling with expensive gadgets | |
| Comparing quotes across several insurers | |
| Wanting several underwriters from one broker | |
| None of the above |
If you have a pre-existing medical condition
Declare every condition accurately at the point of quote. An insurer can refuse a claim outright over an undisclosed condition, even one unrelated to what went wrong, and this is the single biggest reason genuine claims get refused. Beyond that, the three diverge: Staysure states it considers over 1,300 pre-existing conditions, a figure it attributes to itself, not audited independently. Goodtogoinsurance states its cover extends “up to a very high level of severity” and carries over 30,000 combined ratings across Trustpilot and Smart Money People. Avanti covers pre-existing conditions too, but its strength is cruise extras, not medical breadth.
COVID-19 cover and FCDO advice
Every one of the three either excludes COVID-19 costs outright or attaches conditions to any cover that exists, and all three void cover if you travel against Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) advice. Neither is a genuine point of difference between them, whatever a comparison site’s marketing implies.
Comparison sites, reviewed
Prefer to compare quotes across several insurers in one search rather than buying direct? We’ve reviewed MoneySuperMarket, which runs quotes across a 63-provider panel, GoCompare, which compares 46 providers and is the only comparison site invited to join the British Insurance Brokers Association, Confused.com, the oldest of the four, which compares 45, and Compare the Market, which compares 42 and holds the strongest Trustpilot score of the group at 4.9/5. Unlike the direct insurers above, a comparison site doesn’t underwrite any policy itself, so your actual cover and claims experience still depends on whichever insurer on its panel you’re matched to.
MoneySuperMarket
Compares 63 UK travel insurance providers in one search, rated 4.9/5 on Trustpilot and 4.23/5 on Smart Money People, with a SuperSaveClub reward worth up to £130 a year.
GoCompare
Compares 46 UK travel insurance providers, all Defaqto star rated, and is the only comparison site invited to join the British Insurance Brokers Association.
Confused.com
The oldest name in UK price comparison, comparing 45 travel insurance providers from £3.50, with a £5 reward for buying through it.
Compare the Market
Compares 42 UK travel insurance providers from £1.38, rated 4.9/5 on Trustpilot, the strongest score of the four, with a year of Meerkat Rewards for buying through it.
Checking your airline’s own cover instead
Some airlines sell their own bundled cover at checkout, and it’s worth checking the terms before you buy rather than assuming it matches a standalone policy. We’ve reviewed the add-on cover sold by British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Jet2, TUI, easyJet, Wizz Air and Ryanair individually, with the specific cover limits set out on each page. Looking for flight and holiday prices instead? See the latest UK travel deals.
Frequently asked questions
Are Staysure and Avanti really different companies?
Not independently. Both trade under the same Staysure Group ownership and underwrite the bulk of their cover through Great Lakes Insurance UK Limited. Staysure covers the widest range of pre-existing conditions of the two; Avanti is built around cruise-specific extras like cabin confinement and missed-port compensation instead.
What does FSCS protection actually mean for travel insurance?
If the underwriter behind your policy collapsed before you claimed, the FSCS’s own rules guarantee 90% of a valid claim with no upper limit. It’s a real legal backstop, not a marketing claim, though it doesn’t guarantee your own claim gets paid quickly.
Which insurer should I use if I’ve been declined or quoted a high price elsewhere?
Goodtogoinsurance, which states its cover extends “up to a very high level of severity” and carries over 30,000 combined ratings across Trustpilot and Smart Money People. Its strength is medical breadth, not cruise-specific extras.
Does travel insurance bought through these providers cover COVID-19?
Not reliably. Every insurer and comparison site reviewed here either excludes COVID-19 costs outright or attaches conditions to any cover that exists, and all void cover if you travel against Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office advice.
Is it better to buy travel insurance direct or through a comparison site?
Neither is automatically better. A comparison site such as MoneySuperMarket or Compare the Market can find a cheaper price from a wider panel in one search, but it doesn’t underwrite the policy itself, so your actual cover and claims experience depends on whichever insurer you’re matched to.
Is Just Travel Cover the same as a comparison site?
No. Just Travel Cover is a broker matching you to one of several branded schemes on its own panel, each with a different underwriter, rather than searching the whole market the way MoneySuperMarket or Compare the Market do. It trades under 17 different names, so check the scheme name on your documents.