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Travel insurance is a way of making sure you have the help you need should something unexpected happen when you're away on holiday.

A holiday essential that is sometimes overlooked, travel insurance is there to cover costs and losses you may incur relating to your trip, such as medical expenses, lost luggage, or the cancellation of your trip.

Don't chance it

Buying travel insurance is a no-brainer. You've booked your tickets, bought a new wardrobe, and ordered your holiday money. Then, a close family member becomes ill and your holiday plans fall by the wayside. Or you reach paradise and slip on a shiny step in a hotel lobby, breaking your leg and ending up with a two-week stay in hospital. Unless you have travel insurance in place, you won't be able to recover the hard-earned money you've spent on your trip of a lifetime, or pay those often expensive foreign hospital bills.

Types of travel insurance

Here at Compare Cover, we help you to find the best value travel insurance quotes with the right cover for your trip. We'll explain the various types of travel insurance available to you, from policy types including:

• Single trip insurance
• Annual multitrip cover
• Backpacker
• European
• Worldwide
• Pre-existing medical conditions
• Cover for the over 65s
• Family or group cover

We also describe the benefits of additional cover including:

• Winter or adventure sports
• Business trip
• Cruise insurance

Volunteers travel insurance

You'll be able to compare the key features and benefits for each policy and see Defaqto star ratings for them, all in one place.

Make sure you choose the right cover

It's important that you pick a policy with sufficient cover for your particular trip. If you're going on a month-long trek in a Brazilian rainforest, your insurance needs are likely to be different from those for a long weekend away on a sunbed in the Algarve.

There are several things a travel insurance policy will usually cover at varying levels:

• Medical expenses
• Cancellation of your trip
• Delays in travel
• Lost or stolen luggage
• Help in an emergency
• Personal liability

There are also some common exclusions, but you may be able to buy extra cover for them:

• Pre-existing medical conditions
• Winter and adventure sports, or dangerous activities
• Travel to countries the Foreign Office has advised not to travel to
• Natural disasters

For more information, please read our What does travel insurance cover? page.