Travel insurance and the GHIC
Two kinds of cover matter most for a family trip abroad, a travel insurance policy and the free GHIC. They do different jobs and you want both, so it helps to know what each one is for before you book.
On this page
Travel insurance
What a family policy covers, when to buy it and the detail that keeps a claim valid.
Travel insurance pays out when a trip goes wrong, and with young children that's worth having, because plans change and children pick things up. A family policy covers emergency medical treatment abroad, getting you home if you can't fly on your original ticket and cancelling or cutting the trip short if someone falls ill. It covers lost or delayed baggage too, which with a family is rarely a single bag.
Buy it when you book, not the week before you fly. The medical side starts when you travel, but the cancellation cover starts the day you buy, so an early policy protects your deposit if a child is too poorly to go.
Keeping a claim validDeclaring medical conditions
You need to declare any existing medical conditions for everyone on the policy, children included, even ones that feel minor or well managed. Leaving them off gives an insurer grounds to turn down a related claim. Declaring them when you buy, by phone or an online health form, is quick and keeps the cover valid.
The GHIC
What the free card gets you in Europe, how to apply for it and why it doesn't replace insurance.
The GHIC, the UK Global Health Insurance Card, is free and gets you state-provided medical care in the EU and a few other countries at the same cost a local pays, which is often free or reduced. It replaced the old EHIC, and an in-date EHIC still works the same way until it runs out. It covers emergencies, a trip to A&E and treatment that can't wait, including for conditions you already have.
Applying is free on the NHS website, and each person needs their own card, children included, though you can add the whole family on one application. A card lasts up to five years. Only apply through the official NHS site, because copycat sites charge for what the NHS gives away.
Where it stopsWhat the GHIC won't cover
The GHIC is state healthcare only, so it won't cover private treatment, mountain rescue or being flown home. Those are the large bills, and they're what travel insurance is for. The two are meant to sit side by side, a GHIC and a policy together, not one in place of the other.
For the family
Adding children, what to check on a policy and a short list to run before you travel.
Most family policies add children free, or close to it, when they travel with a parent on the same policy, so insuring a family usually costs little more than insuring a couple. If you go away a few times a year, an annual multi-trip policy tends to come out cheaper than buying single-trip cover each time.
Before you buy, check the medical cover runs to millions rather than thousands, that the excess isn't so high a small claim isn't worth making and that anything you plan to do, like a boat trip or a hire car, is included.
Before you goA short list before you travel
- Buy the travel insurance when you book, and declare everyone's medical history.
- Apply for a free GHIC for each of you on the NHS website, in time for the cards to arrive.
- Save the policy number, the insurer's emergency line and the GHICs somewhere you can find them fast.
- Check the government's travel advice for your destination, since insurers can refuse claims for travel against it.
Useful links
- GOV.UK foreign travel insurance: what a policy should cover and the advice to buy it early.
- Apply for a free GHIC (NHS): the official application, free for every family member.
- GOV.UK foreign travel advice: the country-by-country advice insurers expect you to follow.
Last updated 5 August 2026. Cover, terms and the countries a GHIC works in can change, so check the official sites above before you rely on the detail.
