Tommy has over 15 years experience within the insurance industry, and his primary focus is helping travellers find the right cover for their medical conditions.
If you're travelling with friends or family, you may be able to insure everyone together on one travel insurance policy. This can make managing your cover easier and may be particularly worth considering if someone in your group has a pre-existing medical condition, as separate policies could provide different levels of protection if one traveller becomes unwell.
Travelling with family or friends gives you plenty to look forward to. But when it comes to travel insurance, there's another question to consider: should everyone be insured together or have their own policy?
The right option will depend on who you're travelling with, your circumstances and the policies available to you.
You might be able to choose between individual, couple, family or group travel insurance. Understanding how these options differ can help you decide which type of cover is suitable for your trip.
This can be particularly important when someone you're travelling with has a pre-existing medical condition.
At Medical Travel Compared, we specialise in helping people with medical conditions compare travel insurance. Here, we explain the different traveller types and what to consider when deciding whether to insure your travelling companions together.
What Is Group Travel Insurance?
Group travel insurance allows several people travelling together to be covered under the same travel insurance policy. Rather than each person buying separate insurance, eligible travellers can be included on one policy for the same trip.
Depending on the policy you choose, this can provide protection for things such as:
- Emergency medical expenses and repatriation.
- Cancellation and curtailment.
- Baggage and personal belongings.
- Travel delays and disruption.
- Other benefits included within your chosen policy.
The exact cover, limits, excesses and exclusions will depend on the policy, so it's important to compare the benefits rather than assuming every group policy provides the same protection.
READ MORE: Do I Need Travel Insurance?
Specialist Medical Cover
We only work with providers who specialise in covering pre-existing conditions.
Save Money
No discounts. No pressure. We’ll always show you the best prices from providers.
Individual, Couple, Family or Group Travel Insurance: What's the Difference?
When getting a travel insurance quote, you'll usually need to tell the insurer who needs to be covered.
At Medical Travel Compared, the traveller types available include individual, couple, family and group. Here's a simple breakdown:
Individual Travel Insurance
Suitable for: One person who needs travel insurance.
An individual policy covers one traveller.
This could be appropriate if you're travelling alone or if you're going away with other people but arranging your travel insurance separately.
Couple Travel Insurance
Suitable for: Two people who are in a relationship and live at the same address.
A couple policy allows you and your partner to be covered together on the same travel insurance policy, rather than arranging two individual policies.
For a couple quote through Medical Travel Compared, you must be two people in a relationship who live at the same address.
Family Travel Insurance
Suitable for: Up to two parents travelling with up to 10 children under the age of 18 who live at the same address.
For a family quote through Medical Travel Compared, you can include up to two parents and up to 10 children under the age of 18, provided you all live at the same address.
This can make it easier to arrange travel insurance for the family under one policy rather than taking out separate cover for each person.
If your children are aged 18 or over, or family members don't live at the same address, they won't meet the requirements for a family quote through Medical Travel Compared. Depending on who's travelling, a group policy may be more appropriate.
Group Travel Insurance
Suitable for: Groups of 2 to 12 people travelling together.
For a group quote through Medical Travel Compared, you can include between 2 and 12 people travelling together on the same travel insurance policy.
Group travel insurance can be a suitable option for people travelling together who don't meet the requirements for a couple or family quote. For example, this could include friends, adult children travelling with their parents, extended family members who live at different addresses, or two couples going on holiday together.
What's the Difference Between Family and Group Travel Insurance?
Family and group travel insurance can provide similar types of travel protection. The main difference is generally who is eligible to be included on the policy.
For a family quote through Medical Travel Compared, you can include up to two parents and up to 10 children under the age of 18, provided everyone lives at the same address.
Group travel insurance is designed for people travelling together who don't meet the requirements for a couple or family quote.
For example, two parents travelling with children under 18 who live at the same address could choose a family quote. But grandparents travelling with adult children, family members who live at different addresses, or several friends travelling together may need to consider group cover instead.
Another example would be two parents travelling with two children who all live at the same address, but one child is aged 18 or over. As they wouldn't meet the requirements for a family quote through Medical Travel Compared, they would need to select a group quote instead.
Should Travelling Companions Be on the Same Travel Insurance Policy?
You and your travelling companions can have separate travel insurance policies. However, it's important to understand what each policy would cover if something affecting one traveller disrupted the holiday for everybody else.
This is particularly worth checking if someone in the group has a pre-existing medical condition.
For example, imagine four friends are travelling together. Three have one travel insurance policy, while the fourth has a separate specialist policy covering their medical condition.
If the fourth traveller becomes unwell before departure and the group needs to cancel, the other travellers shouldn't automatically assume their separate policy will cover their cancellation costs.
Their insurer will consider the circumstances and the terms and exclusions of their policy.
That's why it's worth checking travelling companion cover before arranging separate insurance.
READ MORE: When Should I Buy Travel Insurance?
What If Someone in Our Group Has a Pre-Existing Medical Condition?
If you or someone you're travelling with has a pre-existing medical condition, consider how the whole group could be affected if that person's health changes before or during the holiday.
When applying for medical travel insurance, each traveller should answer the medical screening questions they're asked fully and accurately.
The insurer can then determine whether it can provide cover for the conditions disclosed.
If eligible travellers are insured together and the relevant medical conditions have been accepted for cover, the policy may provide cancellation or curtailment protection where a covered medical event affecting one insured traveller disrupts the trip.
However, you should always check the policy wording, as the circumstances covered, exclusions and limits vary between insurers.
Medical Travel Compared Tip: If one member of your travelling party has a medical condition, don't just compare the cost of insuring everyone together or separately. Check what would happen to everyone's cancellation and curtailment cover if that person's health prevented the group from travelling or meant the holiday had to be cut short.
What is a pre-existing medical condition?
Dr Sarah Jarvis is the Clinical Director of the Patient Platform, an active medical writer, broadcaster, and the resident doctor for BBC Radio 2.
A pre-existing medical condition means a condition that you have been diagnosed, or treated for, prior to you taking out your travel insurance policy. This may be a health condition you have now or one that you no longer suffer from, but have had in the past. Whilst you’ll need to tell us about most pre-existing health conditions if you have been diagnosed or treated for them (including repeat prescriptions) within the last 2 years, some conditions, such as heart or respiratory-related conditions, we’ll need to know if you’ve ever had them.
What If My Travelling Companions Have Separate Travel Insurance?
You don't necessarily need to have the same travel insurance as the people you're travelling with. If your friends or family already have their own policy, they may not need to cancel it simply because you're arranging cover separately.
However, it's important to understand how each policy would protect you if something affecting one traveller disrupted the holiday for everyone else.
This can be particularly important if someone has a pre-existing medical condition. Before relying on separate policies, check:
- Whether each traveller's pre-existing medical conditions are covered where required.
- Whether you would be covered if a travelling companion became ill and you had to cancel or cut short your holiday.
- How each policy treats the pre-existing medical conditions of travelling companions insured elsewhere.
- Whether each policy provides suitable cover for the trip.
If someone already has travel insurance and their existing policy doesn't meet their needs, they can contact their insurer to discuss their options.
Can I Add Someone to My Travel Insurance After Buying It?
Possibly, but this will depend on your insurer and policy. The simplest approach is usually to include everyone who needs to be insured when you first arrange the policy.
If you've already bought your insurance and later decide that someone else should be included, contact your insurance provider before travelling.
They can tell you whether another traveller can be added and what information they need. This could include the person's age and details of any pre-existing medical conditions.
Don't assume someone is covered until your insurer has confirmed that they have been added to the policy.
READ MORE: How Can I Update My Travel Insurance Policy?
What Should You Check When Choosing Travel Insurance for a Group?
Before choosing a policy, make sure it provides suitable cover for everyone travelling. In particular, consider:
- Medical conditions: Make sure each traveller answers the medical screening questions they're asked fully and accurately.
- Cancellation and curtailment: Check how the policy would protect the group if one insured traveller became ill and the holiday had to be cancelled or cut short.
- Cover limits: Check that important benefits, such as cancellation, emergency medical expenses and baggage, provide enough cover for your trip.
There are other benefits, limits and exclusions to consider when comparing policies too.
READ MORE: How to Choose the Right Travel Insurance for Your Holiday.
Rated Excellent
Trusted by thousands of people like you who've reviewed us on Trustpilot.
Save Time
No phone calls or paperwork. Join millions who've sorted cover online in minutes.
Compare Travel Insurance for Your Travelling Companions
Whether you're travelling as a couple, taking the family away or planning a holiday with a group of friends, the important thing is choosing travel insurance that reflects who is travelling and the cover you need.
That's particularly important when one or more travellers have pre-existing medical conditions.
Medical Travel Compared specialises in medical travel insurance, helping travellers with pre-existing conditions compare cover from specialist providers.
When getting a quote, tell us who's travelling and answer the relevant medical screening questions. You can then compare available policies, benefits and cover limits to help you choose travel insurance for your trip.
Get a quoteFrequently Asked Questions
It depends on who you're travelling with and the cover you need. A group policy can allow eligible travellers to arrange their insurance together, but you should compare the policy benefits, limits and exclusions rather than choosing based on the number of people covered alone. If someone has a pre-existing medical condition, check how cancellation and curtailment cover would apply to everyone travelling.
Potentially, yes. Friends travelling together may be eligible for group travel insurance. The number of travellers allowed, and other eligibility requirements depend on the insurer and policy.
Each traveller should answer the medical screening questions they're asked fully and accurately. The insurer will use this information to determine the cover it can offer for each traveller's pre-existing medical conditions.
Yes, group travel insurance may be an option for family members who don't meet the requirements for a family quote through Medical Travel Compared. This could include adult children travelling with their parents or family members who live at different addresses.
No. Travelling companions can have separate policies. However, you should check how each policy would respond if something affecting one traveller - particularly a pre-existing medical condition - caused other members of the group to cancel or cut short their holiday.
This depends on your insurer and policy. Contact your insurance provider before travelling to ask whether the person can be added. Don't assume they're insured until the provider has confirmed the change.