Medical emergencies accounted for more than two-fifths of all travel insurance claims handled by Multitrip.com in 2025, new data from the specialist provider showed, a finding consistent with broader industry trends and underscoring the growing financial exposure facing both travellers and insurers.
Medical expenses represented 43% of all claims last year. Cancellation was second at 16%, typically driven by illness or injury affecting the policyholder or a fellow traveller. Loss of personal possessions accounted for 10%, travel delay 9%, and curtailment — where trips were cut short — a further 4%.
The figures align closely with data published by the Association of British Insurers in August 2025. ABI member insurers settled more than 500,000 claims in 2024, worth £472 million in total, one of the highest payout levels on record. Medical expenses accounted for 34% of all cases, up from 29% in 2023, costing insurers £262 million at an average payout of £1,528.
The backdrop is a UK outbound travel market that has recovered strongly from the pandemic. According to the Office for National Statistics, UK residents made an estimated 94.6 million visits abroad in 2024, exceeding the pre-pandemic peak of 93.1 million. Spain remained the most visited destination at 17.8 million visits, followed by France, Italy, Turkey and the US. Some 84% of UK consumers took a holiday in 2025, the highest level since before the pandemic, with spending on overseas holidays rising approximately 12% to £59.8 billion.
For insurers, higher travel volumes combined with rising treatment costs are translating directly into claims pressure. Average travel insurance premiums and average travel medical claims rose by around 43% and 14% respectively between 2020 and 2024, according to ABI data.
Fractures and broken bones were the most common medical claim type at 34%, followed by internal illnesses — including gastrointestinal, respiratory and ENT conditions — at 33%. Burns, bites and soft tissue injuries accounted for a further 10%.
Individual claims illustrate just how quickly costs can escalate. Knee tendon injuries sustained in the US, including surgery and repatriation, generated a claim of £391,221. A fractured leg in the US cost £280,288. A motorcycle accident in Thailand came to £101,374. Even less dramatic incidents carried significant price tags: acute appendicitis in Spain cost £17,450, dehydration treatment in Spain £7,267, and food poisoning in Greece £1,611.
Christian Bennett of Multitrip.com said: "A trip to a hospital in the United States can cost thousands a day before additional treatment or surgery is even added on, and even in Europe medical claims are often over £1,000."
Repatriation is an increasingly significant driver of large claims and one of the fastest-rising cost pressures facing travel insurers. The average cost of medical evacuation from the US to the UK exceeded £192,212 in 2024, while repatriation from Spain now averages £45,136, an 18% increase in two years, according to Avanti Travel Insurance. Research from Collinson Insurance shows the average air ambulance mission cost rose from £18,980 in 2023 to £21,619 in 2024, a near-14% rise in a single year. ABTA has noted that an air ambulance in 2024 cost more than twice what it did in 2019.
The ABI's own data recorded a single claim exceeding £1 million after a policyholder required emergency hospital treatment in the US and repatriation to the UK, a figure that illustrates the tail risk underwriters are carrying on individual policies.
Against this claims environment, the FCA is tightening its rules on access to cover for consumers with pre-existing medical conditions. Following a post-implementation review, the regulator proposed in December 2024 to raise the medical condition premium signposting trigger from £100 to £175, the threshold at which firms must direct consumers to a specialist directory, to reflect rising inflation, risk prices and claims costs. It also proposed indexing the trigger to the Consumer Prices Index every five years.
The changes, due to take effect in 2026, will apply to all firms selling retail travel insurance, including Lloyd's managing agents, intermediaries and banks offering packaged accounts with travel cover.
The market itself remains in growth mode. Gross written premiums reached approximately £980 million in 2024, with forecasts pointing to nearly 15% growth ahead. The more immediate pressure, however, sits with reinsurers, who are adjusting terms and prices in response to rising cost trends and passing that pressure down to primary insurers. How much of that cost reaches consumers will be a defining commercial question for the market as the 2026 holiday season accelerates.
