Travel insurance for under 18 travelling with another family

Is your ‘precious little baby’ travelling with another family? Fear not, insurance is one less thing you will have to worry about – you’ll be able to get them travel insurance, although you’ll need to get it directly for them, they won’t be covered on the other family’s insurance.

There’s a slight chance they might be covered on your own family travel insurance, if you have annual multi-trip travel insurance for the whole family (that’s where every trip and holiday is covered for the whole year). 

So, you might be able to save some cash. However, every provider is different, so you’ll need to check the policy (the document with what’s covered and what’s not), about whether your child can travel without you.

If you haven’t got family insurance, don’t worry, not many people do. It’s easy to get travel insurance for just one trip (and often cheaper). We’ll run through how to get the best deal below.

There’s also another option, the family your child is travelling with could get group travel insurance, rather than family travel insurance. This can include your child too, and might reduce the cost per person a little bit. We’ll also cover this in more detail below.

By the way, if you’re umming and ahhing about getting travel insurance, it’s always a good idea to always get it. The costs you otherwise might be facing if you have an accident and require medical attention can be eye watering. Plus, often your possessions can be expensive to replace – especially kids with mobile phones, tablets and laptops!

Travel insurance can also get your child back safely if there’s an accident too, it’s worth it just for the peace of mind in our opinion.

Note: if your child is heading off on a school trip, they’ll normally be covered by a travel insurance policy arranged by the school, and you won’t need to buy individual travel insurance.

Travel insurance for under 18s

Travel insurance for under 18s is almost exactly the same as an adult – but as a parent or guardian, you’ll need to take out the insurance for them, they won’t be able to do it themselves. And there’s a few less travel insurance providers who cater for children under 16.

Other than that, the basic cover is all the same, and typically you might want to add-on a few extra bits to cover the specific trip, such as adventure sports.

Recommended essential cover

We recommend getting these options as a minimum level of cover (they’re normally standard on most travel insurance policies).

• Medical expenses
• Getting you home (called repatriation)
• Holiday cancellation
• Missed departures and delays
• Lost luggage and personal belongings
• Damage to property or injury to someone else (called personal liability cover)

Recommended optional cover

We also recommend getting this cover if it’s not already included in your insurance policy:

• Emergency dental care
• Cash and cash equivalents (e.g. pre-paid tickets)
• Lost passport
• Terrorism (not a joke)

And depending on the holiday or trip, you might want insurance cover for more dangerous activities such as skiing, snowboarding and other adventure sports cover specific to your holiday.

Nuts About Money tip: don’t forget their GHIC (global health insurance card), which is a free card from the government that can get some medical treatment free or lower cost when abroad. It has replaced the EHIC (European health insurance card), since Brexit.

Group travel insurance

If the family your child is travelling with doesn’t have their own family insurance, they could instead get group travel insurance. This is insurance that will cover everyone travelling, and not just their family, and it can work out cheaper per person (instead of everyone getting their own insurance).

It can cover up to 10 people, who don’t have to be related, so could even be a group of friends.

However, there can be problems if people would like different levels of cover, such as different value items, or perhaps some people aren’t actually skiing on a ski trip. It can also get very expensive if someone has pre-existing medical conditions.

Having said that, some insurance companies will only cover under 18s if they travel with a parent or guardian, so make sure you read the policy first before buying.

If you’re looking for a simple, easy option, simply get travel insurance just for your child, that way, you’ll know they’re definitely covered.

Travel insurance excess

You’ll also want to consider the insurance excess you set on your travel insurance. This is the amount of cash you’ll have to pay out yourself, or deducted from your insurance claim (if your claim is successful).

An excess is set by the insurance provider to stop fraud and deter people claiming low amounts, and is made up of a compulsory excess (set by the insurer) and a voluntary excess (set by you).

With travel insurance, it’s normally around £150-200, and you can change this up or down, which will increase or decrease the cost of your insurance (your insurance premium).

How to get travel insurance

The good news is getting travel insurance for your child is super easy, and it can all be sorted in just 10 minutes.

All you need to do is first work out what type of cover you’d like, so is it just the essentials for a beach holiday, or are they heading off on an adventure, or skiing in the mountains?

You’ll also want to work out how much the cost of their possessions are, so you can get cover for this amount.

After that, simply head over to a travel insurance comparison site, such as Confused.com¹ (we’ve got the best below). Fill in your child’s personal details, and the type of cover you want. They’ll search every insurance provider they can to find the best deal for you and your child, and come back with a shortlist of all the best ones.

From the shortlist, simply pick the one you’d like (normally the cheapest), you’ll be taken to the insurance company’s website, normally with all your details pre-filled. Simply have a check over, and buy the insurance. Job done. Your child will be covered instantly and all ready to go on their trip.

Nuts About Money tip: print out or save the policy documents to your child's phone. That way, they’ll have a copy handy if anything does happen.

Best travel insurance comparison sites

Let’s recap

Worry not, your child can be fully covered when travelling with another family, and with all the same cover as travelling with you.

The best option is likely to be simply getting them their own travel insurance policy (a separate policy from the other family). You’ll be able to customise this to their trip and things like the value of their items they’re taking.

They won’t be able to be included on another family’s travel insurance plan, however they could be included if the other family were to get group insurance (although they’ll need to make sure this covers children not travelling with their own parents or guardian). This can work out slightly cheaper per person if everyone has the same level of travel insurance cover (and no one has a pre-existing medical condition).

The best way to get a great deal on insurance is to use an insurance comparison website such as Confused.com¹. They’ll search a range of great insurance companies to find the best deal, and it can only take 10 minutes. Your child will be covered instantly too, so you don’t have to worry if the trip is cancelled.

And that’s all there is to it. We hope your child enjoys their trip, and you don’t worry too much (hard we know!)