- Direct Line Travel Insurance Price Comparison
- Notable Features
Direct Line Travel Insurance Review: What You Need to Know
Direct Line offers one tier of Travel Insurance that includes Trip Cancellation/Curtailment, Emergency Medical, Trip Delay/Missed Departure, Legal Assistance and Personal Liability—generally speaking the policy has a really solid set of features, with a few exceptions like baggage costing extra.
In addition, Winter Sports and Personal Belongings/Baggage cover can be added to Direct Line travel insurance policies for an additional cost. Winter Sports cover will cost start roughly from £9 to £50 for a healthy, young individual traveller or from £20 to £115 for a family of four. Expect baggage cover to cost in the range of from £3.50 to £7.50 extra for the individual or £8 to £15 for a family.
Direct Line policies cover trips up to 42 days (Single trip policies for those aged 60+ and Annual, Multi-Trip policies for all ages) or up to 90 days (Single trip policies for those under 60 years of age).
Does Direct Line Travel Insurance Cover Trips in the UK? Holidays in the UK are covered under Direct Line policies, so long as you stay in pre-booked, commercially-operated accommodation for at least 2 consecutive nights.
Pre-Existing Conditions: You must declare any pre-existing conditions. Direct Line will either cover your medical condition without any extra premium, cover your condition with an extra premium or exclude cover for that condition.
Over 65s: The maximum Single Trip duration is shorter at 42 days for those aged 60+ (vs. 90 days for travellers under 60 years of age).
Covid cover: Direct Line offers pretty good cover for medical and cancellation costs related to Covid, such as:
- Medical expenses if you catch COVID-19 while you’re away.
- Additional accommodation and transport costs if you have to quarantine because you catch COVID-19 while you’re away.
- Cancellation costs if you or a close relative are diagnosed with COVID-19 before you go, you have to quarantine or the FCDO change their advice after you booked your trip.
- Cover to cut short your trip if the FCDO change their advice unexpectedly regarding the country you’re visiting.
Direct Line Travel Insurance Key Points
- Annual, Multi-Trip: trips up to 42 days each
- Single Trip: trips up to 90 days (except those aged 60+ have a 42-day trip limit), no upper age limit
- Optional extras: Winter Sports and Baggage
- End Supplier Failure cover
- Natural disasters cover
- Trip Delay/Cancellation/Curtailment
- Cover for replacement cost of used points/miles
- Personal Belongings/Baggage not included as standard
- Lower-than-average limits on Valuables
- Delayed departure cover only kicks in after a 12-hour delay
Direct Line Travel Insurance Prices
Data analysis showed that Direct Line prices may be roughly 10% more expensive than average without inclusion of Direct Line’ Baggage extra; if Baggage is included then Direct Line prices may be around 20% more expensive than the average cost of travel insurance, but as you can see in the following charts there is a difference between Single and Annual Multi-Trip policies. We gathered sample quotes of Direct Line Travel Insurance for a sample healthy, 30-year-old individual traveller, to quantify the value found in Direct Line travel insurance policies.
Direct Line Multi-Trip Travel Insurance Sample Prices by Geography Direct Line Single Trip Travel Insurance Prices by GeographyInsurance quotes can vary significantly from day to day and according to your individual details, so please use this data for general educational purposes only; your quotes may reflect a large degree of variation to quotes listed here. When deciding upon the best travel insurance policy for you, don’t just look at price—features, benefits and exclusions potentially have a much larger impact than the premium you pay.
Direct Line Travel Insurance for a Family
Travelling with a family of four will more than double the cost of an individual travel insurance policy with Direct Line. To get an idea of what you might pay, we’ve gathered sample quotes for parents and children aged 8 and 10 across geographical locations like Europe and America.
How Expensive is Direct Line Travel Insurance for a Family?
| Geographical Cover | Basic Premium | Winter Sports Add On Cost | Baggage Add On Cost | Premium, including Baggage | Premium, including Winter Sports and Baggage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multi-Trip | Europe | £98 | £20 | £11 | £109 | £130 |
| Worldwide ex USA, Canada, S. & Central Amer., Mexico & Carib. | £119 | £18 | £13 | £133 | £151 | |
| Worldwide | £127 | £35 | £14 | £141 | £176 | |
| Single Trip | France | £75 | £74 | £8 | £83 | £157 |
| South Africa | £93 | £93 | £10 | £103 | £196 | |
| USA | £114 | £114 | £12 | £127 | £240 |
Cost of Direct Line Winter Sports and Baggage Add-Ons
We've also gathered quotes across geographies to give you an idea of Winter Sports and Baggage travel insurance add-on costs for a healthy, 30-year-old individual traveller.
How Expensive are Direct Line Winter Sports & Baggage Add-On Costs?
| Geographical Cover | Baggage/Personal Belongings | Winter Sports | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multi-Trip | Europe | £4.83 | £9.00 |
| Worldwide ex USA, Canada, S. & Central Amer., Mexico & Carib. | £7.02 | £9.56 | |
| Worldwide | £7.49 | £18.62 | |
| Single Trip | France | £3.57 | £32.50 |
| South Africa | £4.45 | £40.51 | |
| USA | £5.45 | £49.63 |
Notable Features
Here are some highlights of features available on Direct Line travel insurance policies. Standard features like Medical and Personal Liability are also included on Direct Line policies, limits for which can be found below in the limits section. For complete details like inner limits and exclusions, please refer to the policy documents.
| Direct Line Travel Insurance Features | |
|---|---|
| Winter Sports | OPTIONAL extra cover available for up to 22 days of cover on Annual, Multi-Trip policies or up to the duration of your Single Trip |
| Scuba Diving | Covered up to a depth of 18 metres (where you are a qualified diver and accompanied at all times by another qualified diver OR where you are accompanied by a qualified diving instructor) |
| Natural Disasters | Cover for fire, storm, lightning, avalanche, explosion, hurricane, earthquake, flood, tidal wave, medical epidemic or pandemic for unused accommodation and travel or additional accommodation and travel if you want to continue, cancel or cut short your trip. |
| End Supplier Failure | Up to £5,000 per insured person for covering irrecoverable sums prior to departure, for travel arrangements that aren’t part of an inclusive holiday; after departure, cover for replacement travel arrangements or if curtailment is unavoidable, return transportation |
| Personal Belongings/Baggage | OPTIONAL extra cover for Personal belongings and baggage up to £1,500; limit on single items of £300; £300 total valuables cover (e.g., mobile phones); up to £100 consumable items |
| Trip Cancellation/Curtailment | Cover up to £5,000 for irrecoverable unused travel and accommodation expenses (including £150 for excursions) if you have to cancel the trip before you leave home or cut the trip short in case of unexpected emergency/circumstances outside your control; the cost to replace used points or miles (e.g., Avios) you used to book your flight or accommodation |
| Delayed Baggage | Up to £200 per insured person to replace essential toiletries, medication and clothing or hire replacement sports equipment if your belongings are delayed at least 12 hours after you arrive at your destination |
| Missed Departure | Up to £600 per insured person (£200 for UK trips) for reasonable additional accommodation and travel expenses if you miss your plane, ship or train due to your scheduled public transport (not a taxi) or connecting flight running late or your vehicle being stuck in traffic, involved in an accident, breaking down or delayed due to road closures |
| Delayed Departure | Cover up to £200 per insured person for additional travel, accommodation and refreshment costs if your plane, ship or train is delayed more than 12 hours; £500 per insured person for unused accommodation and travel expenses (£150 for excursions) if you’re late arriving at your destination due to a delay of more than 12 hours |
| Points/Miles | Includes cover for the cost of replacing used points/miles if you booked your flight or accommodation using a scheme like Avios, in the case of Delayed or Missed Departure, Trip Cancellation or Curtailment. |
Types of Direct Line Travel Insurance Policies
Direct Line offers one tier of Annual, Multi-Trip or Single Trip cover, plus "Discoverer Trip" backpacker/long stay cover for longer journeys up to 18 months long.
Direct Line Single Trip: Direct Line Single Trip travel insurance covers trips up to 90 days abroad. There is no upper age limit, however those aged 60 or older are limited to a 42-day maximum trip length.
Direct Line Annual Multi-Trip: Direct Line Annual, Multi-Trip policies cover trips up to 42 days in length. Within each policy year, you can travel as many time as you want provided your total time abroad doesn’t exceed 90 days.
Direct Line Discoverer Trip Cover: Cover for backpackers, gap years and those going on longer journeys from 3 months up to 18 months long. Trip Abandonment and Delayed or Missed Departure are not covered on Discoverer policies, but Baggage cover is included as standard up to £1,500. Winter Sports cover is NOT available as an add on.
Here are some Direct Line cover limits (Single & Annual Multi-Trip Policies)
| Cover Feature | Policy limits for each insured person |
|---|---|
| Cancellation/ Curtailment | Up to £5,000 |
| Missed departure | Up to £600 (£200 for UK trips) |
| Delayed departure | For delays beyond 12 hours, up to £200 max per person for additional accommodation, travel, etc. and up to £500 for each insured person for any unused accommodation and travel expenses at the destination |
| Delayed baggage | Up to £200 per person for 12+ hour delays |
| Medical Emergency | Up to £10,000,000 abroad (£10,000 for UK trips) |
| Personal accident | Up to £25,000 (£10,000 if fatal or loss of sight or limb) |
| Loss of passport | Up to £500 |
| Personal liability | Up to £2,000,000 |
| Legal assistance | Up to £50,000 |
| Disaster cover | Up to £1,000 |
| End Supplier Failure | Up to £5,000 |
