Avanti Travel Insurance reviews are among the strongest in UK travel insurance on paper, with a Trustpilot score of 4.8 out of 5 from about 127,000 reviews. The score is real, but it measures the wrong half of the product. Avanti is a specialist for older travellers and people with pre-existing medical conditions, with no upper age limit and cover for over 1,300 conditions. Its top Deluxe tier carries unlimited emergency medical cover, £7,500 cancellation and no excess. Two things almost no review mentions: Avanti is owned by Staysure, its supposed rival, and “Avanti Go” on comparison sites is a different product run by a different company.
Avanti Insurance Reviews: Key Facts at a Glance
| Detail | What we found |
|---|---|
| What it is | UK specialist travel insurer for older travellers and medical conditions |
| Owned by | Staysure, which acquired Avanti in August 2017 |
| Arranged by | TICORP Limited, registered in Gibraltar, regulated by the GFSC |
| Administered by | Howserv Limited, Northampton, authorised and regulated by the FCA |
| Underwriter | Great Lakes Insurance SE, part of the Munich Re group |
| Founded | 2009 in Braintree, Essex; moved to Northamptonshire owners in 2017 |
| Trustpilot score | 4.8 out of 5 from about 127,000 reviews (July 2026) |
| Cover tiers | Essentials, Classic, Deluxe |
| Upper age limit | None |
| Pre-existing conditions | Over 1,300 covered, subject to declaration and acceptance |
Avanti Travel Insurance Reviews on Trustpilot: What 127,000 Reviews Measure
Now the part that matters more than the number. A travel insurer earns a review at two very different moments, and Avanti’s reviews are dominated by one of them.
The first moment is the day you buy. You call up with a heart condition and a holiday booked, half expecting to be refused, and a patient person on the phone gets you covered at a fair price. You leave a warm five-star review that afternoon, naming the agent. Read Avanti’s Trustpilot page and you will see hundreds of exactly that review.
The second moment comes months later, if you have to claim.
A MoneySavingExpert forum user did the work most people skip. They read a couple of hundred of the latest reviews. The five-star ones were about the handling of sales. The one-star ones, about 2,230 of them at the time, were about claims handling. That is not proof that Avanti handles claims badly. Most reviewers never claimed at all, so they cannot tell you either way. It does mean the 4.8 is largely a buying score, and you should read it as one.
Is Avanti a Good Travel Insurance Company?
Avanti is a good, sometimes excellent, choice for the specific person it is built for, and unremarkable for everyone else.
The strength is real and unusual. Avanti has no upper age limit, covers over 1,300 pre-existing medical conditions, and includes 85 sports and activities as standard. Its Deluxe tier carries unlimited emergency medical cover, up to £7,500 of cancellation cover per person, and a £0 excess, and holds a 5-star Defaqto rating. If you are 78 with a cardiac history and a cruise booked, that combination is genuinely hard to beat, and it explains the affection in the reviews.
The weakness is the bottom of the range. Avanti Essentials is the budget tier, and it is the one policy in the range that does not hold a 4-star or 5-star Defaqto rating. Buying Avanti for the reputation and then choosing Essentials to save money means buying a mid-tier policy on the strength of a top-tier reputation. That mismatch is worth naming plainly.
Avanti has also won Best Travel Insurance at the Personal Finance Awards for seven consecutive years, and Best Customer Service in 2025. Awards are a real signal. But note what they measure. They judge product and service, largely on features and the buying experience. That is the same half of the business the Trustpilot score covers.
Who Owns Avanti Travel Insurance?
This is the fact that reframes the whole comparison, and most review pages miss it.
Avanti was founded in 2009 in Braintree, Essex, and was acquired by Staysure in August 2017. So Avanti’s most-searched rival is its owner. Both brands sit inside the same group. Both are trading names connected to TICORP Limited. That company is registered in Gibraltar, number 111526, and licensed by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission. Avanti’s day-to-day administration is handled by Howserv Limited, registered in England and Wales and based at Britannia House in Northampton, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
If that structure looks confusing, you are not alone. A MoneySavingExpert forum user reported struggling to find Avanti on the FCA register, because the trading name traces back to a Gibraltar-registered company rather than a UK one. That is a normal arrangement in UK travel insurance and not a red flag by itself, but it is worth knowing where your policy actually sits. Because Howserv is FCA-regulated, you can still escalate an unresolved complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Who Is Avanti Travel Insurance Underwritten By?
Avanti policies are underwritten by Great Lakes Insurance SE, a German insurer that is part of the Munich Re group, with administration of the insurance handled through ERGO Travel Insurance Services. Some Avanti and group documents also reference ETI International Travel Protection, the UK trading name used by Europäische Reiseversicherung, another company in the same corporate family.
Two honest cautions here. First, older review pages still list Groupama as Avanti’s underwriter. That information is out of date and you should ignore it. Second, the exact underwriting entity has changed over the years, partly because of post-Brexit restructuring of UK branches. The version that matters is the one printed on your own policy schedule, so check yours rather than trusting any review page, including this one.
What Is the Difference Between Avanti and Avanti Go Travel Insurance?
If you take one thing from this page, take this one. Avanti and Avanti Go are not the same product, and they are not run by the same team.
Avanti Travel Insurance is the direct brand. You buy it on the phone or through the Avanti website, and it is administered by Howserv in Northampton. Avanti Go is a separate brand built specifically for price comparison websites, and by its own description it keeps premiums low for that channel. Critically, Avanti Go is arranged and administered by ROCK Insurance Services, a different broker, though it also sits within the Staysure Group.
The practical differences are easy to miss and easy to feel later:
| Avanti Travel Insurance | Avanti Go | |
|---|---|---|
| Where you buy it | Direct, by phone or the Avanti site | Price comparison websites |
| Administered by | Howserv Limited | ROCK Insurance Services |
| Built for | Tailored cover, medical conditions, phone support | Low premiums on comparison channels |
| Trustpilot profile | About 127,000 reviews | A separate profile with about 1,500 reviews |
| Contact number | Avanti’s own lines | 0333 014 2722 |
So the 4.8 from 127,000 reviews you researched before buying may not describe the product you actually bought. If you found “Avanti” on a comparison site, check your policy documents for the Avanti Go name and the ROCK Insurance Services reference. It is the single most useful five seconds you can spend on this brand.
Which Is Better, Staysure or Avanti Travel Insurance?
Neither is automatically better, because they are family. Staysure bought Avanti in 2017 and both operate as standalone businesses inside the same group.
Because they share a corporate structure and an underwriting relationship, the core cover can be similar, and the sensible move is to quote both rather than pick a side. Independent comparisons have generally found Avanti’s pricing to be slightly cheaper than Staysure’s for a like-for-like trip, though that will not hold for every traveller, age or destination. Both specialise in older travellers and pre-existing conditions.
Treat “Staysure vs Avanti” as one company offering you two prices, and take the better one for the cover you actually need.
Does Avanti Travel Insurance Cover Pre-Existing Medical Conditions?
Yes, and this is the core of the business rather than an add-on. Avanti covers over 1,300 pre-existing medical conditions and applies no upper age limit, which is why it appears so often in searches for cover after a health scare or during treatment.
The rules are strict and they matter. You must declare your conditions through the online medical screening or on the phone, and Avanti must accept them in writing for you to be covered. Your medical declaration letter is attached to your policy certificate, and it is the document that proves what was accepted. If a condition is not on that letter, it is not covered.
Two exclusions worth knowing up front. Cover is not provided if you are travelling with the intention of getting medical treatment or a consultation abroad. And if Avanti cannot insure your conditions, you are not out of options. The group itself points people to two directories of specialist insurers. One is run by MoneyHelper, part of the Money and Pensions Service. The other is run by the British Insurance Brokers’ Association.
Avanti Cover Levels: Essentials, Classic and Deluxe
Avanti sells three tiers, and the gap between the top and bottom is wider than the shared brand name suggests.
| Tier | What it is | Defaqto |
|---|---|---|
| Essentials | Budget cover, the leanest option in the range | The only tier not rated 4 stars or higher |
| Classic | Mid-tier, the middle ground on limits | 4 stars or higher |
| Deluxe | Unlimited emergency medical, up to £7,500 cancellation per person, £0 excess | 5 stars |
Single trip, annual multi-trip and dedicated cruise policies are all available, along with add-ons such as winter sports and gadget cover. Covid-related cancellation and medical cover is included as standard. The £0 excess on Deluxe matters more than it looks. An excess is charged per person, and per section of a claim. That is how one modest incident can quietly cost you several excesses on an ordinary policy.
Avanti Travel Insurance Complaints and Claims: The Honest Read
The complaints are consistent enough to name, and they cluster where the happy reviewers never went.
Claim delays. The most common serious complaint is a claim that drags. Forum discussion suggests medical claims commonly took a couple of months, and one contributor noted Avanti had changed its claims handling company, leaving the new handler playing catch-up. Some of that delay is not the insurer’s fault. Medical claims often stall because a GP is slow to complete the insurer’s questionnaire, which is a genuine and widely understood bottleneck.
Mis-categorised policies. Some reviewers describe cover being sold under the wrong trip type, such as a trip treated as a cruise, which is the kind of error that surfaces only at claim time.
Auto-renewal friction. A recurring recent complaint is that annual policies renew automatically and that cancelling the renewal is harder than it should be. If you hold an annual Avanti policy, check your card statements around your policy anniversary.
Partial settlements. A minority of reviewers report claims settled partially or only after a long dispute.
Against that, Avanti states it paid out more than £10 million on over 8,000 claims and makes 95% of claims decisions within five working days. That figure is the company’s own, not an independent audit, so treat it as a claim rather than a verified fact. The honest reading is simple. Most Avanti customers have a good experience. A minority have a genuinely difficult one. That is true of most insurers, and it is exactly why the star score alone will not tell you what you need to know.
How to Claim on Avanti Travel Insurance
The mechanics are simple, and doing them properly is most of the battle.
- In a medical emergency abroad, call the 24/7 medical assistance line first, before costs mount, so treatment can be authorised.
- Notify any other claim within 30 days, which is the window set out in the policy, and do not sit on it.
- Have your policy number and your medical declaration letter ready, because the declaration letter is what proves your conditions were accepted.
- Collect evidence as you go: medical notes, receipts, police reports for theft, and proof of cancellation.
- If a bill is large, tell them early. Where a claim is valid and medical expenses run past £350, the insurer will look to settle directly with the medical provider where possible, which saves you fronting the money.
- If you are unhappy, complain formally. Your complaint is acknowledged in writing within five days and gets a final response within eight weeks. After that, or if you are dissatisfied, take it free of charge to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Here is the worked example that makes the pattern obvious. Suppose you declare angina, get it accepted in writing, and later need treatment in Spain for a cardiac episode. On Deluxe, your medical cover is unlimited and your excess is £0, so the bill is settled and you pay nothing. Now change one detail: you mentioned the angina on the phone but it never appeared on your medical declaration letter, and nobody checked. The same claim is now arguable, and you are the one arguing it from a hospital. The declaration letter, not the star rating, is what protects you.
Avanti Discount Code, Login and Policy Documents
A few practical things people search for, answered plainly.
Discount codes. Avanti runs genuine offers rather than requiring a hunt. It has advertised a referral deal giving you a £10 Love2Shop gift card per friend and giving them up to 20% off a first policy, and a discount for newsletter subscribers. Note the limit that catches people out. Referral discounts usually do not apply to the extra cost of covering medical conditions, or to optional add-ons. For Avanti’s core customer, that is often most of the premium.
My Avanti login and account. You manage your policy through the Avanti account area or the app, both of which reviewers generally rate as easy.
Policy documents. These are emailed on purchase, so check your junk folder if they have not arrived. Digital copies are fine to travel with. If you want paper, you can request it. And if you bought through a comparison site, remember your documents may say Avanti Go and ROCK Insurance Services rather than Avanti and Howserv.
Is Avanti Travel Insurance Good on Reddit and Martin Lewis Forums?
Forum sentiment runs cooler than Trustpilot, and that gap is informative rather than alarming.
Forums like Reddit and the MoneySavingExpert boards attract problems, because nobody starts a thread to say their policy worked exactly as expected. What you find on the MSE board is careful, useful scepticism. Contributors spotted that the five-star reviews are about sales. They noted the claims handler had changed. And they pointed out that many one-star reviews come from people claiming for things that were never covered. One contributor’s practical tip is worth stealing: filter the reviews for the word “claim” and read only those.
On Martin Lewis specifically, MoneySavingExpert does not crown a single travel insurer, and we found no evidence of a personal endorsement of Avanti. What his team advises fits Avanti’s customer precisely. Buy as soon as you book, because cancellation cover starts then. And declare every medical condition, because an undeclared one can void a claim. Some Avanti reviewers do mention finding the brand via MoneySavingExpert, which is a recommendation of the comparison route rather than a personal endorsement.
Avanti Travel Insurance and Avanti West Coast Are Not the Same
Worth clearing up, because the search results blur them. If you have searched “is Avanti a good travel company,” you may have been shown results about Avanti West Coast, the UK train operator running the West Coast Main Line. It has no connection to Avanti Travel Insurance beyond the name. Complaints about delayed trains are not complaints about this insurer, and reviews of the insurer say nothing about the railway. Similarly, “Avanti health insurance” is not a product Avanti sells: the medical element is the emergency cover inside a travel policy, not a UK health plan.
The Honest Read: Who Avanti Is (and Isn’t) For
Buy Avanti if you are older, have a medical history, and expect to be turned away. No upper age limit, 1,300-plus conditions, and Deluxe’s unlimited medical with a £0 excess make it one of the few insurers that will genuinely engage with a complicated health record and be pleasant about it. The reviews about kind, patient phone staff are real and they are not nothing.
Take Deluxe seriously, or reconsider the brand. Avanti’s reputation is built on the top of the range. Essentials is the only tier without a 4-star Defaqto rating, so buying the cheapest Avanti policy on the strength of the 4.8 score is the classic mistake here.
Check which Avanti you actually bought. If it came from a comparison site, it may be Avanti Go, administered by ROCK Insurance Services, with its own support line and its own much smaller review base.
And quote Staysure too, since Avanti owns it. You are not choosing between two rivals. You are asking one group for two prices.
The 4.8 is earned, but it is a score for selling insurance to people who are hard to insure, not a promise about claims. Declare everything, check your medical declaration letter the day it arrives, notify a claim within 30 days, and Avanti does what it says. Skip those steps and no star rating will help you.
Final Word on Avanti Travel Insurance Reviews
Avanti Travel Insurance reviews make sense once you separate the selling from the claiming. Avanti is very good at the hard part almost nobody else does well. It covers older travellers and people with serious medical histories. The price is fair. And the people on the phone are patient. That is what 127,000 reviewers are applauding, and they are right to.
What those reviews do not tell you is how a claim will go, because most reviewers never made one. So do the things that decide a claim before you need one. Buy Deluxe if the medical risk is the point. Check every condition appears on your declaration letter. Confirm whether you bought Avanti or Avanti Go. And get a Staysure quote from the same group while you are at it.
FAQs
Is Avanti a good travel insurance company?
Avanti is a strong choice for older travellers and people with pre-existing conditions, with no upper age limit, cover for over 1,300 conditions, and a 4.8 Trustpilot score from about 127,000 reviews. Its Deluxe tier is 5-star Defaqto rated with unlimited medical cover, but its budget Essentials tier is the only one not rated 4 stars or higher.
Who owns Avanti Travel Insurance?
Avanti is owned by Staysure, which acquired it in August 2017. Both brands sit in the same group and are connected to TICORP Limited, registered in Gibraltar, while Avanti’s administration is handled by Howserv Limited in Northampton.
Who is Avanti travel insurance underwritten by?
Avanti policies are underwritten by Great Lakes Insurance SE, part of the Munich Re group, with insurance administration through ERGO Travel Insurance Services. Older pages listing Groupama are out of date, and the entity on your own policy schedule is the one that counts.
What is the difference between Avanti and Avanti Go travel insurance?
Avanti Travel Insurance is the direct brand administered by Howserv, while Avanti Go is a separate brand built for price comparison websites and administered by ROCK Insurance Services. They have different support lines and separate Trustpilot profiles, so the 4.8 score from 127,000 reviews does not describe Avanti Go.
Which is better, Staysure or Avanti travel insurance?
Neither is automatically better, because Staysure owns Avanti and both run as standalone businesses in the same group. Independent comparisons have generally found Avanti slightly cheaper for like-for-like cover, so quote both and take the better price.
Does Avanti travel insurance cover pre-existing conditions?
Yes, Avanti covers over 1,300 pre-existing medical conditions with no upper age limit. You must declare them through medical screening or by phone and Avanti must accept them in writing, and the accepted conditions appear on your medical declaration letter.
Is Avanti travel insurance good for claims?
Most customers report a good experience and Avanti states it decides 95% of claims within five working days, though that figure is the company’s own. A minority of reviewers describe claims taking months, so notify within 30 days, keep every document, and escalate to the Financial Ombudsman Service if needed.
What are the main Avanti travel insurance complaints?
The most common complaints are claim delays, policies sold under the wrong trip type, difficulty cancelling automatic renewals, and partially settled claims. About 2,230 of Avanti’s reviews were one-star when a MoneySavingExpert user analysed them, and those clustered on claims rather than sales.
Does Avanti travel insurance renew automatically?
Annual multi-trip policies renew automatically unless you cancel, and several recent reviewers describe finding cancellation harder than expected. Check your card statements around your policy anniversary and contact Avanti before the renewal date if you do not want to renew.
Is Avanti travel insurance good on Reddit?
Forum sentiment on Reddit and MoneySavingExpert is more critical than Trustpilot, focusing on claim delays and the sales-heavy review mix. Forums attract complaints more than praise, so treat them as a prompt to check your cover carefully rather than a verdict.
Does Martin Lewis recommend Avanti travel insurance?
MoneySavingExpert does not endorse a single travel insurer, and we found no personal Martin Lewis endorsement of Avanti. His team’s standard advice suits Avanti’s customers well: buy as soon as you book, and declare every medical condition.
Is there an Avanti travel insurance discount code?
Avanti has offered a referral deal giving a £10 Love2Shop gift card per friend and up to 20% off their first policy, plus discounts for newsletter subscribers. Discounts usually do not apply to the extra cost of covering medical conditions or to optional add-ons.
What is Avanti Deluxe travel insurance?
Deluxe is Avanti’s top tier, carrying unlimited emergency medical cover, up to £7,500 of cancellation cover per person, and a £0 excess. It holds a 5-star Defaqto rating and is the tier Avanti’s strong reputation is largely built on.
Is Avanti Travel Insurance the same as Avanti West Coast?
No, they are completely unrelated companies that share a name. Avanti West Coast is a UK train operator, while Avanti Travel Insurance is a Northampton-based travel insurance specialist owned by Staysure.
Does Avanti have an upper age limit?
No, Avanti applies no upper age limit to its travel insurance, which is why it is widely used by travellers in their 70s, 80s and beyond. Premiums still rise with age and medical declarations, so compare quotes before buying.
About the Author
The InsuranceGuidances Editorial Team writes and fact-checks insurance guides for UK and international readers, led by an editor with 16 years of experience in banking and insurance. Our standing rule is zero fabrication: every figure on this page traces to a named source, and we name the trade-offs rather than the selling points. Reviewed July 2026.
Related Reading
Sources
Financial Ombudsman Service: https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/
Avanti Travel Insurance, About Us: https://www.avantitravelinsurance.co.uk/about-us
Avanti Travel Insurance, Reviews: https://www.avantitravelinsurance.co.uk/reviews
Avanti Travel Insurance Trustpilot page: https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.avantitravelinsurance.co.uk
Avanti Go Travel Insurance, official site: https://www.avantigo.com/
Avanti Go, Help and policy information: https://www.avantigo.com/help/
Ryan Howsam press, Staysure buys Avanti insurance: https://ryanhowsam.com/press/staysure-buys-avanti-insurance/
Staysure Travel Insurance, Policy Summary (underwriter and corporate structure): https://www.staysure.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Staysure-Travel-Insurance-Key-facts-JUL-2019-v6-WEB.pdf
Smart Money People, Avanti Travel Insurance reviews: https://smartmoneypeople.com/avanti-travel-insurance-reviews/products
MoneySavingExpert forum, Avanti travel insurance for pre-existing conditions: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6646094/avanti-travel-insurance-for-pre-existing-conditions-are-they-legitimate
FCA, Financial Services Register: https://register.fca.org.uk/
Gibraltar Financial Services Commission, TICORP Ltd: https://www.fsc.gi/regulated-entity/ticorp-ltd-20067
MoneyHelper, travel insurance directory (Money and Pensions Service): https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/
