A recent ITIJ article reveals that thousands of travel insurance claims are still being rejected for avoidable reasons. Compliance expert Chris Payne of Total Travel Protection identified the four most common mistakes behind claim denials in 2024-2025, all of which stem from customer misunderstandings or gaps in policy design.
Read the full article on ITIJ: Costly mistakes leave travellers without cover, warns compliance expert
The ‘Excess Trap’
The biggest cause of rejections is claims falling below the policy excess. In 2025, 15.9% of rejected claims were due to customers attempting to recover amounts under their excess, up from 13.5% the year before. This points to a persistent misunderstanding of how excesses operate.
NIS Perspective:
Clearer communication at the point of sale is essential. With NIS Policy[LB1] , insurers can configure product rules and rating logic to ensure excess terms are applied consistently across channels. Combined with automated documentation and customer communication tools, insurers can present excess details transparently, reducing confusion and helping customers understand what’s covered before they buy.
Missed Add-Ons
Rejections linked to missing optional cover have tripled in recent years. Many travellers assume items like gadgets, golf equipment, or winter sports are automatically included, when in fact they require policy extensions.
NIS Perspective:
This is a prime example of where smart product configuration matter. NIS tools allows insurers to build flexible, modular products where add-ons are explicit. This reduces customer assumptions and makes it easier to design quote journeys that guide customers to the right cover.
Date-Related Declines
While fewer claims are rejected for travel-date errors than in 2024, this remains the third most common cause. Even travelling a day outside the insured period can leave a customer unprotected.
NIS Perspective:
Simple errors like travelling outside of covered dates are easily avoided with the right safeguards in place. Automated validation and consistent messaging ensure customers know the exact dates of their coverage, while audit trails provide clarity if disputes arise. This keeps both the insurer and the traveller aligned on when protection starts and ends.
Pre-Existing Conditions
Undeclared or under-declared medical conditions continue to cause disputes. Retroactive screening is still flagging cases where travellers failed to disclose their health history, leaving them exposed.
NIS Perspective:
Medical disclosures remain one of the most sensitive parts of travel insurance. Integrated workflows and triage processes help insurers capture relevant information upfront and manage it consistently throughout the policy and claims lifecycle. This not only strengthens compliance but also reassures customers that their health needs are being considered fairly.
Closing Thought
As Elliott Draga, our Chief Commercial Officer at NIS, often notes: “Insurance is about building trust at critical moments. If cover is denied because of confusion, the customer relationship is already lost. Technology gives insurers the chance to stop these problems before they happen.”
