- Avanti Travel Insurance is a trading name of TICORP Limited, a Gibraltar firm (company 111526) that trades into the UK on a freedom of services basis under FCA reference 663617.
- Policies are administered by Howserv Limited (FCA reference 599282), based in Northampton.
- The July 2025 policy wording is underwritten by Great Lakes Insurance UK Limited (company 13436330, registered at 1 Fen Court, London EC3M 5BN); the legal expenses section is underwritten separately.
- Three tiers are offered: Essentials, Classic and Deluxe. Emergency medical cover runs from 5 million pounds on Essentials to unlimited on Deluxe.
- Cancellation cover ranges from 1,000 pounds on Essentials to 7,500 pounds per person on Deluxe, and the brand states it can screen more than 1,300 pre-existing medical conditions.
What Avanti is
Avanti Travel Insurance is a UK-facing travel insurance brand that markets itself heavily towards older travellers and people with pre-existing medical conditions, with product pages aimed at the over-50s, over-60s, over-70s and over-80s. It is not an insurer in its own right. Avanti is a trading name of TICORP Limited, a company registered in Gibraltar (company number 111526) at Suite 23, Portland House, Glacis Road, Gibraltar. TICORP is authorised and regulated by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission and trades into the UK on a freedom of services basis under Financial Conduct Authority reference number 663617.
Day-to-day administration of Avanti policies is carried out by Howserv Limited, registered in England and Wales (company number 03882026) at Britannia House, 3-5 Rushmills Business Park, Bedford Road, Northampton, NN4 7YB. Howserv is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under reference 599282.
Who underwrites the cover
The underwriter is the party that actually carries the insurance risk and pays claims, so it matters more than the brand on the front of the website. In Avanti's July 2025 policy wording, all sections apart from legal costs are underwritten by Great Lakes Insurance UK Limited, a company incorporated in England and Wales with company number 13436330 and a registered office at 1 Fen Court, London, EC3M 5BN. The legal costs and expenses section is underwritten separately, with that section's wording referencing an ARAG arrangement and a Financial Conduct Authority reference of 202106.
Older Avanti documents in circulation name different underwriters, which is common when a brand changes its insurer over time. The figures and entities in this review are taken from the current policy wording dated July 2025, so anyone holding an older certificate should check the underwriter named on their own validation certificate rather than assume it matches.
What policies Avanti offers
Avanti sells single trip and annual multi-trip cover, plus dedicated routes for travellers with medical conditions and for cruise holidays. Across these, cover is structured into three named levels: Essentials, Classic and Deluxe. Essentials is the entry tier with the lowest limits and several sections marked as no cover available. Classic sits in the middle. Deluxe carries the highest limits and, on several sections, removes the policy excess entirely.
Winter sports cover, and a number of other benefits, are listed as optional and only apply where the additional premium has been paid and shown on the validation certificate. That means a headline tier name alone does not guarantee a given activity is covered, and the validation certificate is the document that confirms what was actually bought.
Pricing structure
Avanti does not publish fixed prices, because travel premiums depend on age, destination, trip length and declared medical conditions. The published documents do confirm some structural costs that affect what a policyholder pays beyond the premium. Online policy changes made through the MyAvanti account carry no amendment fee, but changes made by phoning the customer services team attract an administration fee of 15 pounds. Premiums can be paid by instalments, with that finance arranged by Howserv Limited through Premium Credit Limited.
For pricing context across the wider market, the Association of British Insurers reported that its members paid out 472 million pounds across more than 500,000 travel claims in 2024, with medical claims making up 262 million pounds of that and the average medical claim reaching 1,528 pounds. Those figures illustrate why medical cover limits, rather than premium alone, tend to be the deciding factor for older travellers.
What is covered and excluded
The table of benefits in the July 2025 wording sets out the headline limits per insured person, per trip. Cancellation and cutting short the trip is covered up to 1,000 pounds on Essentials, 5,000 pounds on Classic and 7,500 pounds on Deluxe. Emergency medical and repatriation expenses run to 5 million pounds on Essentials, 10 million pounds on Classic and unlimited on Deluxe. Personal baggage is covered up to 1,000 pounds, 2,000 pounds and 3,000 pounds respectively, and personal money and passport cover rises from 300 pounds to 600 pounds across the three tiers. Personal liability is set at 2 million pounds on all three levels.
Excesses fall as the tier rises. Essentials applies a 150 pounds excess to cancellation and to medical claims, Classic applies 75 pounds, and Deluxe applies nil on those headline sections. On exclusions, the wording is explicit that there is no cover if an insured person is travelling against medical advice or in order to obtain treatment abroad, and that conditions involving undiagnosed symptoms, awaited tests or results, a terminal prognosis, awaited surgery, or ongoing cancer treatment or dialysis are not covered unless specifically agreed and shown on the validation certificate. This is where the medical screening process becomes central.
How Avanti compares
Avanti competes in the over-50s and medical-condition segment, where the defining features are no upper age limit, a wide list of screenable conditions and high medical limits. Its stated screening of more than 1,300 conditions and its unlimited medical option on Deluxe place it in the same broad bracket as other specialists in that segment. The differences that matter in practice tend to be the cancellation ceiling, whether the medical excess is removed, and how the screening engine treats a specific combination of conditions, all of which only become clear once a quote is run with accurate medical details.
One structural point is the Gibraltar basis of the distributing entity. The policy wording notes that Gibraltar and certain other territories do not fall within the jurisdiction of the Financial Conduct Authority, the Financial Ombudsman Service or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme in the same way, with local regulations applying instead. The underwriter sitting behind the cover, Great Lakes Insurance UK Limited, is a UK-incorporated insurer, but the regulatory position of the distributor is a detail worth reading on the validation certificate.
How to make a claim
The policy wording lists a 24 hour medical emergency support line on +44 1403 288 123 for assistance while abroad, with separate freephone numbers for the USA and Canada and a number for Mexico. Non-emergency claims are directed to 01403 288 122, and the customer services team for policy queries and amendments is reached on 0333 006 3213, or +44 1376 560 800 from outside the UK. Claims and policy administration are handled through the Howserv operation rather than by Avanti as a separate legal entity.
As with any travel policy, a claim depends on the medical declaration having been accurate. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office advises that failing to declare existing conditions or pending treatment may invalidate insurance, which aligns with Avanti's own exclusions around undeclared and awaited conditions.
Who Avanti might suit
On the published terms, Avanti is built around travellers who want a high medical limit and a route to declaring pre-existing conditions rather than around the lowest possible premium. The Deluxe tier, with unlimited emergency medical cover, a 7,500 pounds cancellation limit and nil excess on the headline sections, is the level that delivers those features; Essentials trades them away for a lower price and several gaps. Anyone considering it should run a quote with full and accurate medical details, then read the validation certificate to confirm which optional sections were actually included before relying on a tier name.
If you find it difficult to get cover because of a pre-existing condition, the Money and Pensions Service operates a travel insurance directory of specialist providers via its MoneyHelper service. Visit the MoneyHelper travel insurance directory or call the Money Helper Customer Contact Centre on 0800 138 7777 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm).
