- M&S Travel Insurance sold from 17 February 2026 is arranged and administered by Rock Insurance Services Limited (Company No. 04255878), authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under FRN 300317.
- Rock Insurance Services Limited forms part of the Staysure Group, and Marks and Spencer plc receives a commission, a percentage of the premium, for each policy sold.
- Cover is offered across three tiers (Bronze, Silver and Gold) for both single trip and annual multi-trip travel.
- The earlier M&S Bank product, underwritten by Aviva Insurance Limited (FRN 202153), was withdrawn from sale; older policies carry an MTV prefix while new policies sit on the M&S plc site.
- Sparks members are offered 10 percent off the travel insurance price.
What M&S Travel Insurance is
M&S Travel Insurance is a branded travel insurance product sold under the Marks and Spencer name. The structure behind that name changed during 2026. For many years the product was distributed through M&S Bank and underwritten by Aviva Insurance Limited. That arrangement has now ended for new business: the M&S Bank pages confirm the legacy product was withdrawn from sale, with existing policies remaining valid until they expire.
From 17 February 2026, new M&S Travel Insurance policies are arranged through a partnership between Marks and Spencer plc and Rock Insurance Services Limited. The live M&S product pages state that the cover is "arranged and administered by ROCK Insurance Group" and provided by Rock Insurance Services Limited, registered in England and Wales under Company No. 04255878. Anyone reviewing the brand in 2026 is therefore looking at two different products that happen to share a name, and the policy number is the simplest way to tell them apart.
Who underwrites the cover
The distinction between who sells a policy and who pays the claims matters here. Rock Insurance Services Limited is the firm that arranges and administers the new M&S product. The underwriting and claims function sits with the AXA Partners side of the arrangement, with the M&S claims and support pages directing general travel claims to an AXA Partners line and gadget claims to Taurus Insurance Services Limited. Emergency medical assistance abroad is handled through a separate dedicated number rather than by M&S retail staff.
For the legacy book, the underwriter remains Aviva Insurance Limited, which is registered in Scotland (No. 2116) at Pitheavlis, Perth, and holds Financial Services Register number 202153. If a policy number begins with MTV, the cover relates to that earlier Aviva-underwritten product and the M&S Bank pages are the correct reference point. New policies are administered on the M&S plc travel insurance site instead.
What policies M&S offers
The current product is structured around three named tiers, Bronze, Silver and Gold, available as either a single trip policy for one journey or an annual multi-trip policy covering repeated travel across a year. The tier names follow a familiar pattern in which the entry level keeps the price down by accepting lower limits and a higher excess, while the higher tiers raise the cover limits and reduce or remove the excess.
On top of the core tiers, the product page lists optional extras that can be added at quote stage, including winter sports cover, cruise cover, gadget cover, golf cover and an excess waiver. These add-ons matter because the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office notes that cruises generally require an additional level of cover and that some activities need specialist insurance or an add-on, so the base policy alone may not cover a planned trip.
Pricing structure
M&S does not publish a single headline premium because travel insurance is priced on the traveller and the trip: age, destination, trip length, the chosen tier and any declared medical conditions all feed into the quote. The clearest published price lever is the Sparks loyalty scheme. The product page states that Sparks members are offered 10 percent off the travel insurance price, applied to the quoted premium rather than as a separate rebate.
One structural point is disclosed openly on the M&S support pages: Marks and Spencer plc receives a commission from Rock for each policy sold, described as a percentage of the premium and included in the total amount paid. That is a normal distribution arrangement rather than a hidden charge, but it is the kind of detail worth noting when comparing a branded retail policy against buying direct from an underwriter.
What is covered and excluded
The tier system sets the headline limits. Across the three levels the published figures step up the emergency medical limit and the cancellation limit while reducing the excess, so the Gold tier carries the highest medical and cancellation limits and the lowest excess, and the Bronze tier sits at the opposite end. Buyers comparing tiers should read the policy wording for the exact figure attached to each line rather than assuming the headline number applies to every section.
Exclusions follow the standard travel insurance pattern. The FCDO guidance is explicit that travellers must declare existing medical conditions or pending treatment, because failing to do so may invalidate the insurance. Emergency transport such as an ambulance is often charged separately abroad, which is part of why emergency medical limits run into the millions. A free UK Global Health Insurance Card is not a substitute: the NHS confirms the GHIC covers medically necessary state healthcare in the EEA and some countries but does not cover repatriation, private treatment or mountain rescue.
How M&S compares
Against the wider market, the structural feature that stands out is the change of administrator. Because Rock Insurance Services Limited is part of the Staysure Group, the operational backbone behind the new M&S product is shared with one of the larger specialist travel insurance operations in the UK. That is relevant for context only: the cover a customer receives is defined by the M&S policy wording and the chosen tier, not by the group structure.
For scale, 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 accounting for 262 million pounds and an average medical claim of 1,528 pounds. One member paid over 1 million pounds for a single United States hospitalisation and repatriation. Those figures explain why the gap between a 10 million pounds and a 20 million pounds emergency medical limit is more meaningful than it first appears for long-haul travel.
How to make a claim
For the current Rock-administered product, the M&S claims and support pages route general travel claims to AXA Partners and gadget claims to Taurus Insurance Services Limited, each with its own contact line, plus a separate number for emergency medical assistance while abroad. The pages instruct customers to check their policy number first: a number beginning with MTV points back to the legacy M&S Bank product and a different support route, while newer policies are handled through the M&S plc travel insurance site.
The practical implication is that the correct first step is to confirm which product a policy belongs to before starting a claim, because the legacy Aviva-underwritten cover and the new AXA-underwritten cover use different handlers. Keeping the policy schedule and emergency assistance number to hand matters most for medical incidents, where the FCDO advises contacting the insurer before incurring large hospital costs where possible.
Who M&S might suit
The branded M&S product is likely to appeal to existing Marks and Spencer customers, particularly Sparks members who can apply the published 10 percent discount, and to travellers who value buying cover under a familiar high street name with a structured Bronze, Silver and Gold tier ladder. The single trip and annual multi-trip split covers both one-off holidaymakers and frequent travellers.
The brand will suit less well anyone who has not yet checked which version of the policy they hold, since the 2026 change means the name alone no longer identifies the underwriter or the claims route. As with any travel policy, travellers with pre-existing medical conditions or non-standard activities should confirm at quote stage that their specific situation is covered, because the tier limits and the add-on list, not the brand, decide what is paid.
Sources
- M&S Travel Insurance product page (tiers, administrator, Sparks discount)
- M&S Travel Insurance claims and policy support (claims handlers, commission, policy prefixes)
- M&S Bank legacy travel insurance (withdrawal and Rock partnership notice)
- M&S Bank legal and product information (Aviva underwriter, FRN 202153)
- FCDO: Foreign travel insurance guidance
- NHS: Apply for a free UK Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC)
- ABI: 2024 travel claims figures
