Cuban authorities require that you have valid medical insurance to enter the country. You may be required to show proof of insurance at Immigration so it’s best to carry a copy of your travel insurance with you in your hand luggage.

Yes. You shouldn’t leave the country without travel insurance.

Travel insurance is there to protect you in the event that something goes wrong – it will protect you from medical costs should you need to visit a doctor or receive treatment. It also covers holiday horrors from stolen bags to stomach upsets.

Every year ABTA and the Foreign Office see cases where holidaymakers, or their relatives, have suffered substantial medical expenses due to the costs of travelling uninsured. Even worse, some hospitals may refuse to treat you if you have neither holiday insurance nor sufficient funds to cover your treatment.

Only travel insurance offers you the protection that you need to cover the wide range of problems that you may meet overseas. Please refer to ABTA’s advice on travel insurance here.

Dozens of insurers stopped selling travel insurance after the start of the pandemic, leaving a shrinking pool of providers that would cover you to travel. While many insurers still don’t sell travel cover, there are now many that do. In terms of coronavirus, we can split them into three general groups:

• Those that don’t cover coronavirus. Some insurance policies come with a ‘general exclusion’ against claims stemming from coronavirus. With these, if your claim is related to the pandemic, they won’t pay out.
• Those that cover COVID-19 medical expenses, but nothing else. These will pay out if you catch the virus abroad. They won’t cover you for anything else related to coronavirus.
• Those that cover COVID-19 medical expenses and cancellation. Broadly, this means that, in certain circumstances, you’ll be able to claim if coronavirus stops you from travelling.

It’s worth looking closely at the small print of your medical insurance before automatically renewing , especially if you hold an annual multi-trip insurance policy.   

We recommend that you take out a policy which offers cover for at least the following situations:

• You’ve been told to self-isolate by the NHS and cannot travel
• One of your family/household members is diagnosed with COVID-19 and you have to self-isolate and cannot travel
• You are diagnosed with COVID-19 before your holiday and cannot travel
• You are diagnosed with COVID-19 while travelling and have to self-isolate whilst abroad.

While there are many policies on offer, we recommend the ABTA Travel Sure policy which offers a balance between good coverage and value for money.