Flight Compensation vs Travel Insurance: What's the Difference?
Confused about whether to claim compensation or use travel insurance after a delay or cancellation? Here's how the two actually work, and why you can often use both.
After a disrupted flight, a lot of passengers assume travel insurance is the only way to get any money back, or that claiming compensation somehow rules out an insurance claim. Neither is true, and the two cover genuinely different things.
What UK261/EU261 compensation covers
Statutory compensation is a fixed payout, between £220 and £520 (or €250 and €600), triggered automatically once a delay, cancellation, or denied boarding meets the legal threshold, regardless of what it actually cost you. It comes from the airline, not an insurer, and doesn't require you to have bought any policy at all.
What travel insurance covers
Travel insurance reimburses actual costs you incurred because of the disruption, such as a missed hotel night, a replacement onward journey, or meals bought while stranded, up to your policy's limits and after any excess. It typically only pays out after a minimum delay set by the policy (often 8-12 hours), which is longer than the 3-hour threshold for compensation.
Can you claim both?
Yes, in most cases. Statutory compensation is separate from a genuine expenses claim, and most insurers will pay out for verified out-of-pocket costs on top of any compensation an airline owes you, as long as you're not being reimbursed twice for the same specific cost. Always check your policy wording, but the two are designed to sit alongside each other, not replace one another.
Why claim compensation even with insurance
Insurance claims usually need receipts and proof of expenses, and often carry an excess that eats into a modest payout. Statutory compensation needs none of that, it's a fixed amount owed simply because the delay happened and wasn't caused by extraordinary circumstances.
How to claim
Klaimly only handles the statutory UK261/EU261 compensation claim against the airline, for a flat 5% fee, only if we win. Your travel insurance claim for actual expenses is separate and should be submitted to your insurer directly.