Once upon a time travel insurance was considered a travel extra, a luxury that one could dispense with if on a budget. However, nowadays the high occurrence of interruptions to travel plans and the competitiveness of the travel insurance industry means that travel cover is both essential and affordable.

 

There have been several instances of large and small travel operators going bust in recent years. And some of these companies have not been members of associations that can provide compensation. If you are traveling on a package holiday, make sure the operator is a member of ATOL. Should the operator collapse, you will get your holiday purchase price refunded. It is a different matter if your airline goes bust. There is no association that will refund you your flight costs. However you may get reimbursed by your credit card company. Some travel insurance policies will cover you in this situation.

 

The huge rise in numbers of holidaymakers going abroad over recent years has served to increase flight delays, baggage mix-ups and general interruptions. On top of this, natural disasters and freak weather patterns are happening all over the world and global warming is not slowing these down!

 

Of course you also have to consider health problems accurring whilst travelling.

 

It is, therefore, a good job that there is so much more competition in the travel insurance arena as so many more specific and tailored travel cover options can be compared.

 

What should we look at covering with our Travel Insurance policy?

 

* medical
* personal liability
* trip cancellation
* trip delays
* baggage loss
* theft

Most people put health and medical expenses at the top of their list. Emergency medical treatment is very expensive, particularly in the United States. Personal liability insurance is also fairly high up. You really do not want to be presented with an astronomical bill for some accidental (or otherwise) injury or damage you might have inflicted on some foreigner's body or property.

 

You might also want to consider what it would cost your family should you be unlucky enough to die while on holiday. Many insurance policies will cover you for death. But it goes without saying that the big variation between travel insurance policies is down to how much cover they provide for each aspect of the cover. The cheaper your policy, generally speaking the smaller amount of travel cover you will get.

 

 

Who is covered?

 

Individual

This is cover for you, personally. It is not compulsory to buy travel insurance from your tour operator - if they claim you have to buy their insurance in order to qualify for discounted holidays, you should report them to your local trading standards office.

 

Couple

If you take out travel insurance as a couple, make sure you are covered if you travel independently of each other.

 

Business

If you go away on business trips on a regular basis, make sure you are covered - many policies exclude business travel.

 

Family

If you have children, family cover may be better value - but watch out for the number of children allowed on the policy. Also check if your children are covered if they travel independently from you.

Policy types

Annual or Per-Trip Travel Policy

The general rule is if you take three or more holidays abraod per year, you will save money (and definitely time), by taking out an annual travel insurance policy.

If you are of on a trip over a month long, be sure to check whether the policy has specified a maximum trip length.

 

Check to see if your annual cover active sports like skiing, snowboarding and scuba diving. If you don't check this at the outset, you will be likely to forget to check the small print on your second and subsequent trips.

 

Single Trip

Policies are available for single trips abroad up to a maximum number of days (often 31). Check that winter sports are included and if not, what is the extra cost?

 

Backpacker/Longstay

Policies are available for students who decide to go on a backpacking holiday, and those lucky enough to be taking a longstay holiday. There are policies that cover working overseas, but, as always, read the fine print.

 

Winter Sports

Policies do not always cover wintersports, so extra cover will be necessary. Check your policy to make sure that your chosen winter or dangerous sport is covered.

Areas of Travel

 

The cost of your travel insurance will vary according to the area of the world you intend to travel to. If you're only going to be travelling within the UK you are unlikely to need holiday insurance, exception possibly cancellation cover in case you need to cancel a prebooked holiday. Otherwise, policies usually offer European cover (check for exceptions), or worldwide cover. If choosing Worldwide cover, make sure your policy includes the USA and Canada, if required.

 

Form E111

If your home country is the UK or other EC country, or Finland, Austria, Norway, Sweden or Iceland and are not travelling outside these contries, obtain a E111 certificate, make a copy and take it with you on your trips.

 

The certificate entitles you to state emergency treatment in those countries, though you may still have to pay some additional charges. It is not a substitute for medical travel insurance which gives far wider cover. Most insurers may not give a discount if you have E111, but it does help to keep the level of premiums down.

 

In the UK, Application forms for E111 are available from Post Offices.