Travel Insurance - should you have it?

By Diane Ray. Published on June 4, 2008 This post currently has no comments.

If you are taking a holiday or trip away then buying travel insurance is something well worth considering.

Whilst this is likely to be an additional cost on top of your basic holiday costs, if you do have a problem such as your baggage goes missing or you have a medical emergency, then having the right travel insurance is critical.

There are many providers of travel insurance and many of these offer quote and buy insurance online.

Types of Travel insurance

The type of insurance cover you need will be depend on your holiday or trip profile eg do you have one trip per year or multiple, do you stay away for a few days or long periods, do you get involved in such as skiing or ‘extreme’ sports?

There are many different travel insurance policies available to cover the different types of holiday needs e.g.

Single trip insurance
Annual travel insurance or multi-trip insurance
Longstay insurance
Student travel or backpackers insurance
Winter sports - skiing or snowboarding
Over 65 travel insurance
Golf travel insurance
Cruise Travel insurance
Business Trip insurance

What is covered by a Travel insurance policy?

In the main travel policies will have the same basic components of insurance. They will include such as

Medical expenses
Cancelling or cutting short your holiday
Personal belongings and baggage
Personal money

Across the different insurance providers, the products offered will differ in the amount of cover you have in each of these areas eg personal belongings and baggage cover may be up to £1000 with one insurance product but up to £5000 with another. The depth and level of cover offered will have an impact on the price or the policy premium.

Travel insurance policies that are targetted at specialised areas will have certain aspects of the insurance tailored e.g. golf travel insurance will include specific cover for your own or hired golf clubs or longstay insurance will cover you for extended periods away, longer than the usual 17 day limit.

You need to consider your requirements carefully and buy the cover that you need. Remember the cheapest may or may not be the best for you! Think ahead as well, if you think you may take more than a couple of trips per year then consider annual travel insurance rather than single trip insurance for example.

Be aware that if you have pre-existing medical conditions, perhaps for example you are using a wheelchair, are travelling whilst preganant or have other special needs then you need to ensure your prospective travel insurance is suitable for your needs.

When buying insurance, you must declare all facts to your insurance provider to enable them to properly assess your situation and provide you with the insurance cover required. Failure to provide the full facts may result in you taking out inappropriate insurance and possibly finding you are not covered when you need to make a claim.

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