Travel Insurance – 10 Top Tips

Insurance is one of those areas that is generally unavoidable; you’ll need it in some form or another somewhere along the line. For the majority of us that just happens to be every day.

One area always in the spotlight one way or another is travel insurance. Yet many of us still aren’t sure if it’s something we really need and to this end, many of us travel without it every year. Here are 10 top tips to help you make the right decision.

1) It is a common myth that if you take the European health card (E111) with you when you travel, you will be covered for anything that goes wrong. This is not the case. The card is just there to be given to a hospital, etc, in an emergency so they will treat you (this is still a must have for this reason). You will still be billed for any treatment you receive in a private health care system. For this reason holiday insurance can be invaluable.

2) When applying for your insurance policy, you must inform the company of any/all medical conditions you suffer from, no matter how small or insignificant they seem. This could prove to be something that voids your policy if you do not. You will find this most probably increases your premium, but it is worth it to keep your policy valid.

3) When looking for cheap travel insurance, be careful to check you are not losing out on any coverage that you will need, such as theft, cancellation of holiday/flights. You may find that some polices really are too good to be true and cover you for the bare minimum.

4) If you are planning to go on a trip that may include activities that could be viewed to be dangerous by the insurance company, you may find you will not be covered under most policies. You will need to find a policy aimed at covering for such activities, i.e. a winter ski policy or adventure holiday insurance. If you are thinking of backpacking, you would similarly be best to look for a backpacker’s policy.

5) The majority of companies offer single, multi trip, family and annual policies. If you are going to travel just once in a year as a single person or a couple, it will work out cheaper to apply for a single trip travel insurance policy. If however you will be travelling 2 or more times, a multi trip policy will save you money. The same applies to a family group, finding separate policies will be expensive, opt for a family policy and you will save money and most probably receive cover for children (under 18) free.

6) Always check excesses on the policy you choose, most policies are peppered with them and finding a policy with a better or no excess in an area you think relevant is prudent.

7) An important thing to remember in regards to item/theft insurance is; if you leave valuables unattended/ out of sight, you will not be protected.

An important “don’t” is not to let your holiday provider package the holiday insurance for you as it will work out much more expensive in the long run. In less than a couple of minutes you can find a much cheaper quote on a comparison site. Research from Alliance and Leicester has shown UK holiday makers overspend by ฃ1.3 billion on travel insurance each year, for this very reason.

9) It is important to remember that the insurance company will not pay out for an accident caused whilst under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

10) Finally, in research done by the internet company Moneysupermarket.com it was found that you should ensure you have the following amounts of cover as minimum: Medical expenses ฃ2m, personal liability ฃ1m, cancellation ฃ3,000, baggage ฃ1,500, cash ฃ250, a 24 hour emergency line and cover for legal costs and finally financial ombudsman service membership in case you need to complain.

Which Travel Insurance Should You Purchase?

No matter how much effort you have put into planning your vacation and taking all necessary precautions, you can never predict what will be in store during the trip. Severe illness, accident, robbery, natural disaster etc. may happen unexpectedly and spoil the fun of your long awaited vacation. Above all your hard earned money will all be wasted due to these unforeseen situations. But comprehensive travel insurance will help you to deal with these difficult situations abroad without using up a chunk of your money.

Below are some of the major types of travel insurance available that you can choose from to fit your needs.

Single Trip Travel Insurance

If you are not a frequent traveler, this insurance is ideal for you as it provides coverage for a specific trip.

Annual Travel Insurance or Multi-Trip Travel Insurance

If you generally take more than one trip per year, the most convenient and cost effective solution is the annual travel insurance. This insurance will provide coverage for multiple trips all through the year. While this travel insurance policy covers unlimited holidays, other policies may cover only a specific trip length spanning over 21, 30 or 45 days.

Family Travel Insurance

If you are traveling with quite a large group of people including for example your wife and children as well as your parents, you should opt for family travel insurance. The greatest advantage of this policy is that it covers all the members as a whole and you do not have to buy separate policies for each member. The family travel policies come with different types of premium. Some policies set their premium amount according to the number of children in the family or other factors such as whether the family is a single parent family etc. Then there are other types of family policies that charge you a premium at a flat rate without taking into consideration the number of children or other factors. If your family is quite big, you should opt for the second type of family travel insurance.

Business Travel Insurance

Business travel insurance is a type of multiple travel insurance based on the assumption that you travel a number of times all through the year as part of your job. This insurance is tailored according to the needs of the typical business traveler. A unique feature of the business travel insurance includes colleague replacement coverage that allows the company to replace another employee in your place in case you cannot make the trip due to any emergency.

Shop around on the internet to get the best travel insurance quotes, and purchase a policy that suits your particular needs. But never forget to go through the terms and conditions in details to know what is covered and what is excluded by the travel insurance policy.

Choosing Travel Insurance

 

As an UK based independent travel consultant, specializing in travel in Europe, I always recommend that my clients take out travel insurance when making a travel booking. I think that it is money well spent for peace of mind. You just never know what might happen when you are traveling and you don’t want to end up seriously out of pocket if your luggage is lost or you have an accident. I know that EU residents are eligible for health care in member states but this does not cover you for every situation eg an air ambulance home, Evidently 15% of UK residents don’t bother taking out travel insurance.

With most package holidays you can not book a holiday if you do not have travel insurance. so this will serve as a reminder. The insurance offered by travel agents is nearly always much more expensive than cover that you buy independently, so shop around for your own cover. However if you are booking an independent holiday you should remember to ensure that you have travel insurance.

Don’t just look at the price of the insurance premium, also examine the levels of cover for various incidents, what is the excess deducted from claims. Will the sports or activities you do on holiday be covered or be considered hazardous and excluded from the cover? If you take at least 2 one week holidays in Europe per year, it is usually worth taking out annual insurance cover.

It it also a good idea to leave a photocopy of your policy with a relative or friend in the UK. Remember to carry the 24 hour emergency contact phone number for the insurance company with you at all times. Hopefully you will never need to call that number.

Protect Yourself With Travel Insurance Policy

everyone eagerly looks mail to his or her next escape. From choosing the destination to selecting the hotels, forecast for the next escape seems to be a desired pursuit for most people. After all, a visit once a year rejuvenates you physically and mentally and prepares you to resist the stress of everyday life through the whole year upfront.

But all your excitement and all the meticulous forecast can go confused if something unpleasant and unexpected happens during your escape.

Just suppose the shock and panic if one limb of your family or travel group swiftly wants tragedy medical intesurplus. Or what if your luggage and all your important papers get confused? What happens if real mishap foliage you abandoned in the interior of nowhere? How will you direct if all flights are cancelled indefinitely next real, following or other kinds of disturbances?

All these positions are really grim to direct, at home let lonely in a unknown country. But you can better direct with these tragedy positions lacking charter all the money that went into paying the air receipts, hotels etc. go to spare by purchasing a travel insurance policy. If you are under the protective coverage of travel insurance, you do not have to stress about the unexpected. Once you are armed with travel insurance you can be surplus certain of 24-hour tragedy assistance army.

Here are some positions where a travel insurance plan can come to your rescue:

Medical tragedy – You will not be encconsumed by your typical health insurance past a certain territorial boundary. So a medical tragedy scarce your coverage question means a colossal expenditure. International travel insurance typically provides coverage for medical and dental expenses and tragedy medical transportation.

physical mishap – You have invested a considerable total of money in your escape and now every thing seems to be free to spare, now that your escape is spoilt due to a real mishap or very harsh harden conditions. however the escape is ruined does not mean you have to undergo monetarily too as the travel insurance will take cover all your fiscal losses.

deficit of belongings – You may find yourself in an unfortunate position where you reduction quarry to muggers in a unknown city. You consume all your character papers and you have not a change in your concise. In such bags international travel insurance provides you with an character Theft Protection that includes recovery army, confused receipt and passport assistance, translation army and tragedy and notes move assistance.

So as quickly as you have resolute on your next escape, procure your travel insurance too right away. It will permit you to have your escape with amity of object because you know the insurance company will take care of everything moreover for you.