Hello everyone! Whilst we all love a holiday and most go extremely smoothly, there’s been something of an uptick in flight cancellations and logistical challenges in the last couple of years. A lot of people don’t immediately think about travel insurance in the immediate excitement of booking their holiday, so today we’re covering when you should think about getting travel insurance and the best way to do it!
What can travel insurance protect me against?
Travel insurance can protect against a variety of things that can cause you significant disruption to your holiday.
Below I’ve covered a selection of things that travel insurance often covers (however, you should absolutely check the specifics of your policy to understand exactly what is covered).
Medical Expenses
Let’s start at the (hopefully remote) but most important end of things – getting ill abroad can be a seriously expensive business, especially in places where there’s a private healthcare system such as the US where as a non-local, you won’t have health insurance.
Travel insurance will generally cover you for medical expenses where required up to fairly generous amounts, including factors like repatriation if needed.
This doesn’t have to be a near-death experience to be helpful – a personal accident such as a fall may also require treatment and be helpful to cover.
Disruption or Personal Events
Sometimes you may find you have to cut a holiday short because of personal circumstances, such as illness of relative or a major event such as a fire at home. Insurance will help cover some of the additional costs you may face in this.
Equally, if the country you’re in experiences a major disaster or political instability insurance can also help with the challenges of getting home.
(Please just note that cases of disruption will generally depend on how the foreign office classifies the situation and will generally require a “do not travel” advisory – being uncomfortable yourself and cancelling your plans without that advisor will generally not be sufficient for an insurer to pay out).
Lost luggage or passport
At the annoying but less serious end is practical disruptions to your holiday like your luggage going missing or your passport gets lost. Insurance can cover the cost of replacing this and the relevant disruption.
Transport issues for reasons beyond your control
If you face issues like cancelled flights, whilst there are laws in many places that mean the airline will have certain obligations to you (such as to put you in a hotel) travel insurance can cover you for any unexpected costs from disruption outside your control. It won’t protect you if you miss your flight by being late though!
When should I get travel insurance?
We have a very simple message here at The Financial Wilderness, which is you should get travel insurance as soon as you book.
Many people think they only need travel insurance for the days you are away and get very short term policies – but if something happens before your holiday such as our flight provider or hotel going bust, this ensure you’ll qualify for cover as the event will have happened within your covered period.
Should I get annual or single trip travel insurance?
If you’re going on more than one holiday a year, it’s likely to make sense just to get multi trip insurance as the cost differences between the two approaches can be fairly minimal.
In line with the above, if you go for single trip travel insurance it’s worth checking the terms and conditions to double check that you are covered for any events that happen in the run up to your holiday, as well as the time you are aware.
Are there any instances I don’t need travel insurance?
You want to check that you don’t already have it! Packaged bank accounts are increasingly common for people to have and some of these will already include travel insurance by default (but you still need to check that it’s suitable for your needs)
What else do I need to consider with travel insurance?
Activities – particularly Winter Sports
If you’re an adventurous type planning to do some sports or activities, it’s really important to check the detail of the policy to make sure anything you’ve got planned is covered, as this will be where you’re most at risk.
The policy schedule will usually specify activities included or excluded by default.
Winter sports are usually specifically excluded by default as a particularly high risk factor for hospitalisation, so you’ll normally have to get these added on to any policy as an add-on at additional cost.
The scope of your travel
Policies that cover outside the US tend to be cheaper, so if the scope of your travel is likely to be more limited it’s worth considering if you really need a worldwide policy.
The reason for this is that healthcare in the US is particularly expensive for non-locals who don’t have health insurance, but this makes it particularly key that you do get it if travelling there, as medical expenses can really mount up quickly.
Cruise Trips
If you’re taking a cruise it may be worth considering cruise specialist insurance. This can cover you for additional concerns specific to cruise holidays that wouldn’t necessarily be covered by regular travel insurance, like a missed port. If you search on the comparison sites mentioned below, they should all be able to provide guidance on specialist insurance.
Where should I buy travel insurance?
We’ve consistently found that this is an area where the comparison sites are your friend – in our personal experience we’ve always found the combination of most comprehensive cover and cheapest price has come from one of those rather than going direct – but obviously the more things you check the better!
Always look at reviews for the provider – and a good Defaqto rating on the product can help advice how effective the product actually is.
We advise using a couple of comparison sites they are all in practice owned by different insurers and may show different results.
Some suggested names to try include ComparetheMarket, Confused.com, MoneySupermarket and GoCompare. We also recommend Holiday Extras as a good source for all your travel needs.
Any questions?
If you have any questions about travel insurance we’d love to hear from you! Just leave us a note in the comments below.
And that’s it!
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