Tip-top travel insurance tips

The cost of travel insurance has come down quite a lot in the last few years. People used to buy it through their travel agents, and pay heavily for the privilege, but now you can get covered for a week’s holiday for less than a tenner.

What is covered?

Travel insurance covers a wide range of situations. You can be compensated for cancelled, curtailed and delayed trips or if your possessions are stolen. Check the maximum compensation limits and excesses that apply in each instance – most people consider a maximum of £3,000 for cancellation cover and £1,500 for possessions to be sufficient, but you may need less if you’re trip is inexpensive and you’re travelling light. There are normally lower compensation limits for documents and money. A surprising amount of people lose their passports so it’s always handy to take a photocopy of the back page as a precaution.

If you’re taking high-value items such as cameras or golf equipment, check the maximum amount that is covered per item (it could be as low as £100) as you may need to get additional cover. In the event of any claim, make sure you can provide proof of purchase such a receipt or credit card statement.

Your possessions may already be covered by your home insurance if you’re covered for all risks, in which case you won’t need a baggage cover option with your travel insurance policy.

Travel insurance also covers potentially bigger expenses such as personal liability and medical bills including repatriation back to the UK. Minimum cover of £2m and £5m respectively are sensible amounts to look for. If you’re travelling in Europe it’s also worth getting a European Health Insurance Card which gives you access to free or low-cost medical care.

One thing that is often not covered by standard travel insurance policies is protection should any of the companies you’ve booked with gone bust. If you’ve booked through a tour operator then you should be protected by ATOL, the consumer protection scheme run by the Civil Aviation Authority. Alternatively, if you’ve booked directly with a credit card the Consumer Credit Act provides protection for purchases over £100.

Single trip or annual?

Now many of us are taking several holidays a year, annual travel insurance policies can work out a lot cheaper than getting a new travel insurance policy each time. Annual cover for couples and families can provide exceptional good value for money with European cover for a couple available for as little as £30. If you’re spending a lot of time abroad, check the maximum individual trip length as it could be as little as 3 weeks.

Medical conditions

If you have a medical condition it’s vital that you declare this to your insurer otherwise any claim you make could be invalidated. For something like asthma you may find it’s covered at no or little extra cost but with more serious conditions you may need to go to a specialist insurer or via an insurance broker. If you’re going to Europe you should find that your European Health Insurance Card will get you treatment for a pre-existing condition even if it is excluded by your travel insurer.

Getting adventurous

If you’re planning to go skiing, play golf or participate in water sports then a standard travel insurance policy is unlikely to cover you for these activities and you’ll need to arrange specialist cover. Some annual policies will cover you for winter sports but check to see how many days are covered to make sure it’s sufficient for your purposes.

Gap years

An annual travel insurance policy is very unlikely to be suitable for a gap year or other long trip but many companies sell specialist policies for this purpose. Over the course of twelve months you might be encouraged to partake in all sorts of activities so look to see what’s covered by your policy. See if you’re covered whilst working too as some policies exclude manual labour.

Cover if you’re over 65

If you’re over 65 getting travel insurance can be a little awkward. Insurance companies have been very slow to realise that not only are we living longer, we want to enjoy our retirement too! Some companies will cover those over 65 for single trips but not give them annual polices. There are number of specialist insurers such as Saga, RIAS or Age Concern who tend to be far more accommodating.

‘Free’ travel insurance

A number of bank accounts and credit cards now offer free travel insurance as a perk. Usually the cover provided will be a basic European annual policy. If you going anywhere exotic, or planning to do something exotic, then this probably won’t be adequate. Sometimes you can upgrade the policy for a reasonably low cost. If not, you’ll need to buy another policy elsewhere.

Take your policy with you

One final thing to remember is to take your policy documentation with you. Not only might you need the 24-hour emergency telephone numbers, it will also tell you what to do in the event you need to make a claim such as reporting a lost bag to your airline or getting a police report for a theft.