Travel can be an expensive business, and it might seem like paying for insurance is an extra cost that you can afford not to pay. This is true, but if something goes wrong with your travel arrangements, or you suffer misfortune while away, the costs can be high indeed. Travel insurance can go a long way to lowering these costs, and the amount you have to pay for decent cover can be very reasonable.

What kinds of Travel Insurance are available?

Policies can cover you for travel either just in the UK or Europe (cheapest), to Australia / New Zealand, or Worldwide. North America is normally included in the ‘Worldwide’ option.

As well as choosing the area you’re travelling to, insurance is available in a variety of basic types:

Single Trip

This is the most basic style of policy, covering you for a typical holiday or business trip that lasts a few weeks or less. This is also the cheapest kind of policy to buy.

Annual Multi-Trip

If you are a frequent traveller, it might work out cheaper to buy an annual policy that will cover you on every trip you make during the year.

Long Term / Backpacker Cover

If you are planning to be away for longer, for example between 2 to 12 months, long term insurance may be a better option. Also often known as Backpacker Insurance, there are usually age restrictions on this kind of cover.

What can be covered?

The level of cover will of course vary from policy to policy, but below are some of the most common circumstances covered by the majority of insurance policies, plus a few more specialist policy elements you might need to consider.

Medical Bills

This is probably one of the most compelling reasons to take out travel insurance. Should you be unlucky enough to fall ill or have an accident while abroad, medical fees can be very expensive.

Even though agreements between countries in the European Union mean that basic or emergency health care is available at a reasonable cost, the cost of a serious illness or accident can be a shock to those of us used to the National Health Service. And in other areas of the world, costs can escalate into the thousands extremely quickly.

Cancellation

Especially in the current climate, flights can be cancelled at short notice, or events may conspire to make a destination less attractive, leading to the cancellation or disruption of your holiday.

The costs of this – or cancellation for most other reasons – can be covered by insurance, leaving you with the peace of mind that even if you do lose your holiday, you won’t lose your money too.

Loss of Luggage

With hundreds of thousands of people flying on tens of thousands of flights every day, there is always the chance of your luggage getting ‘lost in the system’. While computer technology and higher security have made this unfortunate situation much less common, mistakes can still happen.

If your luggage becomes lost temporarily or permanently, your insurance can replace all your possessions or provide you with emergency replacements or funds until the luggage is found.

Damage to Possessions

Your household insurance may cover your possessions while you are abroad, but this may be limited to named items or a limit on how much you can claim. Most travel insurance policies will have an option to cover your personal possessions against damage or theft while abroad.

Winter Sports and Dangerous Sports

If you intend to take part in Winter Sports, or other activities with an increased risk of injury, you may find that your standard insurance doesn’t cover your medical bills should you require treatment. In this case, you can take out specialist cover for these activities.

Ski insurance may also provide compensation if you are unable to ski because of weather conditions – check with your policy issuer.

Specialist Cover

There are plenty of other options available depending on the insurance company and policy you choose – from specialist golf cover to insure your golfing equipment, to policies tailored to the over 65s.

Summary

Travel Insurance may at first seem like an unnecessary expense, but you must weigh up the cost should something go wrong (especially outside of Europe) against the usually reasonable cost of most policies. The choice is yours!