What Is Travel Insurance?

What Is Travel Insurance And What Does It Cover?

You will need travel insurance if you wish to travel abroad. It can provide financial cover for you and your family if the worst were to happen and an incident occurs while you’re away, including personal injury. Medical expenses in other countries are not funded by our government and so without cover in place, unfortunately you would have to foot the bill yourself.  Travel insurance can also extend cover for things like flight cancelations, delays, loss of property, legal expenses and much more.

Travel Insurance Explained

Many people decide to leave Travel insurance as one of the final aspects that they check off their holiday list, then just do a quick search online and go with one of the cheapest options. What some people fail to realise however, is that Travel insurance is an incredibly important thing. Although most trips and holidays go without a hitch, there is always an element of chance that is taken out of your control and could strike at any point.

Travel insurance is not compulsory and there are many holidays and excursions taken without insurance being given a second thought. However, it is only when it would be called upon that people then wish they had taken it out. Here in the UK we get all of our medical treatment paid for by the government. When you travel abroad, this is not the case. A short stay in a foreign hospital could land you with a bill for a few thousand pounds. Imagine if something serious happened and you or a family member became seriously ill or required an operation. Without the finances or the correct insurance in place, the hospital may well refuse to treat you.

Travel insurance does not just cover medical costs, it can actually cover a wide variety of elements including compensation for cancelled or delayed flights, stolen luggage, emergency repatriation, hazardous activities cover, public liability, theft of valuables, legal expenses, curtailment cover and much more.

There are also different types of policies for you to choose from. The most common type is a Single Trip. This is, as the name would suggest, holiday insurance for one trip, either just for yourself or family for a set length of stay. Then there is Annual or Multi Trip Travel insurance. This will provide cover for you or your family for 12 months and will allow you to make multiple trips within the specified time. However, in most cases individual trips may be limited to a maximum stay of between 30 and 45 days, though this will likely vary by insurer. If you are planning on taking multiple trips in a year then the Annual Travel insurance will most likely save you money as opposed to buying single trip cover for each holiday.  Long Stay Travel insurance is again, exactly what the name would suggest. It provides cover for you for a holiday length that the standard Single Trip insurance could not accommodate. Worldwide insurance will cover you for trips outside of the European Union where medical costs can be a little more, and because of this you will pay more for this than a European Travel policy. Backpacker insurance will provide cover for lengthy trips with all of the risks associated with the areas you will visit, factored in.

There will be many factors that will affect the price of your policy, including things like age, destination, duration, medical history, allergies and existing medical conditions. There will normally be a limit set for lost/stolen luggage and personal belongings so it is worth going over this before you take out the policy to make sure you are covered for the value that you need.  Before purchasing your travel insurance it is recommended that you read through the policy and its small print to clarify that it will cover you for all of the aspects that you require, as cover will vary by provider.

So what are the different types of Travel insurance?

• Holiday Insurance
• Single Trip
• Annual Cover
• Business Travel
• Long Stay
• Medical Cover
• Hazardous Activity Cover
• Medical Condition Cover
• Cancelation Cover
• Loss & Theft Of Luggage
• Loss & Theft Of Valuables 

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