CHECK OUR OTHER SITES & SAVE MONEY ON:-
Home Insurance
Pet Insurance
Car Insurance
Financial

These insurances regulated by the Financial Services Authority

As the cost of air travel becomes less expensive we appear to be making more and more trips abroad each year. The more journeys we make and the more time we spend in foreign climes the greater the chance of something happening to us for which we would need to be covered by travel insurance.

Usually the most expensive thing that could happen to us is to become so seriously ill while abroad that we need emergency medical treatment and without a suitable travel insurance policy this could leave us facing a bill of many thousands of pounds and for the vast majority of us this would leave us in serious difficulties. In fact, some countries will not let you leave while there are outstanding medical bills.

So by using a little foresight and at relatively small expense we should buy a travel insurance policy prior to travelling, as once you have left your home country the range of policies available to you is seriously reduced and the cover included in the policies available is also greatly restricted.

Travel insurance policies can be classified into two basic groups, annual multi-trip policies and single-trip policies. Which type of travel insurance is the most appropriate is going to depend on your personal circumstances and/or lifestyle, factors to consider are how frequently you travel and for what durations, the geographic area of your destination, whether you plan trips well in advance or require the flexibility to travel as short notice. In general if you travel more than twice a year, or are abroad for a month or more a year in total, you should consider whether an annual policy is the most practical solution to your travel insurance requirements. A brief description of the basic details of each policy type follows:

1. An annual multi-trip travel insurance policy lasts for 12 months from a specified start date and covers all trips taken within that 12 month period if they meet the criteria defined in the policy such as the geographical area of coverage, the maximum duration of each trip, and if the policy has a limit to the number of days of travel per year that the trip does not exceed this maximum.

Cancellation cover is only in force between the start and end dates of the policy and applies only to trips booked to occur during the same period unless a new annual multi-trip travel insurance policy, from the same insurer, is due to start immediately after the current one terminates in which case it is considered that continuous cover is in place and cancellation cover for trips booked to take place during the 2nd period of 12 months would commence from the date the trip was booked, although it should be noted that a follow on policy cannot be purchased earlier than around 3 months prior to the termination of the current contract where the insurer offers a no claim discount on renewal.

2. Single-trip travel insurance policies themselves come in two forms; short stay policies that usually have a maximum duration of either 3 or 4 months and where the duration is calculated in days; and long stay policies that have a minimum duration of 1 month and a maximum duration of 18 months, although this can be reduced based on age and area of travel, and the duration is calculated by the month.

With both types of single-trip travel insurance cover ceases on return to your home country or if it is for a one-way trip on arrival at the final destination country as standard, although, it is possible to purchase an option to return home for a couple of short visits on some long stay policies.

Travel insurance policy prices vary, as you would expect, based on what’s included in the package as a whole, the cheapest travel insurance policies are pretty basic and generally don’t include cover for much else apart from emergency medical expenses, the more categories of cover provided as standard the higher the price of the policy in most circumstances.

On top of the basic format of a travel insurance policy you can add cover for specific activities such as winter sports or other hazardous activities, cover for pre-existing medical conditions, even cover for vehicle breakdown if travelling in Europe.

One last thing to bear in mind when planning a trip is that there are very few insurers who offer policies that will cover a pregnant women travelling later than 28 weeks of pregnancy but they do exist.

	TRAVEL ADVICE SECTION Travel Tips Travel Information & Articles Foreign Currency/Holiday Money