You’ve booked your flights, hotel, car hire and a few unforgettable experiences, now it’s time to ensure your trip isn’t ruined by any unforeseen events by pre-planning your travel insurance. Let’s face it, nobody needs the stress and upset of emergency bills abroad, so why leave it up to chance?
Travel insurance covers a wide range of holiday types e.g. single trips, cruises, winter spots and golfing breaks for a single person or extended family, ensuring everyone is covered. To me, it is no longer an option, it’s vital to any trip away.
I say this because on a trip to Marrakech, I didn’t book travel insurance and ended up losing a lot of money (and my sanity) in the process.
I had an undiagnosed pre-existing medical condition that caused severe head pain, blindness and nausea at the time but it hadn’t been an issue for a few months, so I thought I was okay to travel. It turns out that I wasn’t. Upon hitting Marrakech’s Menara Airport runway, I was crippled with pain. I knew there and then that I couldn’t carry on with the trip that I had planned, so had to book a flight home almost immediately. I just didn’t expect the flight home to be so expensive… A few hundred pounds later, I had a flight but at a huge financial cost to me. If I’d have taken out holiday insurance, then it wouldn’t have cost me anywhere near the same amount.
Travel insurance for medical emergencies
Should you have a serious medical crisis that requires you spending time in hospital, visiting a local medical centre or even something as trivial as a dentist, medical travel insurance can help pay your fees, meaning you won’t have to pay excessive fees.
This is even more prevalent in remote areas abroad. If there are no facilities near you and you suffer a sudden illness, you may require air lifting which can often cost hundreds to thousands of pounds in distant countries.
Medical travel insurance is even more important for people who live with permanent or reoccurring health conditions – you need to make sure your these are covered by your insurance in case the worst happens while you’re on a trip and you need medical care.
Keri’s a good example of this. Living with post-thrombotic syndrome and APS she needs to make sure her travel insurance covers any medical problems that arise related to these illnesses, or the costs can be huge. There’s only a few companies that will fully insure her, but the good news is that more companies are offering specialist cover, such as travel insurance for diabetes, cancer, fibromyalgia or anxiety to name but a few. This means whatever your health, you can continue to follow your passion for travel without the fear of debilitating medical costs.
Rescheduled flights and cancellations
This is perhaps the most annoying and prevalent travel issue that can ruin even the best holiday plans. Whether it’s non-existent cabin crew, severe weather or technical issues, rescheduled flights, cancellations and missed connecting flights are expensive to overcome. Holiday insurance can stop this being an issue and ensure you still have spending money before your trip has even become. Travel insurance can even cover frequent flyer points, if you collect them.
Last-minute accommodation
Akin to rescheduled flights and cancellations, if you’re stuck in a destination overnight, you’ll want to have a roof over your head. This has happened to me when dense fog hit Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. I was stuck for a few nights but luckily, had insurance to cover a hotel. Sadly, a large number of passengers didn’t. They ended up sleeping in the various terminals – many with nothing to sleep on. Holiday insurance can be vital in ensuring you have a comfortable holiday, even if it is unexpectedly elongated.
Lost or stolen luggage
Another equally frustrating problem can be lost or stolen luggage. Sadly, this is not as uncommon as we’d like to believe it is whilst away from home, tourists can often be targets for theft in a number of countries. Ensuring you have travel insurance to cover all of your belongings is the best thing you can do to prepare for the worst, otherwise you would need to replace everything e.g. passports, travel documentation and even the basics, such as clothes and gadgets. Insurance means you’ll be reimbursed.
Stress-free car hire
Holidays can be unpredictable, especially when you’re involved in a car accident. If this happens, then often you’ll have to pay an excess even though it may not have been your fault. This could end up costing you more than you previously thought and could ruin your travel plans. Good quality holiday insurance can take care of this expense, up to the amount specified in your plan, leaving you with the peace of mind you need to carry on your trip.
Before purchasing your insurance, always get a few travel insurance quotes to compare packages and costs, as well as consulting a number of travel insurance reviews to ensure you can trust your provider.
