You think you don’t need Travel Insurance – Think Again!
You’re booking a fortnight in the sun in Europe and have just heard that the reciprocal medical agreement for countries in the EC is still applicable, even though the UK has left the EC. So, what is the point in paying for Travel Insurance?
Even if you are happy to take a risk that you might lose your flight and accommodation costs if you can’t travel because of, say, ill health – you do need to think about what might happen if the holiday has to be curtailed once you are abroad. Even if you don’t have to pay for hospital care, your illness or injury might be such that you and those in your party have to return home early. Return flights purchased at short notice won’t be at the same bargain-basement prices that you paid when initially booking your trip. In some cases, medics advise an immediate return by air ambulance – how are you going to find the £30,000 or so to book a plane if you have no insurance?
So, make sure you take out some cover even if you are only travelling to Europe.
I don’t need to tell the insurer about Medical History – Think Again!
Think very carefully, when you apply for Travel Insurance, about your existing health conditions or of those travelling with you. If you were to suffer, say, a heart attack while you are away but you failed to disclose you had a minor heart complaint four years ago, your insurer is not going to pay for the emergency treatment or repatriation costs. A potentially extremely expensive exercise, particularly in North America.
Before you apply for insurance have a carful think about your medical history and write it down. You can then be confident that you haven’t overlooked anything. Don’t forget that a good Travel Insurance Policy will protect you in the event of an accident or illness suffered by anyone else on whom your trip depends, such as a business partner or relative. If something happened to a person that would require you to cancel your trip or come home early, you would normally be expected to declare their medical history too. It is what many insurers expect you to do.
How accurate is your memory when it comes to your medical history? Consider using the NHS app and arranging full access to your medical records. If your medical history is anything but short and simple, you are well advised to arm yourself with chapter and verse.
I’m going with group and already have Personal Travel Insurance – Think Again!
Perhaps you decide to treat the whole family and friends to a group holiday. Everyone loves a free holiday so you end up with a group of eight, say. You already have an annual insurance for yourself and your partner, so you tell the rest of the group to take out their own Travel Insurance. Oh dear! That isn’t going to work.
You are so generous that you fund an entire holiday for your combined family of eight, each of whom has their own travel insurance. Unfortunately, the trip has to be cancelled because of your serious, sudden and unforeseen health issue. Your costs would be covered by your Travel Insurance but other members of the family would not be able to claim as they had lost no money!
Much better in these circumstances to arrange one group policy in the first place which would provide the necessary covers.
My Baggage and Personal Effects are covered by my Travel Insurance Policy – Perlege Verba (Read the Wording)!
The cover provided by ‘economy’ Travel Insurance Policies is often very restrictive with low claim limits and high Excesses plus restrictive conditions.
By checking your Household Insurance Policy you may find that you already have Worldwide ‘All Risks’ cover for such items (including ‘Valuables) without such restrictions and with, possibly, a lower Excess. In these circumstances you may be able to negotiate a reduction in the price of the Travel Policy by removing this duplicated cover.
In our experience, a typical Travel Policy will exclude theft of items, especially Valuables, while unattended unless locked away out of plain sight. Other Policies can exclude unaccompanied items completely, wherever they are.
I have Annual cover so don’t need to remember to arrange Travel Insurance for each trip – Hmmm!
Having taken an annual cover, please, please, please remember to update your insurer should there be any change to your medical condition or that of anyone travelling with you, or anyone not travelling whose health could have a bearing on your trip. Such a change is considered a material fact which must be communicated to and accepted by the insurer and its omission could result in an expensive claim being refused. Perhaps it would be better to arrange single trip insurances thus concentrating the mind on this important consideration.
It has been known for claims to be declined under an Annual Policy where a holiday has been booked in one insurance year for a trip that has been planned in the next. Single Trip Insurance would remove this potential problem.
I arrange my Travel Insurance the day before I fly away – Think again!
The moment you pay your Deposit you are committing yourself to a contract with financial implications. Travel Insurance should start at the time you make that commitment. Should you need to cancel between that date and the commencement of your trip you will be covered, but not if you are proposing to leave it to the last moment.
- Don’t forget to take a copy of your policy (hard or electronic copy) in case you need to notify your insurer of a claim whilst away. You will need the name and contact details for the insurer together with your Policy or Certificate Number.
- When making your arrangements, check the requirements of the countries you are visiting (e.g. Negative COVID Test, Passport with at least 6 months to expiry)
