But if you can’t get enough of sunny Mediterranean beaches, or even further afield, and then it’s probably time to start planning your break. Flights and hotels… check! But what about getting properly insured? An amazing two thirds of Brits travel abroad each year without an insurance policy, while 8% admit never taking out insurance on a foreign trip! Travelling uninsured presents a number of risks. It’s not particularly likely that something will go wrong on your dream holiday – but if in the case it does, how will you compensate it? If you don’t know where to start when it comes to shopping for travel insurance, then answering the following three tips will give you some good pointers.

The Type of Policy

There are quite a few fundamentally different insurance policies available. There’s single or multi trip, then specific packages such as backpacker insurance and sports insurance for holidays such as skiing. It shouldn’t be too hard to think of what you need if you’re going on a foreign beach holiday within the EU – probably single trip cover – but if you’re considering more than one trip during a twelve month period, you should probably go for multi trip. The family deals on these packages can make them cheaper in the long term. Outside the EU is likely to drive your quote higher. You should remember that due to their expensive private healthcare system, you will probably need to pay more if you’re travelling to the USA, and substantially more if you’re going on a sporting or skiing trip due to the related risks.
Check on Your Circumstances

While you can tailor your insurance package according to your needs – such as getting ski cover and the like – you will also need to consider special circumstances for your group. For instance, do you or any of your party have a history of serious illness? If the answer is yes, then the quote you’re after can rocket upwards. Likewise, the same can happen for pregnant women and those over sixty five. However, it may still be possible to find a specialist insurer that will give you a quote which is less than traditional insurers. If worst comes to worst and you can’t find a reasonable quote and you’re only travelling within the EU, then get an EHIC card and find insurance for baggage loss and flight cancellation. Be warned though, an EHIC card will not always cover all medical expenses.

Know What You Need

When booking a holiday, it’s quite easy to be sold a travel insurance policy that over covers you. For instance, you could be asked to upgrade to a platinum policy, which might offer £200 million worth of medical cover – but when would you actually need such an excessive amount of cover? In essence, it’s incredibly unlikely. You’re never really going to need more than £2 million worth of medical cover, while for personal liability (damage to other people and their property) £1 million should be enough, and £1,500 for baggage. Meanwhile, also make sure you have cover for cancellation and delays; there’s nothing more soul destroying than getting excited for your dream holiday, only to find you can’t go for reasons out of your control and yet you still have to fork out for it.

Travelling abroad needn’t fill you with worry, but it’s important to be covered just in case the worst does come along. Flight cancellation and loss of baggage or passport are some of the more trivial things that could happen while your away, but you could also find yourself in a very sticky financial situation should you or one of your group become ill or suffer an accident. Outside the EU, medical expenses won’t be covered, while even inside the EU you may need to pay for transport home or private treatment. Taking out the correct travel insurance policy can cover you against all of these misdemeanours, and give you peace of mind while you’re away. If you’re looking for the best travel insurance deal for this summer, then take a read of this article for some tips for finding the best policy.

The Type of Policy

There are quite a few fundamentally different insurance policies available. There’s single or multi trip, then specific packages such as backpacker insurance and sports insurance for holidays such as skiing. It shouldn’t be too hard to think of what you need if you’re going on a foreign beach holiday within the EU – probably single trip cover – but if you’re considering more than one trip during a twelve month period, you should probably go for multi trip. The family deals on these packages can make them cheaper in the long term. Outside the EU is likely to drive your quote higher. You should remember that due to their expensive private healthcare system, you will probably need to pay more if you’re travelling to the USA, and substantially more if you’re going on a sporting or skiing trip due to the related risks.

Get an EHIC card

The free European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) entitles you to free or discounted medical treatment in state run hospitals in the European Union and Switzerland. If you’re travelling in Europe, it’s important you get one, as it means you’ll be treated like a citizen to the country that you’re visiting. However, don’t be fooled into thinking this alone is an adequate substitute for travel insurance. For a start, it’s only valid in the EU and Switzerland. Then you’ve got to remember that you will only have access to state run hospitals with an EHIC, which may be more limited and few and far between in some countries. Also, an EHIC won’t cover you for anything other than medical expenses – so remember you’ll still need cover for baggage loss and flight cancellation, and it won’t cover you if you go further afield.

Get the Right Level for You

Have you had a policy suggested to you by your holiday booker? If you have then consider if it’s at the right level for you, and the right price; it’s possible to be oversold in insurance package and you could end up with too much cover. For instance, does anyone need £100,000,000 worth of medical cover? The answer is almost certainly not Read more