Why You Should Always Get Travel Insurance

A lot of people don’t get travel insurance and then wish they had when things go wrong!
You should always get travel insurance and I am going to explain why.
As always, coverage and amounts they pay out vary between companies, so always check their policy wording and compare different policies.

Some companies that I highly recommend who I have also used myself in the past are Cedar Tree, CoverForYou, Medical Travel Insurance and my favourite, Admiral. These have great policies and good customer service. Admiral is my favourite, and I highly recommend them.

Single trip or annual

There are two types of travel insurance. Single trip and annual.
If you are only planning to go away once in a year, then single trip is for you. But if you may do more than one trip, annual is much better value. Often the price difference isn’t that dramatic either.
With single trip insurance, you must give your travel dates when booking, but with annual you don’t need to do that as you can travel when you want.
Both have a limit of a certain amount of days per trip, so make sure when booking that you are not travelling for more days in one trip, than the insurance covers.
They usually also have different levels of cover such as basic, premium etc. Each has a different level of coverage, so always check each policy level.

Medical cover

If you get ill whilst overseas, this will cover your medical bill. I have experienced this, and if I hadn’t of had travel insurance, it would have cost me over £15,000 for a few hours in emergency in the USA. This was a lifesaver.
I honestly think for this reason alone, you should have travel insurance.

If you are travelling within Europe, also get a GHIC card (this replaced the old EHIC card).
It’s free and covers some state healthcare costs, but it is not a replacement for travel insurance, it just works alongside it.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking the GHIC card means you don’t need insurance, because it won’t cover things like repatriation or private treatment.

Cancellation cover

If you ever need to cancel a trip for whatever reason, this will cover you for cancellation. Normally most things such as flights, are non-refundable, so you would need to claim via travel insurance if you can no longer go on vacation.

Gadgets and expensive items

Every policy has different limits and they also have single item limits, meaning that they only pay a certain amount for a single item.
If you have valuable items such as an expensive phone, iPad, camera, laptop etc, you would need a policy that pays out more for a single item.

This is one a lot of people get caught out on now because phones have gotten so expensive. If your phone is worth more than the single item limit, you either need a higher tier policy or you should look at adding it to a separate gadget insurance policy instead. Always check the limit before you travel, not after you’ve had something stolen.

Cutting short your trip

Many policies cover you if you need to cut your trip short due reasons such as family emergency or Covid etc.

Lost or stolen baggage

If your baggage gets lost or stolen, you will be able to make a claim on your insurance.
Always report any issues asap. Don’t wait.

You also need to get a report from the airline or police (depending where it happened) as most insurers won’t pay out without one. Keep hold of receipts for anything you had to buy because your bag was delayed too, as a lot of policies cover essentials like toiletries and a change of clothes while you wait for it.

Money

If you have money stolen, you are usually out of luck, but if you have money cover on your travel insurance, they will cover a certain amount so you can claim on your travel insurance.

Missed departure

If you miss your departure, this is on you and airlines will charge you for a new ticket. But if you have travel insurance, you can claim for missed departure.

Personal liability

This will cover any personal liability fees such as damage to a hotel or an injury to someone.

Accidental damage

If you damage some of your items accidentally while on your trip, this will cover you.

24/7 medical assistance

This will give you a phone number you can call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for medical support. If you need to go to a hospital, they will tell you wish one to go to.

Pre-existing conditions

If you have any conditions or have been treated for something, you need to declare this as a pre-existing condition. Each company has a different rule such as “declare any conditions within the last 2 years“, so you need to check for their specific rules, but you must declare the conditions otherwise you can invalidate your entire travel insurance policy!
Always declare any conditions no matter what they are or how much it may increase your policy. Better than invalidating your policy.
With many insurers, you can even just add any new medical issues online, no need to even call them! I have done this with Admiral and it was so simple.
I have a detailed blog post on pre-existing travel insurance here.

Travel delays

If your trip gets delayed, you can claim for delay. This won’t apply if it is an “act of god”, unless you have travel disruption cover.

Travel disruption

This covers things that normally won’t be covered such as “acts of god” such as hurricane or volcano. This is often an add on with some travel insurance policies, but I personally always get it as it usually doesn’t cost much more and gives you peace of mind.

Activity or sports cover

If you are going skiing, climbing, or some kind of sport activity that has a higher risk, you should get the extra coverage which is usually an add on due to the higher risk.

Worth checking what’s already included before you pay extra for this though, as I’ve noticed more policies now build in things like skiing or hiking up to a certain altitude as standard, rather than charging you on top for it.
Always double check the policy wording rather than assuming.

Expensive items

Every policy has different limits and they also have single item limits, meaning that they only pay a certain amount for a single item. If you have valuable items such as an expensive camera, laptop etc, you would need a policy that pays out more for a single item.

If you still have any questions, add them in the comments and I can update the post to address and specific questions.