Travel insurance featured explained

Unlike most other insurance, travel insurance covers you for a range of very different types of problem. Make sure you get the right cover for your particular needs.

Baggage and money

Travel insurance normally covers you if your baggage and belongings are lost or stolen or damaged – up to a certain limit. 

Cover for valuables

As well as an overall limit, policies also have a limit on individual valuable items, usually of between £150 and £500.

New for old

With policies that replace items on a new-for-old basis, the insurer either pays the full cost of repairing damaged items or pays to replace them if they are stolen or destroyed.

Cover for spectacles

Some policies won’t pay for the cost of buying new spectacles if they are stolen or damaged while you are away.

Cover for money

There’s usually a limit on the amount of cash a policy will pay out for if you are robbed. Such limits (between £150 and £500, depending on the policy) also include travellers’ cheques. 

Medical cover

Some of the best deals offer at least £1 million of medical cover in Europe, and £2 million in the USA and the rest of the world. This cover includes the cost of an air ambulance to get you home, should this be necessary.

One of the main issues with travel insurance is whether the insurer will cover pre-existing medical conditions. Some policies will automatically exclude any pre-existing condition; others take a more sympathetic approach. Either way, you should always discuss any pre-existing medical condition with an insurer before buying a policy – and answer any questions they ask you about this honestly.

It’s worth remembering that some policies will waive the excess for medical claims if you use your E111 to get medical treatment in Europe. 

Cancellation and curtailment

Travel insurance will usually also pay you compensation if you have to cancel or cut short your trip, because of illness, for example, or the death of a close relative. But the maximum amount you can claim varies from policy to policy, from around £1,500 to £5,000. Policies may also have different reasons they will accept for legitimately cancelling a trip. You should make sure you have enough to cover the full cost of the holiday.

Excess

Like many types of insurance, travel insurance normally has an excess, which means you have to pay the first part of a claim. Not only do excesses differ from one policy to another, but some policies will charge an excess for each part of the policy you might claim under, whereas others will make you pay an excess only once.

Delay

If your journey is delayed through no fault of your own, you may be able to claim compensation under your travel insurance policy. But the amount that will be paid, and the minimum time you have to be delayed before you can claim, varies from one insurer to another. You normally have to be delayed for eight hours before you can claim anything.

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