Travel insurance has enjoyed a high profile over the past couple of years. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when testing was mandatory to be able to travel more or less anywhere, taking out travel insurance was just about the only way you could cover your losses if the test showed up the dreaded double line.
In addition, travellers worried about the risks of catching the disease while abroad and potentially ending up seriously ill seemed much more receptive to a basic truth about medical care while visiting another country – that it can be very expensive and that travel insurance is the only way to guarantee to cover the costs.
With a different kind of disruption looming over holidaymakers this summer as airports and airlines struggle with a staffing crisis, travel insurance will once again prove invaluable in covering travellers for cancellations and delays.
But to get the protection you need, you have to have the right kind of insurance. So what should you look for in a travel insurance policy to be confident you’re covered for whatever gets thrown at you this summer?
Cancellations and interruption
For the reasons explained above, cancellation cover has become a must-have for all travellers over the past couple of years. But travel insurance will also cover you for what are known as curtailments or interruptions – in other words, things that cut short your holiday. This includes severe delays that might mean you miss a night or two at your accommodation and have to return home early in an emergency.
Equally, it’s this area of a policy that covers you if you catch COVID and have to self-isolate, and then maybe have to pay for a new flight home. It’s important to check the details on this.
In terms of payout limits, you would be advised to take out a policy with a minimum cancellation value of £1000. Realistically, you want an amount that covers the full cost of your holiday, flights and accommodation plus additional costs like car hire, airport transfers, parking etc. But you also want enough on top to cover things like new flights or extra accommodation should the worst happen. We would recommend looking at more comprehensive policies starting at £5000 cancellation limits.
Medical cover
Cover for medical expenses is a staple of travel insurance and an absolute essential. If you fall ill or have an accident while abroad, as a foreign national you will have to pay for treatment. If you have to be hospitalised for any reason, the costs can be astronomical. When you factor in things like length of hospital stay, emergency surgery and flights home, you’re looking at tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of pounds, depending on where you travel to.Â
It’s recommended to take out insurance with payout limits that are even higher still – into the millions of pounds – in case it’s decided it’s necessary to fly you home for treatment with medical assistance, which can cost enormous amounts.Â
Missed departure
While lots of holidaymakers are facing delays in airports at the moment, there are lots of circumstances that could hold you up en route to the airport and lead to you missing your flight. Heavy traffic on the road, your car breaking down, rail delays – they happen, but when you have a flight to catch, it can become incredibly stressful.
If the worst comes to the worst, the least you want is the reassurance that you have a travel insurance policy that will cover the cost of a new flight. Remember, last-minute flight bookings can be very expensive, so it’s worth looking for missed departure clauses that start at least £1000 to be on the safe side.
Lost luggage
Another subject that is very topical for holidaymakers right now is lost luggage. One of the biggest issues facing airports and airlines is shortages of baggage handlers. Not only is that causing big delays in getting luggage loaded onto planes, it is also leading to lots of baggage going missing.
Lost luggage cover is another standard of all good travel insurance policies. If you imagine turning up at your destination without anything you or your family need for your holiday, that could mean a big shopping bill on arrival. You should look for a minimum of £1000 worth of cover to pay for everything you might need, including new luggage to get it home!
Personal liability
One final type of cover that should be considered essential on any solid travel insurance policy but which rarely gets talked about is personal liability. If you are responsible for an accident that causes injury to someone or damage to property, there is a chance you could be sued for damages. The extra complexity of legal proceedings in another country makes this an expensive process, and of course, the ruling could go against you, meaning you’d be ordered to pay compensation and costs.
Personal liability insurance covers you for this. Good quality travel policies over cover limits of £1 million and upwards to reflect what costs could be in a serious case.
