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The Dos and Don’ts of Travel Insurance

Sorting out your travel insurance can be tricky, and can seem like an unnecessary headache when you’re looking forward to your holiday.

However, if you want to ensure that you are covered should anything unforeseen happen during your time abroad, it’s very important that you get the best deal possible on your travel insurance. The whole process can be made simpler if you just remember some basic dos and don’ts.

DO your research. Do ask friends and family who provides their travel insurance, but remember that what is good for your friend may not be as suitable for you. Don’t limit yourself in your research – insurance is now available from an even wider range of sources, even some supermarkets and the post office. The most important thing is that you do enough research to feel secure in your final decision. It may seem tedious at the time, but it’s better to have done the legwork to ensure you get the best deal for you.

DON’T judge the policy on the extras it provides. Companies like to boast about the extras that come with their travel insurance policy, but if you choose them without checking what you’re actually covered for you could be in for a nasty surprise. Extras are designed to be just that: extras. Extras should only be the icing on the cake – the final straw that makes one policy more attractive than another, after serious consideration. Find yourself a really good policy and then enjoy any extras it promises, for example many companies now offer to cover children under a certain age for free.

DO make sure you choose an appropriate length of cover. If you’re unlikely to be travelling much during the year, then you could find that a single trip policy saves you some money. However, if you already know that you’ll be taking more than one holiday this year, it’s really worth investigating some annual policies. Companies like Go Travel Insurance offer a relatively cheap travel insurance policy for a single payment of around £30, which will work out cheaper than several lots of single trip cover.

Choosing your travel insurance is an important decision, so make sure that you know all the details of your chosen policy and are clear that it’s the right insurance for you.