These days instead of going for the pre-planned holiday package, people are going back to the art of jumping on a plane and making their own way from there. It gives you a better sense of freedom and lets you be free to choose where you go and what you do without having to be restricted by a travel company routine- it can also work out far cheaper! But, because of the recent BA strikes and airline failures, people who go it alone are not as well covered as those who are insured by the travel company who organised the trip, meaning that now it’s more important than ever to make sure you’re insured against this kind of mishap.
Because of the recent volcanic ash situation many people were stranded with no way of getting home and couldn’t cope with the extortionate payouts needed to get them selves home. This, coupled with the recession putting companies out of business has meant that a lot of places are struggling. So, here we’ll outline the kind of insurance you can get to protect you on go-it-alone holidays.
SAFI (or, scheduled airline failure insurance) covers against flight cancellations and companies going out of business. Although this is usually offered as standard in most covers, sometimes you can be caught out and have to get it yourself. It’s extremely cheap, from as little as £4 for a single 7 day trip or £7 for multi travel cover, so for the price it is to cover compared to the cost it would be if you didn’t have it and needed to get another price to correct way to go is simple.
Supplier failure is a new policy a lot of companies put in their basic travel insurance, and covers you if your flight company, Accommodation Company or tour company goes out of business or closes unexpectedly. What happens is, if any of your flights, accommodation or anything goes bust and you can’t continue your holiday plans you can either claim to have a replacement, or you can get the refund for what you’ve already paid. There is a small excess to pay to get this cover, but nothing compared to how much it would cost to reorganise it all yourself. Not everyone offers this yet so it’s worth double checking before you confirm your insurance. Companies that do offer this include Swiftcover, Columbus, OUL Direct and Protect your bubble.
If the company you’re going with doesn’t offer this cover, don’t worry, you can buy it separately from companies like protectmyholiday.com from as little as £5 per person.