Travel insurance is, basically put, insurance to help protect you whenever you go on holiday, travel on business or go to study or work abroad- in short, insurance for when you’re away from home. However, there isn’t just a blanket travel insurance to cover all events and mishaps that might occur, and these will be looked at in later articles.
So where can we get travel insurance? At present the quickest and cheapest way to get good quality travel insurance is online. There are loads of insurance companies to choose from, and at first it can seem a little daunting as to which company gives the best sort of cover for the best value- and this is where comparison websites come in. Moneysupermarket.com, comparethemarket.com and confused.com are some of the most popular ones people use and they have a quick and easy to use service which means you can compare your travel insurance by simply typing in what you want and letting the website find the companies that will insure you and how much it will cost. Then, it’s simply a matter of choosing!
But what do you need to insure? Typically you can get basic travel insurance that covers theft and injury whilst you’re away, but you can also get a whole host of extras such as insurance for family holidays, insurance for pets, insurance for sports when you’re abroad, insurance against your company failing and many more- there’s even insurance for if you’re travelling when pregnant. It always pays to be insured because, although we assume we’ll be safe, we can never prepare for every eventuality- you don’t know if you’ll slip by the pool and break your leg, you don’t know if you’ll be mugged or loose some of your money, and you certainly can never tell when the airlines will go on strike!
However, there are some things that you will find many companies are reluctant to ensure against. Terrorism is one, and if you’re travelling to a country that travel companies have advised against due to the volatile political situation many companies will be against insuring you. Winter sports is another, because, especially if you’re new to it, there is a high accident rate- which makes it all the more important to actually have winter sports insurance! But, despite it being hard to find, some companies do offer it at a very good rate.
All in all, travel insurance is certainly worth looking in to getting and should be one of the first things on your holiday to-do list after finding your sunglasses and passport!