The 1, 2, 3 of Travel Insurance

Travelling abroad needn’t fill you with worry, but it’s important to be covered just in case the worst does come along. There are minor issues that can go along with travelling: sunburn, losing a traveller's cheque, and then larger anxieties: damages, theft, injuries... you could find yourself in a precarious financial situation should you or one of your group become ill or suffer an accident. Outside the EU, medical expenses won’t be covered, while even inside the EU you may need to pay for transport home or private treatment. Taking out the correct travel insurance policy can cover you against all of these misdemeanours, and give you peace of mind while you’re away. If you’re looking for the best travel insurance deal for this summer, then take a read of this article for some tips for finding the best policy.

Special Clauses

Anyone with special conditions can get quoted excessive amounts from some insurers. People with histories of serious illness or disability, and those who are pregnant or over sixty-five can all find themselves in the high-risk market Be sure to be equipped with a relevant EHIC card (when travelling within Europe). If you find the cover to still be unaffordable, then the price may drop if you ask the insurer to exclude pre-existing conditions; though it’s then your call on the risks of going abroad with limited cover. Also, the EHIC card won’t cover you for everything. In fact, it will only give you as much medical cover as a local citizen in your destination country – it won’t cover you for luggage loss or plane ticket cancellation.

Get an EHIC card

The free European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) entitles you to free or discounted medical treatment in state run hospitals in the European Union and Switzerland. If you’re travelling in Europe, it’s important you get one, as it means you’ll be treated like a citizen to the country that you’re visiting. However, don’t be fooled into thinking this alone is an adequate substitute for travel insurance. For a start, it’s only valid in the EU and Switzerland. Then you’ve got to remember that you will only have access to state run hospitals with an EHIC, which may be more limited and few and far between in some countries. Also, an EHIC won’t cover you for anything other than medical expenses – so remember you’ll still need cover for baggage loss and flight cancellation, and it won’t cover you if you go further afield.

How Much Cover Do You Really Need?

Getting an EHIC card for the EU is fine for medical treatment, but then it won’t actually protect you for loss of baggage, or flight cancellation. Furthermore, not all European countries have substantial state owned hospital infrastructure, which may mean you end up at a private hospital for emergency treatment. In this case, you may have to pay in order to be treated, and in any case you may have to pay for emergency flights back to the UK. Despite these issues, it’s important that you don’t overpay. It’s extremely unlikely that your medical expenses would ever exceed more than £2,000,000, while personal liability cover should be around the £1,000,000 mark. Take out around this amount of cover with extra for loss of baggage or flight cancellation and you should be ready to go!

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