Going on holiday? Make sure you have travel insurance.

* First seen in the Yorkshire Post *

As a specialist travel lawyer, I’ve worked on tragic cases where holidaymakers who thought they didn’t need insurance faced bills they couldn’t afford when something went wrong.

Although it is exciting to start thinking about your next getaway, you shouldn’t forget about the considerably less exciting part of going away – arranging your travel insurance policy. 

Why do I need travel insurance?

While you never anticipate having issues with your dream trip, the reality is that anyone can get involved in a serious accident abroad and anyone can face the situation of needing to cancel their holiday at short notice. 

Incidents don’t just happen on ‘high risk’ bungee jumps or ski slopes, they can happen anywhere, even in the taxi back from the supermarket or when having a lazy day around the pool. 

Not all countries will provide state medical care, particularly for non-nationals, so your travel insurance policy provides you with vital financial protection when something goes wrong. Without it, you can face extraordinarily high medical bills due to extended hospital stays and urgent surgery. That’s without mentioning the cost of repatriation if you are injured and need to be transported back to the UK. 

Even with a Global Health Insurance Card, that grants holders access to healthcare in certain countries, it doesn’t cover repatriation, so without insurance you could still face large costs.    

Travel insurance can also help with damaged/stolen items or money and covering you for personal liability in a situation where you are liable to pay damages due to bodily injury or property damage of a third party due to your actions.    

The other side of travel insurance kicks in before your holiday even begins.  A lot of people wrongly assume that they don’t need travel insurance until the day they fly, and I’ve seen too many cases where people without insurance have needed to cancel their trip. Without insurance, they couldn’t get their money back.  

While it may not be the most glamorous part of your holiday, buying travel insurance may well be the most important thing you can do to make sure your holiday goes as smoothly as possible and, when things go wrong, make sure that you aren’t left with thousands of pounds in bills. 

My advice?

Buy your insurance as soon as possible. You need insurance from the moment you book your holiday to protect you from any issues. 

Check you’re covered. Some policies won’t cover you if you’re undertaking a ‘high risk’ activity, and many won’t cover you if you’re drunk when an incident occurred. If you’re going on a ‘higher risk’ holiday, like a ski trip, you might need specific insurance. 

Making a claim. If you find yourself in the unfortunate position of needing to make a claim on your travel insurance policy, be aware of the requirements that your insurer may have in order to make a claim. 

Shop around. Use comparison websites to ensure you get the best deal that meets your requirements. The cheapest policy may not give you the cover you need. 

Declare everything. It is important to declare all pre-existing health conditions to your travel insurer, even if this is likely to increase the policy premium. If you have to make a claim for medical expenses under the policy, even if it is for an illness or injury unrelated to a pre-existing health condition, this may be enough to void your insurance policy and you will not be covered. 

Finally, your insurance might not cover you for injuries caused by third party negligence, so you will need to speak to a specialist travel solicitor to help you bring a claim.