If you are heading off on holiday but have a tight budget to stick to, this does not mean that you should forgo travel insurance. This is a very important aspect of any travel plan, as if you should fall ill or require medical treatment abroad, the costs can be high, and you may not be able to meet these costs yourself.
Most holiday insurance products include some form of insurance for your lost, stolen or damaged luggage. You can choose to opt out of this part of some policies when you are travelling with a minimal amount of luggage. So pack light, and it could save you cash.
Health insurance for your trip is always important, but insurance against the cost of your holiday in the event of cancellations could be made irrelevant if your holiday package was particularly cheap. Look at the excess required on making a cancellations claim. It could be that the excess payment is almost as much, or even more than, the cost of your flights, in which case this part of a travel insurance policy may not be worth your while.
It may surprise you to learn that some holidaymakers make the mistake of paying for too much travel insurance each year. Make sure you are not one of them by checking all of your current insurance, medical and credit card policies for any existing overseas cover that may be included. It may turn out that you have all the cover you need already.
Several insurers will offer you cover that includes a guarantee to refund the cost of your holiday and fly you home should you get into difficulties following the bankruptcy of either your airline or travel company. The recession has shut down several such companies over the past couple of years, but if you have booked your holiday through a company that is financially sound, then you may want to do without this extra cover cost.
If you are a UK citizen travelling to Europe, then you could save a little on medical cover by obtaining a free European Health Insurance Card. Although it does not cover you for all medical costs, and will only pay for state-provided medical treatment, it does mean that you are entitled to free or subsidised healthcare in every country in the European Economic Area.
Whenever you come to sign a policy, you need to double check that you are getting value for money. For example, when it comes to cancelling your trip, insurance providers can be very rigid in the reasons they deem acceptable for cancellation. So it is a good idea to check that your proposed insurer has an acceptable number of cancellation causes first.
If you are a frequent budget traveller then instead of going through the hassle and expense of having to arrange insurance every time you go abroad, change to a yearly insurance policy. This type of policy allows you a certain number of trips or a certain number of miles worth of travel each year for which you pay only once. This is usually far cheaper than taking out separate policies each time.
by Neon Glory
0 comments:
Post a Comment