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Cheapest Travel Insurance – Is It Worth It?
- Published: September 10, 2010 by Umma Queenan Comments (0)
Another extra cost to add to your holiday bill, but it’s worth it. Two things not to skimp on when you’re on holiday are sun cream and travel insurance. Compare policies for the level of cover, not just the price.
Here’s what you should look for Cheapest Travel Insurance
Check the maximum payout. The Association of British Insurers recommends minimum medical cover of one million pounds for Europe and two million worldwide.
Check the excess in case you need to make a claim. Will you be charged one excess per claim or an excess charge per person and per section of the policy you claim under? For example, if you’re mugged and lose your passport, will you be clobbered for two excess charges, one for your medical claim and one for your lost passport?
Always tell your insurer about any ‘pre-existing’ medical conditions. That’s your ongoing back problem, recent operation on your foot and any medication you’re taking. If you don’t do this and a recurrent problem plays up abroad, you risk your insurer refusing your claim, which may leave you facing a huge bill.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking you’re automatically covered for free healthcare in Europe. The EHIC (European Health Insurance Card), which replaced the old El 11 form, only entitles you to basic minimum care in European countries and others with reciprocal arrangements with the UK. However, we’re talking about basic minimum care, which won’t extend to cover the cost of your family staying on if you’re hospitalized, or air ambulance home. An air ambulance back from the Canaries could cost around $30,000, so forking out for annual travel cover is well worth it.
Some packaged bank accounts (the ones you pay a fee for) include free travel insurance, but check the limits before relying on it. You may be covered for medical claims but does it cover your luggage, passport and money?
Sue’s savvy stories – it happened to me.
Sometimes you need to fight your case for an insurance claim, as I did when my camera was stolen in Fiji. It’s actually a great story and truth be known the entertainment factor (particularly in the local police station) almost made up for the loss of the camera. I say almost, but not quite.
Having gone out with friends in their hire car, we discovered a small local bar well off the beaten track late at night. Rather than come across as being a camera-waving tourist we made what we thought was a sensible decision to leave the camera hidden in an old rucksack in the locked boot of the car.
And, yes, you can guess what happened; an hour later we returned to find the boot broken into and the camera gone.
Three hours spent in the very basic local police station the next day resulted in nothing more than a good old chat about the royal family and being offered copious amounts of ‘kava’ (the local brew), which unfortunately tastes just like dirty dishwater complete with gritty bits.
The long and short of it was that on returning to the UK with a very basic police report the insurers wouldn’t cough up, claiming the camera had been left unattended, which wasn’t covered on the policy.
I pointed out that if I’d taken the camera with me and been mugged for it, they’d be facing a claim for not only the camera loss but possibly rather large hospital bills too, hence my calculated decision to leave it in the car. They then rapidly came back with an offer which I rejected, sending them details of the camera’s current replacement price. And what do you know, they finally coughed up, minus the $50 excess; sending through a cheque for around $250. So you don’t ask; you don’t get.
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