Have you ever gone away on your annual holiday without travel insurance? Unfortunately, us Brits hold one of the worst records in Europe in terms of travelling without proper cover as it is often overlooked. A leading research institution conducted a survey showing that up to 20% of British travellers will regularly go abroad without any holiday travel insurance at all. Many of us may well view travel insurance as an unnecessary expense, but there are countless important reasons as to why you should always purchase a suitable policy.
It goes without saying that accidents can occur all over the world, and being a holidaymaker certainly doesn’t make you immune to this fact. A trip as simple as seeing the doctor for a fever or the flu can result in a hefty bill which you would be liable for without the cover of travel insurance. Or if you found yourself involved in a more serious accident and needed to receive treatment in hospital, this is another thing you would be responsible for without cover. Whilst serious accidents abroad thankfully only affecting a small percentage of travellers, the costs they can cause would turn your dream holiday into something more like a financial catastrophe. For these reasons it is highly recommendable that insurance is organised by travellers as the vast majority will provide you with considerable financial assistance if need be.
In the unlikely event that something occurs which may cause you to make drastic changes to your immediate plans, having travel insurance is vital in this situation. It may be that you fall ill, unforeseen work commitments may arise at the last minute, or sadly you might suffer the illness or death of a family member. Your holiday would become of secondary importance and need to be cancelled. Many holiday providers do not offer refundable packages nowadays, and with family holidays costing on average one to two thousand pounds, this is not something you would ever wish to loose because of misreading the small print. With your travel insurance, numerous policies offer options to cover against travel cancellation, meaning if you did need to cancel your holiday due to events out of your control, you would be entitled to financial support.
Cancellation, illness or accidents abroad aside, your travel insurance also offers cover for potentially more likely, but equally upsetting events. The loss of travel documents, money being stolen and lost luggage area some of the most common insurance claims and anyone who has experienced them will know just how frustrating it is.
So, travel insurance should be arguably viewed as on the same level of importance as your other insurance policies such as your home or vehicle. It offers you both, financial and practical cover against countless unforeseen circumstances. It is highly recommended to check precisely what is being offered by any policy before agreeing to take that one out. But quite importantly too, having the appropriate cover gives you your peace of mind allowing you to totally relax whilst being away on your holiday, which is the whole idea after all.
This is a guest post from Tom at Great British Trips
