When you travel abroad you are advised to have travel insurance. If you buy a policy, because it is cheap does not mean that you will be able to get your money back if you need to make a claim. This has been highlighted by the chaos caused by strikes and the volcanic ash cloud over the last couple of years.
These problems have shown that the cheaper policies, that people choose will not pay out in certain situations. This leaves the holiday maker more reliant on the airlines and travel agents for any refunds for disrupted journeys rather than their insurance company.
A spokesman for the Association of British Insurers (ABI) said "when it comes to insurance, you get what you pay for, unfortunately if you have bought an off the peg insurance policy, it is not going to cover you for everything."
What is worse is that many people do not realise that the insurance on offer at the lower end of the market provides them with limited cover.
Purchasing Insurance
When you are buying your travel insurance policy for your trip, it is worthwhile spending a few minutes reading the policy wording to find out what exactly the policy will cover you for.
You will need to make sure that your policy at least covers you for the following:
Medical and health cover for an injury or sudden illness abroad.A 24-hour emergency and assistance service.Cancellation and curtailment cover.Cover for lost and stolen possessions.Personal liability cover, in case you are sued for causing an injury or damaging property.Policy Exclusions
Most of the standard travel policies, particularly the cheaper ones have primarily been designed to cover medical emergencies overseas but they are likely to excluded the following:
Accommodation
The cost of lost accommodation due to a cancelled of delayed flight.The additional hotel costs in the event of a delay.Usually the onus is placed on the airline and tour operators to cover the accommodation and other costs if a flight is seriously delayed. The policy may be able to pay out a small amount if your flight is delayed by at least 12 hours, but the amount which the policy is likely to pay out will just about cover the cost of food and drink and is unlikely to cover the cost of a night in a hotel.
Loss of personal belongings
Expensive electrical equipment or jewellery.The more we have come to depend on technology the more likely we are to take it away with us on holiday but it might not be covered by your policy. Most standard policies do provide cover for lost and stolen goods, but the maximum that the policy will pay out for on any one item is likely to be extremely limited and it could only be about £500. With many of the budget policies the maximum pay out will be lower and some may not even have baggage cover.
Claiming
If you have to make a claim for a delay in travel, stolen or lost luggage, the insurer or the airline, or whoever you are making the claim to, will want to see proof of the costs you have incurred, so you will need to keep all of your receipts to be able to, provide them as evidence in your claim.
If you are claiming for a stolen item you need to have notified the police and get a police report, failure to do this is likely to create suspicion to any insurers as to whether the theft has genuinely taken place.
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