Travel Insurance
A holiday abroad can sometimes throw up some unexpected surprises, but with travel insurance in place you can probably minimise the negative outcomes.
Put simply, travel insurance offers you peace of mind. It can cover the cost of your holiday if the trip is interrupted, cancelled or delayed, it can also cover any medical costs should you find your health under threat, and your belongings again being lost or stolen.
As with the other types of insurance there are several companies offering a variety of travel insurances. In choosing the type of cover to suit your needs the first thing you will need to decide is whether you want annual insurance or single-trip insurance. If cost is not an issue, then how do you choose between annual and single trip insurance? Unless you're really sure that you will only be making a one off trip or two it is probably best to go for annual insurance. Annual travel insurance means you can take advantage of the increasing number of cheap holiday deals and flight offers at moment's notice without having to think about insurance each time.
If you are planning on taking an extended holiday or a gap year, you may find that annual insurance does not provide you with the adequate cover. Many policies limit your time abroad to around 30 days and staying longer than that will invalidate your policy. For longer holidays you will probably need to consider extended stay travel insurance.
Once you have bought your travel insurance, many companies offer a "cooling off period". It is always worth using this time wisely to read through the details of your policy to check that you have adequate cover. In particular you should look at whether there is enough cover for all your belongings for example if your luggage gets stolen and if you covered for all the activities you hope to enjoy while you are away. If you are planning to go skiing or parachuting or thinking of trying any other sports or activities then you may need to have additional insurance, for example extreme sports cover or winter sports insurance. Specialist travel insurance is available should you be planning a series of adrenaline pumping activates!
It is also worth remembering that if you do not mention any pre-existing medical conditions when you purchase your travel insurance any claims you need to make could be refused. Also if accidents happen after you have been drinking alcohol (even a small amount), this could also invalidate any claim you make.