Travel Insurance Guide Blog

Are you covered for electrical items?

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 16:27:52 BST

If you are busy packing to go on holiday you might like to stop for a moment and consider what would happen if you were unlucky enough to lose some of your electrical equipment, which is no doubt near the top of your list of things to pack.

Gone are the days when all we needed to keep us entertained by the pool was a good book and when keeping in touch with the folks back home involved sending the odd postcard.

Nowadays we need our iPhones, iPods and iPads, to say nothing of laptops, expensive cameras and camcorders. If we are travelling with children the likelihood is that they will insist on taking their PSPs and Gameboys with them too.

It is not surprising therefore that the average holidaymaker takes over £400 worth of electrical goodies with them. Unfortunately, some of them give no thought to whether they have the appropriate insurance should these items get lost or damaged whilst on holiday.

Research from AXA shows that a whopping £7 billion worth of electrical goods are taken out of the UK by British travellers each year. Of this, almost £1.6 billion is uninsured either by a travel policy or personal possessions cover on a home insurance policy.

Many people who think they are insured have failed to spot the single item limit common on most policies and there are also some who pack their valuables in their hold luggage which will often invalidate their insurance cover.

AXA recommends that holidaymakers think carefully about which gadgets should be left at home and that if they have to take valuable equipment with them on holiday make sure they check their insurance policies carefully.

Record pay outs for falling ill abroad

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 14:37:46 BST

If you ever needed more convincing that travel insurance was a necessity when travelling abroad, recent figures might just provide it.

The ABI (Association of British Insurers) has announced that the cost of falling ill abroad has just hit a new record high for travel insurance companies. The amount paid out in medical claims in 2009 has jumped a massive 270% compared to five years ago.

So how much do travel insurers now spend on keeping us healthy whilst we’re abroad? The total amount in 2009 was £274 million, which works out as £5.3 million a week.

60% of all payouts were for the costs of medical treatment, compared to 33% five years ago. In total, they settled 366,000 claims (or 7,000 a week), which was more than three times the amount in 2004.

The ABI highlighted specific cases, including the £49,000 paid out for one person holidaying in the USA to have a coronary artery bypass and emergency repatriation, and the £16,500 spent on a husband and wife who both got separate back injuries whilst on holiday.

The most common problems experienced by travellers included ear infections, heart problems, stomach upsets and allergies.

Nick Starling, the director of general insurance and health at ABI, said that the high costs of treatment “make travel insurance essential for anyone travelling abroad”. He reminded travellers to take down details of the emergency helpline telephone numbers should they need to use them.

The news should help to remind travellers that the costs of medical treatment abroad can be prohibitive, and that if they don’t take out travel insurance then no one else is going to pay for the costs.

Most packaged accounts come with travel insurance

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 13:38:12 BST

Defaqto, the financial research firm, has revealed that 81% of packaged current accounts come with some form of travel insurance. This may come as a surprise to some customers who did not realise that they were in fact covered for their holidays by their packaged accounts.

Packaged accounts are bank accounts that require a monthly fee, and in exchange the account holder gets access to a number of special offers and extra services.

Defaqto carried out research into packaged accounts to see just what was on offer. They discovered that, of all the packaged accounts they reviewed:

67% provide travel insurance cover for the whole family
75% offer worldwide insurance
6% provide European-only cover
60% offer winter-sports cover
13% only provide cover for the account holder and their spouse
1% only provide cover to the account holder

Packaged accounts often come with a number of other benefits in addition to travel insurance, including:

commission-free currency exchange and travellers cheques (offered by 90%)
motor breakdown assistance (60%)
European breakdown cover (14%)
access to airport lounges (38%)
other discounts for holidays and travel (67%)

David Black from Defaqto said that packaged accounts “generally offer a variety of benefits,” but warned that there are “often wide variations in the extent or coverage offered”. For this reason it is essential that customers check exactly what is offered and don’t simply assume that they have adequate travel insurance cover for their trips.

It is especially important for packaged-account holders to check their travel insurance if they have special requirements. This applies to people who require pre-existing medical cover, anyone who may face age restrictions and anyone planning to take part in sports activities whilst abroad. These groups may well need to take out a separate travel insurance policy to ensure that they have enough cover.

FCO report highlights need for travel insurance

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 12:43:34 BST

Statistics have been released by the FCO in a report entitled ‘British Behaviour Abroad’ that make it clear why travellers need to take out adequate travel insurance when they go on holiday.

It features incidents from FCO offices across the world from April 2009 to March 2010, highlighting common problems that Brits experience when they are travelling abroad.

The most common incident faced by travellers abroad involved lost or stolen passports. However, there were also lots of avoidable problems including arrests due to drink and drugs: in all, 944 Britons were arrested for offences related to drugs.

Significantly, the report also highlighted problems with medical treatment and repatriation due to inadequate insurance or the failure to take out any travel insurance whatsoever.

Startlingly, the report revealed that 19% of travellers go abroad without any kind of travel insurance. It also revealed that most Britons spend longer cleaning their homes than researching the local laws of the country they are visiting.

It listed a number of cases to highlight the problem of travelling without insurance. One of them involved a man who drowned in Brazil and his family had to pay £10,000 to repatriate his body because he didn’t have insurance.

Another incident involved a 19-year-old man who had an accident on a moped in Asia and had to pay £20,000 to be repatriated. In this case he did have insurance, but the small print stated that he needed a licence to ride the bike.

The Foreign and Commonwealth minister, Jeremy Browne, said that “helping out Britons in trouble abroad is part of our job, but we can't get you out of jail or pay your hospital bills”.

He advised that carrying out a bit of preparation, such as taking out travel insurance and checking the FCO website before leaving, could help to minimise the risks of travelling abroad.

Experts warn of limitations of European Health Insurance Card

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:47:48 BST

With around 17 million UK residents taking trips to Spain every year, it is the number one destination for UK travellers. Largely as a result of the volume of visitors, Spain also ranks as the travel destination with the highest number of reported incidents. Many of these incidents leave visitors in situations where they are uninsured as they have allowed misconceptions surrounding the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) to justify not purchasing travel insurance – something Sarah Findlay of finance website Insurewithease suggests could be a costly mistake, since the EHIC is no substitute for insurance.

Despite the EHIC providing an entitlement to health care, Spanish health authorities, including those in the Balearics and the Canaries, are increasingly refusing to treat European visitors under the EHIC. As well as this, visitors are being placed in costly situations where those who are travelling with only the EHIC find that they need to pay the costs of repatriation as this is not covered by the EHIC. With the cost of repatriation potentially reaching £45,000 many travellers will be forced to take out a loan to meet the cost of something that is covered by the majority of travel insurance policies – all of which are a substantially cheaper option.

With the travel insurance policies also providing cover for other medical costs, such as prescription charges and GP consultations (neither of which is covered by the EHIC), it appears unwise not to purchase travel insurance when travelling within the EU. Travel insurance will also cover other costs that the EHIC does not, such as the expenses arising from flight cancellation, lost or delayed baggage, or missed departures.

Long haul insurance sales up

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 16:36:37 BST

Recent research carried out by swiftcover.com has revealed that long-haul travel insurance sales are up. Currently 25% of travel policies sold by Swiftcover are for long haul trips compared to just 20% five years ago.

Consumers were questioned about their travel aspirations and 23% revealed that a tropical island would be their dream destination, with others favouring round-the-world cruises, off-the-beaten-track destinations such as China and India, ancient ruins like Machu Pichu in Peru and African safaris. Others would prefer a more active dream holiday with white-water rafting, motor racing, parachute jumping and rock climbing appearing on the wish list.

Roman Bryl, Swiftcover’s travel underwriting manager, stressed that as holiday makers venture further afield the need for adequate insurance cover becomes more important than ever. Not only is it paramount to ensure that your policy covers destinations outside Europe but also that it will cover potentially expensive medical treatment should your adventure go wrong.

Swiftcover has discovered that there are various misapprehensions amongst travellers about insurance and they have published advice clarifying many of the more common myths. Full details are available on the insurers’ website but can be summarised in a nutshell as follows:

If you have a pre-existing medical condition you must tell your insurer
If your holiday is cancelled before you go you should make the airline, travel agent or tour operator your first port of call for a refund or alternative arrangements
Some insurers will cover you for volcanic ash and strikes but not all
Even if you have insurance you still need to take reasonable care of your possessions to avoid invalidating your cover
Do not be fooled into thinking that your credit card will provide the same level of insurance cover as a travel policy
Not all sports are covered as standard on a travel policy so check before deciding to do that dream bungee jump
In order to get free or reduced-cost health care in the EU you will need an EHIC card which is available free of charge before you leave the UK