Travel Top Tips (Insurance)

Not all travel insurance is created equal and there are dangers in searching just based on price. Make sure you have a look at the things it actually covers and that it is appropriate for the holidays and the people going on it.

Almost 40% of people don't plan on taking out travel insurance for their holiday, according to research by CompareTheMarket.com.

Here are tips, which I hope you will think are top, for those who want to take out insurance for their next holiday.

Annual Cover: If you are going to need travel insurance more than once a year, you might find you get a much better deal but booking annual cover. This covers multiple holidays and has the dual advantage of often saving money and not having to go through the tedious job of doing the admin more than once.

Book Now: Book the insurance the moment you book the holiday. That's because it doesn't just cover you while you're on the beach/hangliding/skiiing/sightseeing – it also covers you in case you have to cancel the holiday due to events such as an illness in the family or other limited event that happens before you have taken the trip.

You May Already be Covered: Some bank accounts come with travel insurance. For instance Nationwide's FlexPlus comes with World Family Travel Insurance. There are similar deals with Co-operative Bank's EveryDay Extra account and the Halifax Ultimate Reward account.

Activity Cover: Skiing is the obvious cover to get as getting injured is fairly common and ruinously expensive. You may need to be airlifted from the mountain and require help to get home, as well as all sorts of other medical expenses. You can also be sued for causing an injury to someone else by skiing into them. That's not to mention the hundreds of pounds of equipment you could damage or lose. So skiing cover is essential.

Getting general ski cover is fairly easy and there's lots of choices to be had. But if you want something from a specialist provider, especially if you are doing some adventurous snow sports - you might want to try out specialist providers such as BMC which also provides insurance cover for specialist activities such as white water rafting, caving, trekking in Nepal and other things which I've always dread of doing but will probably settle for watching on TV. Another provider, Snowcard also specialises in skiing as the name suggest, but also does more including: Snowcard covers most winter sports including on and off piste skiing and snowboarding, mountain sports like climbing, trekking and mountaineering, mountain biking, , water sports ranging from scuba diving and sailing to white water kayaking and kite surfing.

Cruise Cover: Your travel insurance may well cover you for some basic things on a cruise but you can upgrade a policy to also cover things such as: missed departures, cabin confinement because of illness and other extras which you might find useful. Perhaps most importantly you should make sure whatever insurance you have covers you in case you are hundreds of miles away from shore and need to be airlifted to a mainland hospital.

Pre-Existing Conditions: Not declaring pre-existing medical conditions and GP consultations to your insurer could invalidate your cover and potentially leave you with unexpected medical bills if you suddenly become unwell and require emergency medical treatment abroad.

According to the insurance provider Staysure, a third of people are travelling with undeclared medical conditions.

• Almost all those surveyed (90%) reported that they understood what ‘declaring all pre-existing medical conditions’ means.
  

• But when asked about specific ailments, many failed to identify conditions that would need to be covered such as osteoarthritis (37%), infections (30%), anxiety (22%), and headaches/migraines (16%). These could all be considered a ‘pre-existing medical condition’ by an insurer if you experienced symptoms, take medication, consulted your GP, or visited a hospital regarding them in the last 2 years.

According to Staysure, which specialises in pre-existing medical conditions, the costs of not reading the small print on pre-existing condition can be very very expensive, if it invalidates your claim. They say:

• Monaco is the most expensive holiday destination to be hospitalised in - with the average night’s stay starting from £2,400 in a public hospital

• Luxembourg is second at £1,500 per night.

• Norway is third at £1,150

• The US could set you back £600 a night.

Getting insurance for pre-existing medical conditions can be a little more complex, so don't leave it to the last minute. You may want to check out specialist , such as the above, or particular parts of the comparison service websites, which offer specific quotes for pre-existing conditions, such as MoneySuperMarket.Com This link will take you to their specialist pre-existing conditions service.

You can also search on the web for "travel insurance for pre-existing conditions" to find other products

Annual Car Hire Insurance: Getting Excess Car Insurance for the year before you go, can cost around £140. That covers you for all the excess of the car insurance. Getting it at the desk is always a bit of a nightmare - but it can also cost £60-£80 or more for your 2 week holiday., So if you are going away more than once a year, and booking a car, it can make sense to get the annual excess policy. However, if you do, you will have to pay for any damage and then claim it back on your policy when you get home. You will, also have to leave a deposit on your card when you take the car at the rental desk.

Claiming: If it's for a medical bill and not an emergency, try to get your insurer to accept the claim before you get treatment. Although if in doubt, I would personally always get attention as the priority.

If it is a theft, it is good to get a crime reference number, which is boring and can be difficult to get, depending on the country, but should Mae claiming easier.

If you have trouble making a claim you can get help from Resolver. It has an online tool than can help manage the complaints procedure. It also has some great information about providers and is generally really good and useful. If that still doesn't work, you can go to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

GHIC: The UK Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) lets you get necessary state healthcare in EU countries, and some other countries, on the same basis as a resident of that country. This may be free or it may require a payment equivalent to that which a local resident would pay.

The UK GHIC has replaced the existing European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). If you have an existing EHIC you can continue to use it until the expiry date on the card. Once it expires, you'll need to apply for a UK GHIC to replace it.

You can apply for a new card up to 9 months before your current card expires.

A UK GHIC is free and lasts for up to 5 years. Apply for your new card through the NHS website. Avoid unofficial websites – they may charge you a fee to apply.