Spring appears to have sprung, and the great Easter get-away is upon us. But have you sorted your travel insurance yet? Thousands of people end up spending more than they need to every year, so we thought we would give you some tips on how to make sure you buy the right amount of travel insurance, leaving you with more spending money for your travels.
Plan ahead – it can make all the difference
Many travellers have the dilemma of whether to take out a single trip insurance policy, or take out an annual policy. Generally speaking, an annual policy is only worthwhile if you are planning to travel more than twice a year, or if your trips are more than one week duration. Our best advice is to plan ahead and carry out some price comparisons. Using a comparison site like PayingTooMuch.com makes this really easy, and quick to do. Here’s an example to show you the difference it can make:
Case study
Mr & Mrs Jones are planning to travel to France for a week in May, and then to Abu Dhabi for a week in November. They are both 50 years old, with no pre-existing medical conditions, and they want cover for loss of baggage, cancellation and medical expenses.
- If they buy two single trip policies, the total price is £72.74.
- For the same amount of cover, an annual policy will cost them £94.
Mr & Mrs Jones then decide they also want to stay with family for a week in Berlin in September. A single trip will cost an extra £22.46, meaning they would have paid a total of £95.20 for three single trip policies. By adding an extra trip, it would have been marginally cheaper to take out an annual policy.
Make sure you have the right level of cover
It’s worth being vigilant about how much cover you are getting for your money. Quite often the cheapest travel insurance quotes won’t cover you for cancellation or loss of baggage. And there are varying amounts of cover too. A few pounds more on your premium can make all the difference.
For example, using the case study above, Mr & Mrs Jones were quoted £26 for their trip to France, which would have given them £1,000 cancellation cover. For £3.50 more, they would have received £3,000 cancellation cover, which would have adequately covered the cost of their trip.
Travelling with families
Families travelling together multiple times generally like to insure all family members on one annual policy, which makes perfect sense. However many people then think they need to take out a separate policy if one member wants to travel alone, or if any insured children are travelling separately to their parents (for example on a school trip or with another relative).
This is not the case. With most insurers, all insured travellers under one annual policy are also insured to travel individually, provided the trip is within the regional limits of the policy. This includes children insured on an annual family policy. As long as the children named on the policy are travelling with an adult over the age of 18, and the accompanying adult does not have to be named on the same policy as the children.
To carry out quick and easy independent travel insurance comparisons, visit PayingTooMuch.com, or call us on 01243 784000.
