Get your cover now or face a hell of a holiday
AS the holiday booking season gets into full swing, travellers are being urged to buy their insurance right away as almost half of all claims are for cancellation before travel.
If you do not buy cover until a few weeks or days before you go you have no protection in case you have to cancel before departure due to, say, illness or other unexpected event.
Medical treatment is a key reason why older holidaymakers make a claim on their travel insurance policy, according to research from Saga.
One in five holidaymakers have made a claim for medical costs since turning 50.
Many had to abandon their holiday part way through, mainly due to illness of them or their travelling companion, while others claimed after a loved one had fallen ill at home. One in ten have claimed for lost baggage, typically after it goes astray at the airport.
Saga head of travel insurance Kevin McMullan warned against buying insurance based on price alone, simply picking the cheapest on a comparison site. “Low-cost insurers often strip out important cover levels so it is more important than ever to know what you are buying,” he advised.
Claims can be expensive, so you need to be confident your insurer will pay: “In the past year, we have paid out £206,000 for a claim in the USA, £73,500 in Greece and £48,500 in Turkey.”
Remember that you must disclose all pre-existing medical conditions when taking out a new policy, even if they seem trivial – if you fail to do so you run the risk of invalidating any claim.