“You have a pre-existing condition… You’ll be looking at some form of specialist insurance policy to get the price down, places like AllClear Travel…” – Martin Lewis (Founder of Money Saving Expert)
How you can save money and travel with peace of mind
It was great to be a suggested Travel Insurance provider on The Martin Lewis Money Show.
Leading financial expert, Martin Lewis raised a lot of valid points about how you can make sure you get the right travel insurance cover, at the right price.
Basic travel insurance – like the policies of some bank accounts – often provide no cover for pre-existing medical conditions. Or the premium greatly increases once conditions are included.
On the other hand, specialist Travel Insurance providers have the expertise to offer the right cover at a sensible price.
ABTA recently revealed that 40% of British holidaymakers went abroad in 2017 with the wrong cover. This led to a staggering 9.9 million travellers being at risk of having their claim turned down last year! And if you need any more convincing about having specialist cover, consider these claim statistics:
- An air ambulance from the USA cost between £80,000 – £100,000
- An insect bite cost one traveller a £136,000 bill
- Travel insurers pay out more than £1,000,000 every single day
Not got around to buying your travel insurance yet?
If you already realise the importance of travel insurance, but you just haven’t got round to buying it yet, have another listen to Martin Lewis:
“If you have booked your holiday, but don’t have travel insurance, do it tonight, otherwise you’re running a risk. Don’t leave it, that’s pointless.”
If you want your travel insurance to cover you for cancellation, have your policy in place as soon as you book your holiday. This important to get full protection, and for your own peace of mind. Read on for the reasons why…
To cover your pre-existing medical conditions:
If you have a pre-existing medical condition, it can be vital that your travel insurance includes cancellation cover. If you have a last-minute medical emergency, you won’t want to lose out on the money you’ve spent if you can’t travel. Provided you declare all your medical conditions at the time you take out your policy, you should be able to recover your costs and re-book your holiday for when the doctor declares you well enough to travel.
To cover more than the GHIC
In the show, Martin also talks about the GHIC (then EHIC). He explains that Travel Insurance often includes cover for repatriation and cancellation (as well as lost or stolen baggage) – all of which you don’t get with a GHIC.
You can use the following checklist to make sure your Travel Insurance cover is comprehensive:
- Cancellation: if you need to cancel your holiday before go
- Medical expenses: for illness and accidents when you are abroad
- Personal accident: for death or permanent disablement
- Curtailment: when needed to cut your holiday short
- Lost documents: cover for passports, tickets etc
- Possessions & baggage: for lost and stolen bags including contents
- Personal liability: when an accident caused by you affects a third party
So don’t take the risk – take out comprehensive travel insurance as soon as you’ve booked your holiday.
Which means all that’s left to do is enjoy your trip! And should anything happen.. your specialist insurance will take care of you 24/7 – wherever you are.
We hope to help you travel with peace of mind soon!
