Travel Insurance advice:

Travel insurance is a must when going on any holiday. Whether you are going on a weeks holiday to France, or a month snowboarding in the alps, there are a huge number of options to make sure are included when choosing your travel insurance. Most travel insurance policies include several things as standard, but remember to read the small print, as there are often conditions such as higher premiums, and lower payouts and cover on cheaper policies.

The first thing to decide on when looking at travel insurance policies is between single trip travel insurance and annual travel insurance Choosing between these two largely depends on how often you are going to travel in a year, so is pretty easy to work out. An annual policy will generally cover between 30 and 60 days in a year. Trips are counted as number of whole days spent abroad, or 2 consecutive days in the UK. As a guideline, if you go away more than twice in a year, it is probably worth paying for a yearly policy, if you are travelling any less, it probably isn’t. This applies to most countries in the world, but one exception is the USA. Because the US has expensive health insurance, and how the annual cover is worked out, it is often much better value to look at annual travel cover in the US.

Each travel insurance package will come with its own list of what is covered and how much it is covered for. The following is a checklist of specific things to make sure is included, and what to watch out for. For example , the AA travel Insurance varies from Go Travel Insurance.

Medical Expenses

Most travel insurance will offer basic travel insurance that will cover your medical expenses should you have any type of accident. It is important to check how much you are covered as costs in foreign hospitals can go up to the thousands very easily. If you have any type of medical conditions, make sure that you mention it to the insurer. Common examples include diabetes and asthma. Remember when travelling in Europe to apply for your EHIC (European Health Insurance Card). Previously known as the E111, this card provides limited discounts and sometimes free health insurance in Europe. Those included include all members of the EU as well as Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. For all others, extra travel insurance will need to be provided. It is also worth checking whether costs are paid for expenses. Should you be a victim of an accident in which you are stuck in a foreign hospital, as well as your own personal costs, further costs may be incurred through your family flying out. This is often covered, but may not be.

read part 2 here