Do I need travel insurance?

If you’re asking yourself ‘Do I need travel insurance?’ the answer is ‘yes’.

It’s not good enough to have just any travel insurance either, you need the right travel insurance. Your credit card insurance, or the basic insurance that comes with your flight may not be enough to cover you in event of an emergency, particularly medical emergencies.

If you don’t have insurance, paying for a medical emergency could cost thousands of pounds, which you may not be able to afford, so it’s worth making sure you’re covered with adequate travel insurance before you go anywhere.

Here’s a useful checklist for making sure that your travel insurance covers you. Check that:

• there’s a 24 hour emergency helpline;
• you’re covered for lost or stolen items;
• your medical and health insurance cover serious injuries, hospitalisation and sudden illness;
• you’re covered if you need to cancel your trip or cut it short;
• you’re covered if you’re going to be doing anything risky, such as skiing;
• your policy covers the full cost of your holiday or if you need to cut a trip short due to illness or other circumstances;
• your policy covers the cost of getting home.

Other types of travel insurance might include personal accident cover (including disability and death), cover for pregnancy, legal expenses or financial protection if your travel agency goes out of business. You may also want to opt for cover if anything should happen to your home while you are away.

How much not having travel insurance could cost

Every year the cost of hospital treatment in foreign countries is rising dramatically, which means it’s becoming more and more important to get medical insurance cover for when you go on holiday, as you may not be able to afford your own treatment if something should go wrong.

Stomach bugs, ear infections, allergies and heart trouble are the most common illnesses that are claimed for. Here are some hypothetical examples of reasonable costs to expect, according to the Association of British Insurers: