How Much Travel Insurance do you Need?
1. Determine how much coverage you really need and don’t be persuaded into taking out more coverage than is necessary. There is actually no legal requirement to have travel insurance when travelling abroad. You should take into account such factors as your destination, length of trip and your age. Families should take out a family policy, which covers adults and children and usually costs less than individual policies. Less than 60 countries actually have reciprocal health agreements with the UK – and those that do mostly operate on an emergency basis only. If you are travelling to Switzerland or a country in the European Economic Area, you are also eligible for free or reduced rate emergency medical care. And if you think your credit card may include travel insurance – check the small print carefully, as the wording is often misleading and you may not be covered under your credit card.
2. Don’t assume the insurance offered by your travel agency is always the best value. Travel agents generally receive a commission on each policy sold and their insurance may not be the most competitively priced – in fact it can cost an average of five times as much as it should. And insurance provided by a travel agent or a tour operator isn’t regulated by the FSA (Financial Services Authority) whereas most independent insurance companies are members