Last week my wife and I booked a two centre holiday on the Scottish Isles. Seven days on Skye and then a ferry over to Steornabhagh for a further seven days on the Isle of Lewis. Wonderful scenery, plenty of walks and masses of peace and quiet.

You could have blown me over when my local travel agent assumed that I wanted travel insurance for an additional £27.50. Not on your Nellie the Lock Ness monster, I thought. Who needs travel insurance for a holiday in Britain? The National Health Service is free and in an emergency, my son could drive up and bring us home.

Later in the relaxing setting of my sitting room I got to thinking.

Holiday misfortunes don’t only happen abroad. So with my pessimistic hat on, I made a note of the risks:

Some rotter might steal our luggage

Last week I bought an all singing and dancing digital camera especially for the trip. Got it on the Internet. I might lose it whilst away.

If either of us were hospitalised we wouldn’t want to be marooned on Skye. We’d want to transfer to our local hospital in Warwickshire.

My wife’s parents are getting on. God forbid, but I’d have to cancel the holiday if something happened to them just before we’re due to go.

One of us could be taken ill before we depart and we’d be forced to cancel. As the ferries and the hotels were non-cancellable, we’d lose everything we’d paid.

There may be a major delay at the ferry going over to the Isle of Lewis. Besides the inconvenience, we have to arrange an extra overnight stay on Skye.

One of us might be called up for jury service.

Then it struck me. If I were holidaying in the Britain, my existing Home and Contents policy might cover me for loss of my camera or luggage. I dug out the policy document. Lucky I did. I was only insured for “personal possessions” if they were listed and as I’d just bought my digital camera I hadn’t got round to listing it as a valuable item on my policy.

Another aspect struck me. I’d lose my no claims discount if I made a holiday related claim on my Home & Contents policy. That wouldn’t be a good idea. I’ve got a ten year claims free record that policy and it still cost me £310 a year. I jotted down a another note — remember, when the policy comes up for renewal, see if I could get it cheaper on the Internet.

By now a travel policy at £27.50 for was looking worthwhile after all.

Now my wife says I’m a bit of an old skin flint. So keep up the image! I know, get back online and check out the travel agents’ policy at £27.50. Is it competitive?

Not all the web sites I surfed could offer me a single trip travel policy for a holiday within the UK but within ten minutes I’d found what I wanted - and a saving of over £10!

Time to study the small print to confirm I had the cover I wanted. Great, all the risks I had noted were covered. The insurer would even pay out £30 if my ferry was delayed for up to 12 hours and then give me the option to cancel my trip to the Isle of Lewis and get my money back.

Now what wouldn’t they pay for? I wasn’t covered if my holiday was for less than two nights or my hotel was less than 25 miles away from home. I also had to meet the first £30 of any claim. Seemed fair to me.

The decision was made. Simply type in my credit card details and I was insured in a CLICK.

Peace of mind restored!

Kurt

You had planned your perfect vacation and taken care of every detail. Now nothing could go wrong. But you somehow managed to loose your luggage at the airport. Now what!! Panic time. You lodge a complain with the concerned authorities and the first question the ask you is the name of your insurance company. That’s when you tell yourself, “God, I wish I had got my trip insured.” Don’t put yourself in situations which can very much be avoided or taken care of.

Murphy’s Law states ‘things will go wrong in any given situation, if you give them a chance.’ So why leave loopholes, why not take care of things beforehand. The right suggestion is to buy travel insurance.

No doubt, you need to plan a lot of things before you leave for your vacation like where to go, where to stay, things to pack. But regardless of all the planning there are things that are absolutely out of your command and control. This is where travel insurance fits in and it can take care of unexpected out of the blue situations.

But what exactly is travel insurance? It is a security or guarantee that intends to cover financial and other kind of losses that can happen anywhere either in your own country or abroad. In simpler words, travel insurance takes care of you where you anywhere in the world, in any kind of crisis.

Loosing your baggage is not the only problem that can incur when traveling. There are other

emergencies too that can pop up. To tackle different situations there are different types of insurances. You can choose the insurance you need depending on the kind of trip and the duration of your stay. Bad weather, sudden illness or death or bankruptcy of airline or cruiser before departure is covered by most of the travel insurance policies. There are also travel health policies that cover medical emergencies. It is advantageous to individuals who suffer from chronic illness and would need medical attention at any point during the trip. This policy takes care of doctor visits, evacuation out of the country and medication.

Imagine being in a foreign land stuck in a crisis and language is a barrier and you are not able to locate the nearest emergency facility. When help does come the medication bills, evacuation bills are so high that instead of the trip being the budget-fit kinds completely crosses the budget graph. The cost of the ‘help’ turns out to be much more than the trip. With no international health insurance you will end up paying an obscene amount for any medical treatment or doctor visits. It turns out to be very expensive and taxing. This is where International Health Insurance steps in. It works as your safety net.

There are also travel insurances for people who are frequent fliers. It is kind of difficult to predict the nature of the problem that might pop up on a trip, so for such trips these policies take care of any loss regarding money or any other kind of emergency. Travel insurances take care of you from the moment you leave home to the time you come back.

Another important thing to bear in mind is to choose the right kind of insurance policy. Don’t go in for cheap travel insurance as they may cover less and you may end up paying more later. At the same time don’t end up buying a policy that is very expensive just because it says a lot. Take a policy that fits in your budget and takes care of all essential requirements.

Remember that vacations are about relaxing, having fun, leaving all tensions behind. To fulfill these requirements travel insurance is a must. After all emergencies come unannounced and your schedule not only goes haywire but so does your budget.

Bertha

A person who is travelling is always apprehensive and insecure. Primarily, the reason is that being in a foreign land and away from the secure environs of his home and the familiarity of his city, any person is bound to feel uneasy and perplexed. Add to that any untoward incident, like an accident or a health problem, and the picture of the uncomfortable and hassled traveller is complete. But, with the help of a travel insurance policy, the tourist/traveller can alter this unpleasant picture into a pleasant one.

Travel insurance not only makes life easier for a person who is travelling to a foreign land, but also provides a sense of security and the assurance of handling any unwarranted happening with ease. Whether the person is travelling alone or in a group, or whether he is on a family vacation or an official trip, an insurance policy that covers all the facets of travelling is the best way to deal with the uncertainties involved.

These days, travel insurance policies cover a spectrum of areas - from the booking and cancellation of tickets to arranging the accommodation in the new place. Besides, it also covers things like sickness and other medical complications and loss or theft of possessions.

Travel policies are also of various types. They can either be a single trip policy or an annual one. It is advisable for people who have to travel extensively to take up an annual travel insurance policy; and for people who travel once in a while, a single trip policy is the perfect option.

There is also a primary and secondary travel insurance policy that is available in the market. Primary insurance would mean that the travel insurance company will be the first one to pay, and secondary policy means that they are either the second or the last to pay after the insured has claimed from other insurances under which he is covered.

A travel insurance cover is the best way to guarantee a smooth and comfortable stay abroad, whether it is for pleasure or work.

Tom