Single trip travel insurance

If you only plan to travel abroad once this year, then single trip travel insurance is probably the best value – there’s no point in paying for cover you don’t need!

Generally speaking, you can purchase single trip travel insurance to cover three areas; Europe, Worldwide and Worldwide with exclusions. These exclusions tend to be travel to areas like the Caribbean, USA and Canada where claims tend to be more expensive. Check your policy details to make sure you have chosen the right territory – for example, some providers include Tunisia under their European cover, while others don’t.

It is also very important to check the details of your single trip travel insurance policy very carefully to check the cover meets your needs. If it does prove to be unsuitable, you should be able to obtain a refund within 14 days of taking out the policy provided your trip has not already begun and you have not made a claim on the policy.

A good single trip travel insurance policy should offer cover for emergency medical expenses, cancellation, curtailment, personal possessions, personal liability and legal expenses. Many single trip travel insurance policies offer the option to exclude baggage cover for a discount – this is worth doing if you already have “away from home” cover for your personal belongings on your home contents insurance policy, or don’t feel that you need cover for this.

You may also have encountered something called “excess waiver” on some single trip travel insurance policies. Basically, the excess is an amount that you pay whenever you make a certain type of claim. By paying a small addition premium for “excess waiver” you can eliminate this cost.

If you are planning a ski or snowboard trip, it is important to find single trip travel insurance which offers cover for this. Similarly if you are going on an adventure holiday, check that the single trip travel insurance policy offers cover for any hazardous activities you are taking part in before you go.

Single trip travel insurance is available from a number of places. If you booked your holiday through a travel agent you will probably have been offered their policy, but remember you are not obliged to take this and it can work out very expensive. Thanks to comparison sites such as Moneysupermarket it is easier than ever to compare single trip travel insurance premiums, and as a result the market has become very competitive.

Don’t be tempted to try and save money by travelling without single trip travel insurance – the cost of sorting out even a small problem will probably outweigh the premium you paid, and bills for medical emergencies can run into many thousands of pounds.