Shopping Around for Travel Insurance | Read Before you Buy

It's amazing to learn that 30% of people are skipping out on travel insurance. I for one am not making up the numbers there. Planning a trip with Travel Insurance is just as important as taking your passport. The wife and I are heading to South Africa and Namibia next month so it's time to renew and update our Travel Insurance documents. When it came to renewing our Travel Insurance with Leisure Guard, upon which we paid circa £400 last year, this time they wanted an extra £100 just to renew. Bearing in mind we have had no claims on our insurance policy up to this point.

AGAIN we had to begin the process of shopping around for Travel Insurance looking for the deals with the best value. We were happy to pay the money, even pay another company the same money, but it was the principle of it all. As a returning customer we were being charged an extra 20% on our renewal fee. It just didn't make sense.

This time we found a deal with Cover For You, for close to half the price of our original insurance. I understand that the prices for renewal have gone up across the board, and there are many factors for this. According to this article on Stay Sure,

Travel insurance has increased due to rising medical costs worldwide, particularly in popular destinations, combined with inflation and economic factors like a weak pound. Other causes include more frequent and severe extreme weather events, higher rates of travel disruptions, and increased fraud.

But how can one company undercut another by half, and how come as a returning customer I don't get any loyalty rewards? When looking around for comparison quotes we kept running into the big names, Allianz, AIG, World Nomads, Travel Guard, Seven Corners, Generali, and Faye.

The tool which has come in handy for many people when looking for travel insurance comparison sites is Squaremouth. Squaremouth allows you to see all the top plans side by side with pricing for each and what kind of coverage is involved.

What the Sellers Say:

I've also been doing some research into what to look out for on your Travel Insurance documents. I've scoured forums and comment sections from people who claim to sell travel insurance and here are some general tips I'm taking onboard.

●  Typically trip delay, interruption and luggage coverage is only covered in certain circumstances.

●  Before departing for any trip, please go through the supporting documents needed to file a claim. Eg. Theft of cash/ personal belongings must be reported within 24hrs to the police/ carrier.

●  Take photos of everything inside your luggage. Always document what you have inside your luggage whether it’s departing from your country of origin or flying back to it.

●  Insurance companies will often deny a claim, at first. It's a business decision. If you are a "nice" pest, calling daily, things will get to a point where they pay it because you are costing them more in professional time than the claim is worth. If you are nasty with them they will block you and deny permanently and cancel your policy.

●  In the event of having any of your goods stolen on holiday, be sure to get a formal police report as evidence of any theft.

●  The "Cancel for any reason" policy is a good idea if you're taking an expensive trip that is non-refundable.

What the pundits say:

As Eoghan Corry said on Ireland AM last month;

It's important to get travel insurance right before you start getting it wrong. A Go-Fund me campaign is not a policy. The good news is travel agents are increasingly making sure people have a policy before they have a booking. You won't be able to get travel insurance once you've landed in your destination.

Most important takeaway:

When it comes to paying back a claim, insurance companies trawl through any pre-existing conditions you may have. Because the companies would deny most claims and say 'we would have sold you a different policy had we known about your pre-existing condition.' You must declare anything, a heart attack, surgery, allergies etc. It doesn't actually increase the price of the insurance in most cases, but it could cost you everything if you fail to declare.