You don’t want to think of anything bad happening on your amazing trip, but I strongly urge you to get travel insurance. I personally wouldn’t risk leaving home without it, you just never know if something will go wrong. I have been very lucky in all my years of travel and I have only ever claimed once; and that was simply a delayed flight. However, I still wouldn’t risk it.
The most important things I look for in a travel policy is good medical cover and medical repatriation. The medical cover should be at least £2million/$3million. Medical repatriation provides me peace of mind, so that f I know if I got very sick or had an accident my travel policy will get me home or to the nearest medical facility.
TIP – Ensure your policy has at least Medical Repatriation, especially if you are travelling to remote areas. If I end up breaking my leg (touch wood I don’t) in a remote village in Nepal, I know I can be helicoptered out to the nearest hospital.
Also it is important to make sure all the countries you are visiting are covered, even countries you are just doing a overnight stop over with your flight.
Before buying travel insurance shop around. I wouldn’t take any insurance offered when you buy your holiday or flight, they are generally not competitive. I booked my travel insurance today. I have decided to go with World Nomads. I have used Columbus Direct in the past, but comparing prices World Nomads were cheaper and the package was very similar.
TIP – If the site takes a promotion code, do a google search and see if you can find any codes. I managed to save 10% on my insurance policy.
So you can compare, this is a summary of my policy for 4 months, costing me $244.10 (approximately £170):
| Overseas Medical ExpensesEmergency medical and dental expenses if you are sick, injured or need hospitalisation after an accident or unforeseen illness while travelling overseas. If you die, we’ll arrange for your remains to be returned home. | $5,000,000 |
| Pre-Trip Cancellation Cover for pre-paid, non-refundable travel expenses or tuition fees if you have to cancel your trip before you leave home, due to your, or your travel companion’s death, injury or unexpected, serious illness or due to other specific reasons listed in the policy wording. | $10,000 |
Medical Evacuation & Additional ExpensesIf you are seriously sick or injured in an accident, we’ll help arrange emergency transport to get you to the nearest appropriate medical facility for treatment and/or your evacuation home if necessary. We’ll also help you return home early if your travel companion or close relative dies, is seriously injured or ill. |
$500,000 |
Loss of Passport or Travel DocumentsAdditional overseas travel or accommodation costs if your passport is stolen or lost and you need to travel to the nearest passport issuing office to replace it |
$1,000 |
Luggage and Personal Items |
$2500 |
Personal LiabilityLegal expenses and legal liability for damages if you injure someone or damage property in an accident while travelling. Third party liability cover for rental vehicles is not included. |
$2,500,000 |
TIP – Lastly buy your travel insurance before you leave your home country. Once you leave, a lot of insurance companies will not cover you. I found out this the hard way. A few years ago I flew back to the UK before travelling on to Asia, since I don’t need travel insurance in the UK I had not purchased any before leaving Australia. That’s how I discovered World Nomads, they were the only company that would cover me for my onward travels.
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