Exclusive:
If you’re jetting off abroad on holiday this year, it’s so important to remember to book your travel insurance in advance and check exactly what your policy covers
Travel insurance experts have shared the cover you should always check you have before holidaying.
Booking travel insurance might seem like a mundane task but it should be on your ‘must-have’ packing list, as it covers you if your luggage gets stolen, if you have to cancel a trip due to illness or if you need emergency medical treatment while abroad. All policies vary and you can get insured for single trips or multiple trips, individual holidays, couple holidays or family holidays.
But what you might not know is exactly what details to look out for. According to travel insurance experts at Staysure, first and foremost you should always make sure you are covered for injuries, cancellations and lost or stolen items.
Speaking to The Mirror, the experts explained: “Generally, we would recommend everyone to ensure they have cover for medical and injury costs, cancellations, and lost or stolen items within their travel insurance policy. If you’re off on a cruise or snow-slope adventure, it’s important to remember that you will need to take out specific cover for those types of trips. If you’ll be doing activities such as water sports or hiking, ensure your policy covers these.”
But when should you book your travel insurance? According to the experts, holidaygoers should buy a tailored policy as soon as they book their flights and accomodation. “This will protect your holiday investment from a range of unexpected events whether that’s a medical or personal emergency, being called for jury duty, or a change in FCDO travel advice,” they said. “Leaving things till the last minute may mean that you’re not covered if anything goes wrong in the build-up to your trip and while away.”
You can choose to book single or annual insurance if you’re planning to take multiple trips throughout the year. The latter is usually better value for money. “Annual policies don’t limit the number of times you can go away, but holidaymakers should be aware of the maximum number of travel days you get in annual cover and the trip length durations,” the experts said. “Taking out several single trip policies tends to be more expensive than one annual policy, but it often gives you more flexibility.”
The tips comes as technology expert Nick Drewe advises switching to incognito mode on your browser to stop flight prices going up when searching. He said the nifty trick can prevent travel websites from sneakily increasing the prices when they notice repeat searches for certain flights or hotels. Nick told The Mirror: “Using incognito mode is a savvy trick to avoid the potential for dynamic pricing based on your browsing habits.”
But how do you do it? Nick explained: “Switching to incognito mode is straightforward. If you’re using Google Chrome, just click on the three-dot menu in the top-right corner and select ‘new incognito window’. On Safari, choose ‘file’ and then ‘new private window’ from the menu. If you’re using Firefox, click the menu button and select ‘new private window’. Each browser generally has a similar setup for this.”
