Travel and uncertainties walk besides each other. Buying a life insurance, to some extent, is of great help when it comes to assuring you some sort of financial security if you meet an unfavourable condition. But when you are travelling to foreign destination, you need an insurance, which is specifically meant to protect you against all unfavourable conditions during your tour. A travel insurance fulfills all such requirements of availing some sort of security during your tour.

Among the several types of insurance policies meant specifically for your trip, it becomes difficult to choose the best one suitable for you. There are two types of travel insurance available in the UK. Single trip insurance covers the single trip, while the annual trip holiday insurance covers all your trips in a year. If you are not a frequent traveller, you should opt for a single trip insurance. Similarly, if you are a frequent traveller, you should buy a multi-trip or an annual trip holiday insurance.

Choosing a right insurance for your trips depends on various factors. Before you have finally signed the deal, you need to check the reliability of the insurance. Check whether the cover you are having through this insurance is appropriate to protect you. Most of the travel insurance will cover luggage theft, stolen cash and other belongings. It will even give you healthcare and legal assistance. Many of the insurance fetch 24 hr medical and legal assistance.

Travel insurance is probably one of the most confusing types of insurance around. Numerous clauses, sub-clauses and a myriad of little stipulations make for a very complicated policy, which nevertheless is very important for any holiday-maker.

People going on holiday tend to adopt an ‘it won’t happen to me’ attitude and, hopefully, it won’t. But nobody is immune to ill-health or robbery, and baggage loss can happen to the best of us. So, for sheer peace of mind, it’s worth looking into travel insurance when booking your trip.

The medical aspect of a travel insurance policy is probably the most important and the most needed. Far more people fall ill abroad than you’d think, and the cost of OTC medication can be extortionate abroad as well as at home. Even contracting a simple stomach bug can cost you dearly. And if you need to be hospitalised in a foreign country, you could find yourself deeply out of pocket – most countries don’t have an equivalent to the NHS.

A man was on a three day trip aboard a small pleasure boat in Thailand. As they were on the return journey, everybody’s luggage was up on deck ready to disembark. Unexpectedly, the seas became extremely rough and the boat was in danger of capsizing. Some quick thinking by the local Thai captain and crew averted a disaster, but not before the entire boatload of luggage had slid overboard with one final terrifying lean! The gentleman in question had thousands of pounds of video equipment in his bag, as well as an engagement ring he planned to present to his girlfriend on the last night of their holiday. But while his bag went to a watery grave, his story had a happy ending. His travel insurance paid for everything including a new ring, and they lived happily ever after, with a great tale to tell! (Some of his new friends from the trip however, who hadn’t purchased holiday insurance, did not fare so well.)

Stop Police!
A hapless tourist on the trip of a lifetime to Israel, was minding his own business crossing the road. Out of nowhere a police car moving at over 80 km/hr came careering over the crossing and struck him. Horrified onlookers watched as he was thrown ten feet into the air before landing on a traffic island. Miraculously his injuries were not life threatening, but he was in hospital for weeks. The local Israeli police were extremely quick in assisting with the police report (surprise surprise!), and his travel insurance paid for a private room, all his medical expenses and his travelling expenses back to the US. Two years later, when the man was fully recovered he returned to Jerusalem to continue his tour of the city – by bus!

Hands in the Air
Two young friends were backpacking through South America on a gap year holiday. Before they left, all their uni friends had clubbed together to buy them some cheap travel insurance. The boys had announced publicly that they had thought it was an unnecessary expense – but luckily their mates disagreed. Half way into their three month holiday, the boys were crossing the border from Belize. They got a taxi from the border at Guatemala to take them to their next town. As the taxi crawled along the heavily potholed road, two masked gunmen leapt from the roadside brandishing their weapons and firing shots in the air. They demanded the driver steer the taxi into a ditch, and made off with the boys’ bags. After a few hours of pushing, the boys and driver managed to extricate the car and drove straight to the police station. Due to the foresight of their friends’ the boys’ considerable expense to replace everything was covered by their travel insurance – and they lived to hear the immortal words – “We told you so!”