Like all other insurance, travel insurance requires you to pay a premium. The combined premiums paid by the many allow these companies to cover the claims that will arise. It is designed to protect protect your health, belongings and the cost of your trip should anything go wrong while you are abroad or in some cases before you leave.

What your travel insurance covers is policy-dependant, and although many do have policy guidelines in common, its vital to make sure the policy you have taken out covers your needs and will cover them in the part of the world you are travelling to! The most obvious reason to take out a policy is when the holiday itself is very expensive, and things going even slightly wrong could leave you vastly out of pocket. This is especially true for a long-haul or multi-stop trip that could leave you in a precarious position far from home.

But what about the cheaper budget trips that you take, a simple break-away to a European city? It can be tempting to keep the cost of this as low as possible by excluding travel insurance. Travel insurance is not just to cover the flights and accommodation. It can have policy in place for trip interruption and trip delay benefits, and most importantly protection for your health and belongings – protecting you from the unexpected costs that can make holiday accidents a story to be told in the future instead of an enormous debt.

In comparison to other insurances that may be more familiar to you, travel insurance can be low-cost, and you can shop around to see what is available. In some cases if you have health insurance already, they already offer or can add on travel insurance. For some trips, travel insurance is becoming compulsory, but we recommend viewing as you would any other essential cost of travel.