Family Holiday Travel Insurance - Just Another Expense?

By Patrick Chong

Family holiday travel insurance - who needs it? It's an obvious question to ask when you're looking at your forecast total budget for your break and wondering just how you're going to pay it all. You might also have heard all those old jokes about "the only cheap cover is that which you decide not to buy" - and maybe you're wondering whether to skip cover this year to save money.

Well, you could do so for sure - but would it be wise? If your luck holds and your trip goes off without a hitch, you might well congratulate yourself on having saved money. However, what will your view be if something goes wrong and you have no financial help available?

Take medical costs as one example. If you or one of your family were taken ill or injured in an accident abroad, your medical bills could run into hundreds of thousands of pounds if the condition was serious. Do you have that sort of spare cash lying around in your bank?

Now some will say that won't be a worry in a European Union country due to free health care. Wrong! This cover is only for emergency treatment, and things that are considered free in the UK might not be so in the country you're visiting so you won't benefit from those reciprocal agreements in full. Once again, you'll be facing a potentially hefty bill.

Even if the medical cover is free, have you considered how much it's going to cost if your spouse or someone else has to stay on past the end of the trip to provide care and companionship for you or the injured party? The hotel bills and additional flight costs might be horrendous - and don't expect those to be paid for by the government of the country you're visiting. Why should they?

Family holiday travel insurance isn't just about medical cover though. There are all those other potentially hugely expensive things that might disrupt your budget - such as your luggage being lost or your passport getting stolen. If you need to travel huge distances to the nearest British embassy to replace your documentation, prepare for some hefty costs - unless you have a policy that will help.

Then there are all those lovely issues associated with delays - such as hotel accommodation costs and so on. In some situations your airline or travel operator might meet the costs, but in others they may consider it's just not their fault and refuse to do so. That will have you reaching for your credit card and wincing - unless you know you'll be able to claim that back from a policy you purchased beforehand.

So, is family holiday travel insurance really worthwhile? Ultimately that decision rests with you - but if you decide 'no', you'd better hope your luck holds!

Patrick Chong is the Managing Director of Insuremore. We provide low cost travel cover and offer a range of policies including annual, multi-trip, single-trip and family holiday travel insurance. For all your travel cover needs, Insuremore can help you in the quickest and most cost-efficient way.

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