Taking a weekend break or a longer holiday without purchasing travel insurance is more common than you think. Often, people will take the gamble that they’re young and healthy and nothing bad will happen to them. They ignore the fact that sudden illnesses can and do occur, and accidents are an unfortunate part of life in general.
Here are a few reasons why you cannot afford to travel without insurance.
Flight Cancelled? Claim the Loss Back
Sometimes a flight gets cancelled or delayed due to bad weather, strike action, the lack of availability of qualified staff or because of a regulatory problem. While some airlines will act responsibly by offering a different flight on their service or pay for the purchase of a new ticket on a different airline, not all of them do so.
Some travel insurance policies provide for recovering the cost of a cancelled flight. While you may have to buy the replacement flight yourself, the costs may be paid out (as part of the claim), if it has been included as part of your policy.
Theft
Having your bags stolen while at the beach is quite common. Tourists are often targeted by local criminals who view them as easy pickings. Most theft is opportunistic by nature, but it also comes from travellers being inattentive about their possessions because they’re in holiday mode.
It can be difficulty ensuring all your possessions are safe consistently, so it may be worth looking into the kind of policies provided by insurers such as Staysure holiday insurance to cover your holiday possessions. This might also include cash in the wallet or purse, cameras, and other items. But always check what is and is not included as part of a policy as overly expensive items may need to be confirmed with the insurer first.
Liability Coverage
When travelling, it’s possible that someone may hold you liable for an accident or incident that occurred. This may be through no fault of your own. It’s easy to get into an accident when riding a rented motorcycle and cause damage to a building or another bike or vehicle. Someone else might get injured too, in which case, having liability coverage might save the day.
Repatriation
In some situations, it’s preferable to be flown back to the UK for treatment. This avoids racking up a substantial bill at a local hospital by flying back home and then being covered by the NHS system.
It may also be the case that there are better facilities and newer equipment in the UK compared to where you’re holidaying. The doctors could also be better trained or use newer medical procedures too.
Poor Health and Injuries
You might be flying out of the country thinking that you have a clean bill of health, perhaps, that’s not the case. The symptoms of a major disease may not get noticed until you’ve already arrived at your destination. Alternatively, getting into an accident on a motorbike or during a bus trip can be severe and costly.
Unless you have cash available to pay for medical treatment locally or you have an approved travel insurance policy that will pay out (some pay directly to the hospital), treatment is likely to be declined. In other situations, the hospital will not release a patient until they pay their bill, even if they did provide emergency medical treatment.
Someone without travel insurance often has to use a GoFundMe campaign to try to raise the funds from strangers to pay for medical care and fly home. This is because they didn’t take out travel insurance. The recent spate of such cases has highlighted the absolute need for travellers to have their own insurance policies in place.
Legal Assistance
Depending on what happens to you, it’s possible to end up in legal hot water. In which case, you’ll need help funding legal expenses to defend yourself. It cannot simply just be ignored.
For instance, in some countries, like Thailand, if a party sues you, you’re unable to leave the country unless you have the court’s permission to do so. At which point, having a legal representative paid for to help you navigate the foreign legal landscape is essential to get the matter resolved as soon as possible.
Enjoying the Holiday without Worry
When you have a travel insurance document, you have peace of mind while on your holiday. There’s some form of insured cover for most things that go suddenly awry.
It’s still a good idea to consider what coverage you do and don’t have. For instance, diving into a pool and hitting your head in the shallow end may not be covered if it was considered to be reckless.
Similarly, it’s possible that going scuba diving or having an accident on a motorbike isn’t covered if they’re considered an irresponsible activity or a dangerous sport. Getting additional coverage for certain sporting activities is a good idea, as not every policy covers all water sports and other high-octane activities.
Going travelling without getting coverage is a major gamble. While the odds of something bad happening to you are relatively small, if the worst does occur, the financial cost is often crippling.
