Are There Pitfalls to Travel Insurance

Travel insurance is something that’s recommended by just about every travel guide around — for good reason. It can cost UK consumers a pretty penny to handle emergencies and last minute issues while traveling. So it makes sense to take out policies that theoretically cover them while they’re traveling around the country. Is this something that really has to become a hot button issue?

Some people argue that it definitely does — you must make sure that you are focusing heavily on protecting yourself. If you have no coverage that truly protects you, then you might as well skip the travel insurance. Yet that idea is a bit extreme. It’s just about reading your insurance company’s policy a bit more closely than just looking at the price. The fine print can hold pitfalls that might not be noticeable. So, this guide is all about uncovering some of the most common pitfalls in travel insurance.

First and foremost, you want to make sure that your policy covers children even when they don’t live with you. There are quite a few policies offered by companies that have excluded children that live with another parent for all or part of the year.

Another child-related exclusion would be children who are traveling on their own. You will have to make sure that you understand what “independent” means as well. Some insurers consider children traveling independently even if you were to put them on a plane and the other parent will collect them the moment they get off the plane. A responsible adult often has to accompany the child for the whole journey — even if they are more than old enough to travel on their own.

Winter sports aren’t always covered by travel insurance plans — you need to make sure that you’re seeking out ski cover specifically, which would cover your winter sport rush. General travel insurance will usually have this as an exclusion. Does it matter? Absolutely — if you go with a general policy and get injured, you could be on the hook for all of those payments — not a great idea.

It’s better to ensure that you have things covered by looking directly at the insurance fine print no matter what. A few more moments of looking over things can save you literally thousands of pounds of worry down the road. Exclusions matter, you know!