Posts tagged travel insurance

A holidaymaker from Wales is due home today after suffering serious injuries while on holiday in Turkey.

Micheal Lonergan broke his neck while diving in the Turkish resort of Altinkum and underwent emergency surgery on the injury which threatens to leave him paralysed from the neck down.  The bill for Mr Lonergan’s hospital treatment and the emergency flight home total £43,000, a fee that his insurance company have refused to meet after initially agreeing. His father said;

“What made it more difficult was that initially everything was been taken care of by the insurance company and then on Wednesday last week they decided they weren’t going to cover any costs whatsoever.”

According the insurer, Mr Lonergan exposed himself to “needless risk” in diving off a pier into the sea, falling foul of an exclusion that many holidaymakers might not even be aware of.

As many holdaymakers get ready for the holiday season (many without any cover at all), it’s a timely reminder of the value of travel insurance and the need to discuss any activities with your broker to make certain that you’re covered if the worst happens.

With all the upheaval taking place in North Africa at the moment, the British Insurance Brokers Association (BIBA) has published its official position on travel insurance to the affected areas.

The key thing seems to be that as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has officially advised against travel to specific parts of Egypt, your policy would NOT be valid in these areas.

You can read the details from BIBA here, and the latest Government travel advice here.

Can you get there?

A timely question given the state of Heathrow at the moment…but don’t start salivating over the majesty of the Taj Mahal or the vastness of the Grand Canyon until you check out the mundane stuff. What are the visa requirements? Do you qualify? Is obtaining one bureaucratic? If you can only travel next week, and the visa takes two weeks to organise, cross that option off your list.

What should drop out of the bottom of this pre-planning exercise is a dream holiday that you have time to do, and can actually afford. Draw up a draft itinerary, quickly – before you change your mind. Then draw up another list detailing the tasks you have to undertake to deliver the itinerary.

Make sure it’s in a logical order, for example, never buy tickets or accommodation without getting the visas first.

So, now you’ve made a decision on where to go. What next?

Well, the good news is, it doesn’t matter if its an overland trip through South America, or a long weekend in Paris, there are only three things to concentrate on when planning a trip; time, budget, and available resources. Decisions you make on each, impact on the other. Lets look at them in reverse order.

Resources
The simple equation here is, the more you do yourself the less resources you need. For example, there is no need to employ a travel agent when you can just as easily book a train, or find a hotel on the Internet. But then again, their local knowledge may actually save you money and time. And if you use a specialist travel agent they can often assist with other things, like visa applications, for example. You have to find a balance that’s right for you and your budget.

Offer a selection of specialist travel agencies your itinerary and ask them for a quote to organise it. You might be surprised how competitive they can be.

Try to pre-book the accommodation, irrespective of who does the bookings, and arrive at each destination at a reasonable hour. It can be confusing enough arriving in a strange city without doing so at three in the morning after twenty hours of non-stop travel.

If possible get the accommodation you’ve booked to meet you. Many will do this at little or no cost. By so doing you’ll avoid running the gauntlet of taxi and accommodation touts that tend to hunt in packs around stations and airports.

Next up – we’ll discuss budgeting…