Travel Insurance













  IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)

If you are planning to travel to a Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) infected area as designated by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) the following notice applies.

Insurancewide.com's travel insurance provider is unable to provide insurance and would not cover an existing policyholder (an Insured Person) travelling to a country where the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has advised against travel. In the current climate with the SARS infection this includes Hong Kong.

If an Insured Person travels to a country which is not on the FCO warning list and they were to contract the SARS infection Insurancewide's travel insurance provider would cover all medical costs and arrange repatriation if deemed necessary. The Insured Person should also contact the emergency services immediately.

For Insured Persons booked to travel to an infected area where the FCO have advised against travel, a refund or suitable alternative should be obtainable from the Travel Agent/Tour Operator.

Under the cancellation section of the policy, Insurancewide.com's travel insurance provider does cover the insured if they are prevented from travelling to the intended destination due to Government restriction or epidemic. However, Insurancewide.com's travel insurance provider would not cover any situation if restrictions for the destination country were in place at the time of effecting the policy.

Not Just an Optional Extra

No-one wants the unexpected to happen when they go abroad, but unfortunately there is no such thing as a totally risk-free holiday.

Last year there were more than 400,000 insurance claims by UK holiday-makers and business travellers, according to the Association of British Insurers.

Travel insurance is not so much an optional extra as an integral part of any break. Policies need to cover the obvious problems, such as a stolen wallet or purse, an accident or an illness. But good policies will also provide compensation for delays and cancellation, for damaged or lost luggage, and even a telephone help line for emergencies.

What Type of Cover?

The simplest way to buy travel insurance might seem to be through a travel agent or tour operator. Sometimes, these policies are free, but where they are not free they can be expensive. Travel agents are no longer allowed to insist that holiday makers book insurance through them, and it's almost always possible to find a better deal by shopping around.

The traditional way to buy travel insurance is to take out cover for each trip, and this is usually how tour operators sell their cover. If you only make one or possibly two trips abroad a year, this might be the best option. A growing number of travellers, however, are opting for annual travel insurance.

The advantage of an annual policy is that there is no need to worry about arranging cover for each journey, and it is usually better value than buying individual policies for two or three trips a year.

Most annual policies will cover trips of a month or more, and they can be bought to cover Europe or world-wide travel. It's usually possible to add business cover or insurance for sports such as ski-ing for an additional charge.

Annual travel insurance is an even better deal for families. Insurance for a couple will be cheaper than for two single adults, and cover for a family with children under 18 is not usually much more expensive than cover for a couple. Do watch, though, for restrictions on how the cover works. Some family travel policies only cover the family if everyone travels together. The best policies will cover each adult travelling on his or her own, and even unaccompanied trips by the children.
  IMPORTANT NOTICE

Please be advised that the travel insurance policies on offer herein do not cover losses arising due to War or Terrorism, except Medical and Personal Accident claims as a result of physical injury sustained directly in a terrorist attack, unless travel is undertaken contrary to Government advice.

As such, claims under the Cancellation, Curtailment, Missed Departure, Travel Delay & Abandonment sections of the policy will not be covered if the claim arises due to an act of War or Terrorism, or fear of War or Terrorism.

The policies on offer do not cover losses arising as a result of the financial failure of any airline, travel agent or tour operator.
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