Travel insurance provides you with cover for a wide range of possible incidents which occur when you are away from home. The level of cover that you receive varies based on the type of insurance you buy as well as the insurance company with which you choose to deal. Travel insurance may cover the following circumstances: emergency medical expenses; travel delay or holiday cancellation; personal liability for any accident; hijack and mugging; legal expenses; passport and baggage loss, or delay; money loss or theft, and damage to sports equipment.
In addition, there are more comprehensive protection options available. These include: wedding cover; sports cover, such as for skiing or other winter sports; hospital stays; acts of terrorism; pet care, and stolen or lost luggage. You will often find that insurers offer specialised policies based around a single trip or multi-trip policy, but include these added extras as standard. For example, Ski Insurance is often a single trip policy with added cover for ski equipment, ski pass and cancellation costs, such as if the ski resort were closed due to avalanche.
Often, you can negotiate a more personalised level of cover on a basic policy. This means that you can customise a basic, single trip policy with extra protection suited to your needs. For example, if you wish to take a golfing holiday, you could choose a single trip policy but request extra cover for your golf equipment.
Individual, Family, or Group Cover
Regardless of the type of insurance you choose, you can usually cover either yourself or a group of people under one policy. For example, if you are travelling with your family, you do not have to purchase individual policies for each member. If you are travelling with a group of friends, you may be able to reduce the cost of your insurance by buying one 'group' insurance policy, rather than multiple separate policies.
