Travel Insurance Do I Really Need To Buy Cover For A Holiday In Britain

L ast week my wife and I                                              booked a seven day holiday      One of us could be taken ill       in Tobermory on the             before we depart and we'd be       wonderful Isle of Mull. All that      forced to cancel. As the ferries   grand scenery with brightly           and the hotel were                 painted houses clustered around       non-cancellable, we'd lose         the harbour. Hands up who knows       everything we'd paid.              Tobermory as Balamory!                                                                                         My parents are getting on. God     You could have knocked me down        forbid, but I'd have to cancel     with a feather when the travel        the holiday if something happened  agent assumed that I wanted           to them just before we're due to   travel insurance for an               go.                                additional "£27.50. Not on your                                          Nellie the Lock Ness monster, I       My wife or I might be called up    thought. I can spot a rip off         for jury service.                  when I see one! Who needs                                                insurance for a trip to another       There may be a major delay at the  destination in Britain? The NHS       ferry. Besides the inconvenience,  is free and in an emergency, my       we have to arrange an overnight    daughter could drive up and take      stay in Oban.                      us home.                                                                                                       Someone might steal our luggage    Later in the comfortable setting                                         of my lounge I got to thinking        I've just bought an all singing    .......                               and dancing camera especially for                                        the trip. I might lose it.         Holiday disasters don't only                                             happen abroad. So I made a list       If either of us were hospitalised  of the risks:                         we wouldn't want to be stuck on    Mull. We'd want to be transferred     I could get it any cheaper.        to our local hospital in                                                 Cheshire.                             By now "£27.50 for a travel                                              policy was beginning to look                                             worthwhile.                                                                                                 Then it struck me that my Home &      But you'll realise I'm a bit of    Contents insurance would probably     an old skin flint - at least my    cover me for loss of luggage or       wife says so! I know, get online   my camera if I was travelling in      and check out whether the travel   the UK. I dug out the policy.         agents' policy at "£27.50 was      Lucky I checked. I was only           competitive.                       insured for "personal                                                    possessions" if the items were        Not all the sites I visited could  listed and as I'd only bought my      offer me single holiday insurance  camera last week I hadn't got         within the UK but within ten       round to getting it documented on     minutes I'd found what I wanted -  my policy as a valuable item.         a travel policy and a saving of                                          over "£10!                         Another point struck me. If I                                            made a holiday related claim on       Time to read the small print to    my Home & Contents policy I'd         make sure I truly had the cover I  lose my no claims discount. That      needed. Great, all the risks I     didn't appeal one little bit.         had jotted down were covered.      I've a ten years claim free           They'd even pay me "£30 if my      record on my H&C policy and it        ferry was delayed for up to 12     still cost me "£305 a year. I         hours and then give me the option  jotted down a note to self - when     to cancel my trip and get a        that policy comes up for renewal,     refund.                            check out the Internet to see if                                         Now check out the exclusions -        All seemed fair to me.             what wouldn't they pay for? I                                            wasn't covered if my holiday was      The decision was made. Key in my   for less than two nights or if my     credit card details and CLICK I    holiday destination was less than     was insured. Peace of mind         25 miles from home. I also had to     restored!                          pay the first "£30 of any claim.       About the Author: Michael writes for Brokers Online who offer most UK financial services including travel insurance Travel Insurance Topics Source: www.isnare.com