The Essentials - Travel Insurance
Perhaps not the most exciting of topics, however it is absolutely essential. A recent incident with a customer of mine highlights why.
My customer was at Manchester airport about to fly off to Valencia for a 4-night mini break with a friend when they slipped and fell. They were in a lot of pain with a suspected broken shoulder, an ambulance was called and they spent about 13 hours in A&E overnight before being sent home. Fortunately their shoulder was dislocated, not broken, however it’s going to be a long road of recovery for them. As you can imagine, neither of them were able to travel on holiday to Valencia and a quick call to Travel Counsellors Duty Office (who operate 24/7, 365 days a year) meant that the team were able to contact all the suppliers and cancel all elements of the booking. Both customers had travel insurance so I have since provided all the documents they require in order for them to submit a claim against their insurance for a full refund of the cost of their holiday due to the accident.
Part of my duty of care to all my customers is that they must have travel insurance in place at the time of booking. This covers them in case something happens in between booking their holiday and travelling. This might be illness, an accident, diagnosis for them and/or a family member etc which means they are not able to travel. It is also important that travel insurance covers you for the period of time that you are away on your holiday. The policy must also include any specific cover for specific activities that you might be doing (things like water sports, mountain climbing etc) as there often exclusions to a ‘general’ policy so please check carefully what is included.
It might not be exciting, and I always hope that none of my customers actually need to use it, but travel insurance is a non-negotiable! Even if you don’t book through me, please make sure you have travel insurance in place at the time you book your trip away.
Stay safe and happy holidays!