COMMENT
Tips For Cheap Travel Cover

A friend of mine is off to France for a fortnight, at the end of next week, and asked me which travel insurance policy she should go for. After years of purchasing cover through her travel operator (a major rip-off) and bearing in mind she usually takes more than one holiday each year, she's finally succumbed to the concept of an annual policy.

She's not the only one with the travel bug. We took a whopping 65 million overseas holidays in the twelve months to April 2005.

We're getting more adventurous too – while the number of trips to Western Europe has remained broadly the same at 49.4 million, the number of North American holidays has increased by 16% (to 5 million) and those for other parts of the world by 23% (to 10.4 million). Fortunately, reasonably priced travel cover can be very easy to find.

So which policy should my friend go for? Well, it all really depends on where she intends to travel to and for how long, and what sort of cover she needs.

Cover for travel within Europe is obviously going to be cheaper than further afield. And not all policies are the same – whereas one company may consider the USA and Canada to be covered by a worldwide policy, another may not. And she should certainly remember her new E111 form, which entitles UK citizens to free, or reduced cost treatment in the EAA and Switzerland.

Most annual policies cover individual trips of 31 days or less. If you're intending to take a longer break, make sure your insurer will cover this – this can often be achieved by paying a small premium.

My friend doesn't intend to ski (too warm) or bungee jump (too scared) so she should save some money on her policy, here. She should, however, ensure that she's covered for cancellation, illness or injury whilst away, loss or theft of her belongings, delayed or missed connection and liability for accidents to others.

In addition to this, she would be wise to check that her policy will provide at least £1 million of medical cover in Europe, and should she choose a worldwide policy, at least £2 million of cover in the US and rest of the world.

What she intends to take with her on her trip also comes into the equation. A recent survey by Direct Line Insurance has found that 38 million of us take electronic equipment such as mobile phones, iPods and even laptops with us on holiday, which has unfortunately led to an upsurge in theft.

However, more than a third of those who had equipment stolen last year, were not insured.

Household policies will often cover these items while we are away - which is worth checking as many travel insurance policies restrict single item replacements to a limit of £200.

I checked out a number of insurers for my friend and found the following deals. Travsure is currently offering an individual annual European policy for £49, with the worldwide option costing an extra £16 (£65). Similar cover from Simple travel insurance would be £42.01, with the worldwide option costing just £55. And the AA will offer European cover for £42.62, with worldwide cover costing £62.86.

As you can see, the prices are quite similar and all of these policies allow various upgrades to cover longer trips, winter sports, golf cover and even wedding insurance.

But the policy I will be recommending to my friend is from Egg – currently offering European annual family travel insurance, including 17 days winter sports cover for just £15!

Applicants must be Egg customers (my friend has an Egg card) and as long as applications are in before midnight on 14 June, you will be covered from 15 June (handily, the day before she heads off). For those heading off a bit later in the year, applications that are in before 30 June 2005 will provide cover from 1 July 2005.

And as this policy will cover two adults and any number of children under 18 (22 if in full time education), this could work out to be a Best Buy for many families, too.

You can find out more or apply for a travel insurance quote through our Insurance Centre.