Would I benefit from Travel Insurance?? Help!

steve-ouk84

Forgive my lack of knowledge here, its just that I have never taken out travel insurance before and I wouldn't know if it would benifit me.

On the 15th of april me and my friends and driving (in my car) to Dover, to get a ferry to Calias and then driving to Bruges, spending a night their and then driving to a music festival in Belguim for 2 nights. Then I will be driving back to france for a night and then getting a ferry back to dover, then driving home to Cardiff on the Monday 20th.

I have already booked the ferry and hostel and have the ticket for the festival. I will be taking my small car with all my luggage in. Will I benefit from travel insurance?? Its only a fiver but Im not sure of the Pro's and Cons.
Could someone help me out with this please? Many thanks
Steven

morg_monster

ok so what can go wrong.
someone gets ill / has an accident and needs hospital treatment. You should all have EHIC cards so perhaps benefit of insurance is limited here (I'm sure someone else can elaborate on teh specific situation in France).
You miss the ferry back and have to buy another ticket - not sure of the T&Cs of your ticket - but this could be a reasonable cost.
Someone nicks everything from your car - would this be covered by car insurance? I don't know. Not even sure if it'd be covered by travel insurance.
Car related mishaps should be covered as I'm sure you've extended your car insurance to cover you in Europe.
To be honest, for £5, i would just get it and then forget about it! it's the price of a mars bar, packet of crisps and bottle of pop (at a railway station!)

lisyloo

Yes you should take travel insurance cover.

If a close family member dies and you cannot attend the holiday you would get the cost of your holiday covered. This means you could replace it at a later date.

If you get ill and need treatment the insurance will cover you for the medical costs.
You should get the European Health Insurance card (EHIC) which covers you for basic medical treatment, but it wouldn't cover you for everything e.g.ambulance charges in France.

You will also get legal cover if you did happen to get in trouble.

So YES you need it, and you need it now really (as a family member or travelling party member could die before the holiday).

If your luggage is covered on your house insurance then you don't need to take out duplciate cover and some comapnies e.g. EGG (no conncetion, just one I know that does it) allows you to exclude luggage so you don't pay for it twice.
However you need to check about the rules for leaving stuff in your car.

lisyloo

Also make sure your car insurance is extended to Europe and you have breakdown cover for Europe.

Also check out the legal rules in France.
I can't tell you off the top of my head, but in some countries you need to carry a a warning triangle, yellow jacket and spare bulbs.
You also need to get some stickers for your headlights to deflect the beam.

steve-ouk84

This is what im confused about, whether my car insurance covers me in europe, whether if stuff gets nicked outta my car in europe its the travel insurance or the car insurance... or neither? Admiral car insurance call center has kept me on hold far too long today so its costing me a shed load in phone bills. I dont have home insurance so nothing is covered there. I guess im concerned about my car breaking down abroad and my stuff getting nicked. They are my main worries. Who covers that jazz?

lisyloo

This is what im confused about, whether my car insurance covers me in europe

If you have a fully comp policy then normally you will be covered third party only in Europe.
This would meet legal requirements but for most people is not sufficient insurance, so you probably need to pay extra to get it extended to fully comp for the holiday.

whether if stuff gets nicked outta my car in europe its the travel insurance or the car insurance... or neither?

Travel insurance, but you need to check the policy.
There are certain things (like valuables especially) that you shouldn't leave in the car, so you should check out what the policy says about this.

I guess im concerned about my car breaking down abroad and my stuff getting nicked

For car breakdown you need a breakdown policy from the likes of the AA or RAC.
For your luggage you need travel insurance, but again that doesn't mean you can leave handbags, cameras etc, on the seats. You still need to take reasonable precautions e.g. taking your luggage into the hostel. I don't know how practical that is with your tent, but certainly handbags, cameras, GPS, phones etc. shouldn't be left lying around in the car.

moana

steve-ouk84 wrote: »

This is what im confused about, whether my car insurance covers me in europe, whether if stuff gets nicked outta my car in europe its the travel insurance or the car insurance... or neither? Admiral car insurance call center has kept me on hold far too long today so its costing me a shed load in phone bills. I dont have home insurance so nothing is covered there. I guess im concerned about my car breaking down abroad and my stuff getting nicked. They are my main worries. Who covers that jazz?

What???????

I suppose you may be renting.

But if you own your home then what happens if you have a burglary when you are on holiday in Belgium?

Maybe you are not asking whether or not to spend a fiver but who you should claim from if you do have a problem.

dogbot

Wooah there. I think asking for advice on cover is exactly what the OP has done? We have no idea what the poster's circumstances are regards home arrangements, but you are correct to point out that they should think about that circumstance carefully. O.P. maybe if you have time pop into a broker’s and have a chat about various insurance covers and options you might need in general. They should be happy to help and can offer lots of advice.

As has been mentioned above you need to get yourself an EHIC card ASAP, they can take a while to get to you so order one now! It will usually be a requirement of a travel insurance policy for you to have one. As has also been stated above, this will cover only basic emergency treatment.

A travel policy will provide a benefit of up to several £million for medical costs, including possible airlifting you home. It will provide a 24/7 multilingual helpline to help you find treatment and arrange a claim as you need. They even have doctors on call ready to fly out and help if needs be.

The Legal protection section is also extremely valuable, particularly if you are going to a festival where, lets be frank, there is a heightened chance of getting into a bit of bother with the law.

The section protecting property/cash will vary a fair bit by policy but all will require reasonable precautions to be take as mentioned above. Delay, cancellation, curtailment etc will also all be covered and can be very helpful as lisyloo says.

Car insurance has been dealt with above, but worth stating that you may be able to get temporary European breakdown cover rather than an annual policy, or extend a policy you already have. The AA and RAC can be expensive so try a few comparison websites to see what is out there. Check the conditions/excesses carefully.

Driving in Europe does have certain things to watch out for. Warning triangles, high viz vests, GB sticker and headlight deflector bits are all needed but can be picked up in your local Halfords or independent motor factors fairly cheaply (loads of smaller places in Cardiff!). Have a look here for specific requirements: http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/overseas/

If you have an accident in Europe you will (usually) be asked by the other driver to fill out a form. This form has 2 sections, one for your details and statement and one for theirs, with a space for a diagram in the middle. These are great because it gets info down at the scene BUT they are often regarded as legally binding and in some cases they can insist you sign it.

Therefore drive carefully, be honest if you have a crash, take photos of the damage, other vehicle’s damage and scene (if safe to do so) and stay calm. Your travel, breakdown or car insurer may have an emergency number you can call for help if you do have a crash - use it if you need help.

p.s. another helpful tip – European trucks have 2 reg plates, one on the tractor and one on the trailer. If you have an accident you need the one on the tractor unit NOT the trailer to trace their insurer and make a claim.

N79

While the EHIC card is OK in France for Belgium you really need travel insurance. This is because the EHIC card only entitles you treatment in public hospitals and hospitals in Belgium are mostly private (Belgium uses a government backed mutual scheme to provide healthcare). While Belgium is not America and you will not be turned away from a hospital any bills can be very large.

Best to spend a few pounds on an insurance policy incase you have an accident!

steve-ouk84

Thankyou very much for all your replies! You have all taken time out to help me and thats very nice of all of you. I have more than enough info now. Many thanks!!