Travel Insurance for an expensive holiday

Chipstter

I need some help with travel insurance. I have almost finalised the details on a 50th trip for next year in March. It's going to be an expensive one as it's something I've always wanted to do and I want to do it whilst I can fully appreciate it.

Anyway, I obviously want to cover the cost of the full holiday in the even of cancellation and that will be about 9000 GBP. I don't seem to be able to find any policy to meet this. Does anyone have any experience with this? I cancelled a holiday about 4 years ago due to a family bereavement so will never go away without insurance, the ins company were very helpful and the total cost of the holiday was refunded.

apt

Here is one company with a £15,000 limit. https://www.preferential.co.uk/compare-cover-premier.html

There will be others too. Might be worth speaking to an insurance broker to get a competitive quote.

PS If I really had loads of debt I would not enjoy spending £9,000 on a holiday.

Chipstter

apt wrote: »

Here is one company with a £15,000 limit. https://www.preferential.co.uk/compare-cover-premier.html

There will be others too. Might be worth speaking to an insurance broker to get a competitive quote.

PS If I really had loads of debt I would not enjoy spending £9,000 on a holiday.

I wondered when that would be commented on. Usual debt, mortgage, 2 sons, the list goes on.

I'm no different to anyone else in that respect I would assume. Besides, you can't take it with you but thanks for the link anyway.

dacouch

Hi,

I assume there is more than one person travelling, could you tell us how many are travelling.

Chipstter

One couple both under 55. I've just got a quote for 189.67 for annual multi trip. I guess it's going to be expensive for a high value holiday. But some families travelling these days must go over 5000 pounds for hols, I wonder what they do?

luci

The limits on insurance are per person so if there are 2 travelling you only need cover for £4500.

Chipstter

Luci

thanks for that. That should make it easier to find. I'm off to surf the net!

dacouch

There are plenty of policies that will cover you and should be for a considerably lower price than you have already had.

You do not need a policy that covers cancellation of £9000 but a policy that covers £4500 or more. The reason for this is with most policies the amount of cover is PER PERSON. So if there are two of you going then £4500 per person should be enough.

It would be wise to pay for the trip on a credit card so you have the Section 75 protection (There is plenty of information on the main MSE site on this).

I personally would advise you do not take any travel policy underwritten by either Axa or White Horse as there customer service and claims can be bad. The preferential policy is underwritten by Axa.

A policy from Fortis would be much better for you, they cover cancellation cover of £5000 per person, the excess is only £35 (The preferential excess is £75). Fortis have won a lot of awards for being the best travel insurer and their policy offers wider cover than the Preferential policy in most areas.

The policy Fortis offer through Brokers is the policy I'm refering to, you can find a broker they deal with through here http://www.fortisinsurance.co.uk/policyholders/how-to-buy/

You can also buy a policy underwritten by Fortis from the Post Office although some of the cancellation parts are not as comprehensive as the policy they offer through the Broker Only policy.

You will probably find your baggage is already covered by your home insurance, if not it will cost circa £25 a year to add it on and it will also cover personal possesions eg handbags, cameras, jewellery etc when your away from the home. If you have cover or add it to your home insurance you will often get a discount of between 10% and 25% off your travel insurance for not needing baggage cover on the travel. The other advantage of using your home insurance is they will pay claims on a new for old basis, a travel policy will deduct an amount for wear and tear and will typically have a total limit of around £500 for all of your valuables eg cameras and jewellery and it will normally have a limit of only £300 for any one item including non valuables. A home insurance will typically cover up to £2500 away from home (Including valuable items) and have a maximum limit of £1500 per item.

Is the trip you are going on a cruise?

Chipstter

dacouch

Thanks for that comprehensive information! I've already had some quotes of around 60-90 pounds. I'll definitely look at Fortis however. Having had to use the travel ins before, I would never travel without. As for the holiday, my final payment is acutally due on New Year's Day so I'll be having a frugal Christmas. I could add the money into my Egg money card account and pay through that as it is a mastercard so I guess I would be covered? But my credit limit on that card is not high and maybe I'd only be covered for the credit limit amount??

I'm travelling with ITC Classic Holidays who I have used before and the service is exceptional, my last trip was another special one and the itinery was followed to the letter, even getting upgraded. My partner and I have birthdays 2 days apart by month and 1 year apart by age (if that makes sense). This time it will be a fantastic luxury spell in the Maldives (my favourite place) and visiting an Island that I have hankered after for about 5 years

I also know that this is a money saving site, which I do try to do, but after having experienced sudden and unexpected bereavement, it brings everything back into perspective (for a while), no longer will I wish my life away and if I want to do something then I will.

dacouch

I think (I might be wrong), if you pay for any part of the holiday on a card then you get Section 75 protection, if you have a read of Martins advice on Section 75 he does specifically mention this so it might be worth reading it.

wannaberichbtch

apt wrote: »

Here is one company with a £15,000 limit.

PS If I really had loads of debt I would not enjoy spending £9,000 on a holiday.

This is the travel forum not money management. Nobody has to justify the cost or reason for their holiday. My advise would be to buy your insurance before you book your holiday that way you are covered immediately. Bon voyage or whatever they say in the Maldives!