Travel Insurance for DIY Holidays

Vin2300

I have already posted this in the Overseas Travel Forum but didnt get any replies so thought i would see if i could do any better here.

I have spent quite a lot of time searching the web for useful advice relating to travel insurance for diy holidays, but there really seems to be remarkably little on the subject.

I have booked two weeks in Portugal this summer with separate flights (Easyjet), separate accommodation (Sunshine.co.uk) and separate transfers (Resorthoppa). I have done searches on a few comparison websites and then tried to check the resulting policy summaries, but i am finding it very difficult to know whether any of them are suitable.

I gather (from reading Martin's advice on the main pages of this site and another couple of articles) that the most important issue is 'knock-on consequences' such as a cancelled flight meaning you need to claim money back for accommodation you have paid for but havent been able to reach. Martin's guide suggests policies which specifically cover 'indirect loss' are required.

I have had a good look through the small print on a number of policies and cannot find any reference to indirect loss or any other section that looks like it would cover such losses. For instance i found there was even one site which specifically said it was tailored towards diy holidays - http://www.diyholidayinsurance.com/ - and yet i am not sure after reading their small print that they cover indirect losses. A colleague at work recommended i go with Direct Travel, but i couldnt tell if they covered indirect losses either.

Am i just looking for the wrong thing? Can anyone give me any guidance on what i should be looking for in the policy wording? Or indeed make any recommendations?

huckster

I have arranged many DIY holidays, booking all the separate parts online. I have only ever taken a standard Travel Insurance policy, as I believe most will provide cover, if I have complied with the relevant terms and conditions.

I am not sure what Martyn is referring to by 'indirect losses' and how Insurers exclude these under a standard policy. As I have not read the article, does he mention any examples of policies that don't provide cover for certain situations?

Is he saying that if say Easy Jet had to cancel a flight and you could then not use the accommodation, that a standard Travel Insurance would not cover you? I would think that the cancellation cover would cover the accommodation and that you would have to get a refund from Easy Jet for the flight.

lisyloo

Is he saying that if say Easy Jet had to cancel a flight and you could then not use the accommodation, that a standard Travel Insurance would not cover you?

Yes I think that's an example of what he's saying.
I think you need to check your policy huckster to see what circumstances are covered.

huckster

This is the advice on MSE referred to. The example given is about policies that include scheduled airline failure, where the airline goes bust and you can't claim for accommodation. I think the advice is that people should contact Insurers and ask questions about the cover, to see it is suitable for a DIY trip. I believe many policy are adequate now, but people should check for themselves.

Is it a package or DIY trip?

Most travel insurance policies are designed to cover packages, as ten years ago that's how 90% of us booked trips abroad. Yet while times have changed, many policies haven't, and this is problematic because it leaves them ill equipped to cover DIY holidaymakers, who book flights and accomodation from different places.

The biggest DIY issue is a lack of cover for knock-on consequences. If you take a policy with cover for Scheduled Airline Failure, for example, and the airline goes under, you'll be able to claim for the flights, but if you can't reach your destination you'll lose the money you paid for the accommodation. The only way round this is to find policies which specifically cover 'indirect loss' - check the small print. For maximum cover, look for special 'independent traveller' policies, which are increasingly available though cost a bit more than regular policies. Do remember though package holidays innately have the extra ATOL and ABTA protection, which you won't get if you book the component parts of your holiday from different places.

luci

I have just called Direct Travel to check. We would be covered for indirect losses under Cancellation, but ONLY if we have Scheduled Airline Failure Insurance, which we have.

When Flyglobespan went into Administration, 10 days before we were due to fly, I was more concerned with actually getting away on holiday than getting my money back. We managed to get alternative flights fortunately.

I claimed the cost of the FG flights and the difference in cost of the new ones from my credit card and both were refunded in full. If I had claimed through my travel insurance we would have had to pay the excess per person.

lisyloo

I was going to make the same point.
If flights are cancelled then there would normally be some alternative.
You might be delayed or curtailed and you could certainly incurr costs but it doesn't make sense to cancel an entire holiday.

You would only cancel an entire holiday (for example) if someone died or was seriously ill.

If there was a flight the next day then I wouldn't be certain an insurer would cover you for complete cancellation.

Obviously it depends on the circumstances.
I had a flight cancelled once and I was going to a wedding so it was crucially important to be there at a certain date/time.
My insurer was absolutely fine with the arrangements I made to use a different airport the day before.
It wasn't the cheapest alternative, so I was very pleased with the service.
They probably technically could have forced me down a cheaper route where I would have missed the wedding, but instead I got good service.

donnawood

Vin2300 wrote: »

I have already posted this in the Overseas Travel Forum but didnt get any replies so thought i would see if i could do any better here.

I have spent quite a lot of time searching the web for useful advice relating to travel insurance for diy holidays, but there really seems to be remarkably little on the subject.

I have booked two weeks in Portugal this summer with separate flights (Easyjet), separate accommodation (Sunshine.co.uk) and separate transfers (Resorthoppa). I have done searches on a few comparison websites and then tried to check the resulting policy summaries, but i am finding it very difficult to know whether any of them are suitable.

I gather (from reading Martin's advice on the main pages of this site and another couple of articles) that the most important issue is 'knock-on consequences' such as a cancelled flight meaning you need to claim money back for accommodation you have paid for but havent been able to reach. Martin's guide suggests policies which specifically cover 'indirect loss' are required.

I have had a good look through the small print on a number of policies and cannot find any reference to indirect loss or any other section that looks like it would cover such losses. For instance i found there was even one site which specifically said it was tailored towards diy holidays - http://www.diyholidayinsurance.com/ - and yet i am not sure after reading their small print that they cover indirect losses. A colleague at work recommended i go with Direct Travel, but i couldnt tell if they covered indirect losses either.

Am i just looking for the wrong thing? Can anyone give me any guidance on what i should be looking for in the policy wording? Or indeed make any recommendations?

Just searching on the web there seems to be many more policies including financial protection nowadays, most cover Scheduled Airline Failure Insurance (SAFI) and some covering not just the airline but other parts of the holiday. These have names such as Dynamic Packaging, End Supplier Failure, Holiday Protection (AA Travel Insurance) or Passenger Protection (O2 Travel Insurance).

If you travel insurance policy does not include such cover you can buy a seperate policy to cover DIY holidays from www.protectmyholiday.com but note this just covers you against financial failure if you want cover for medical, cancellation and baggage etc then you have to buy a seperate travel insurance policy. This policy also has not policy excess.

Hope this helps

:j

SATrin_2

Read the terms & conditions. I think different policies from different insurers cover is quite varied