** UK Weekend Away Insurance Cover **

PhylPho

Being sound of body, if not necessarily sound of mind, Mrs P and I travel far and wide. It's what happens when you retire. Or, well, it should do.

We have annual travel insurance for Europe and the USA and it's excellent. However . . . no annual travel insurance policy of which we're aware covers stays of less than 3 days in the UK.

Once upon a time, fifty quid got you a week in Benidorm (should you ever have wanted such) from Clarkson's Holidays. Nowadays -- looking at our current weekend-away-in-a-British-city plan -- fifty quid doesn't even cover the train fare.

So. We're shortly to go to Birmingham, jewel of the British Isles. Or perhaps that's over-stating it. Anyway. Train fare for us from where we are is over £150 and one night's accomm, another £100. Nowadays, £250 may seem, to some, to be insignificant. To us, it ain't.

As everything booked in advance at an advance tariff is always but always non-refundable, then that's £250 just placed in hazard. Does anyone know of an insurer offering cover for stays of less than 3 days within the UK? Appreciated. Thanks.

HogMan

no annual travel insurance policy of which we're aware covers stays of less than 3 days in the UK.

The one I have through work underwritten by Lloyds does, provided you have a flight and/or pre booked accomodation

McKneff

We dont bother with any insurance if we are in the Uk .

lika_86

Try American Express

PhylPho

Thanks everyone.

I'm still looking. I looked at one website because it said it issues cover for UK trips, providing at least one night's accommodation is pre-booked. I asked for a quote for 3 days' duration, although we're only way for 2. It quoted £48.00 for cover up to £5 million. It also stipulated a £50 per insured excess. The math doesn't strike me as enticing.

I checked out American Express. It seems no different to most other travel insurance providers, offering single, annual, and student insurance. Nothing specific to UK travel. The minimum it offered (for 3 days' UK cover) was 7 days cover including Egypt. Quote for two people: £98. As we're going to Birmingham, not Cairo, £98 seemed rather steep.

Our interest in insurance cover stems from the fact that we've never bothered with it before when holidaying in the UK because we've never seen the need.

But friends of ours recently had to forego a booked-and-paid-for 2-night London Theatre break including theatre tickets, hotel accommodation and rail fares because husband came down with a tummy bug on the eve of departure and wasn't fit to travel anywhere.

They, too, never saw the point of having insurance cover for a few days away in the UK. Now they have an irrecoverable loss of £512. might just as well have chucked it down the drain.

When sums of money at risk are to be measured in the £100s, it seems to me that the days when it was possible to say: foreign holiday = travel insurance, UK short break = don't bother with travel insurance, are over.

martindow

The main reason for me buying travel insurance for going abroad is the medical cover for potential huge bills which could bankrupt me. For UK holidays I am happy to self insure accepting that there could be an odd occasion where I could lose out.

The OP's friends have probably had dozens of trips within the UK before the £512 they have lost. If they had insured for all of their trips they probably would have paid more than that.

I wonder, though, whether some annual policies provide cover in Britain as well as abroad.

sheramber

A Google search for "weekend breaks UK insurance " brought up several sites .

One was https://www.direct-travel.co.uk/uk-day-break/

but there are others

Ferretwins1

I think some banks cover you although mine is only only for abroad. cancellationplan has UK cover rather cheap although you won't need medical insurance because you have NHS cover anyway :-)

ManAtHome

Nationwide Building Society insurance covers UK if 2 or more nights booked, underwriters are UK Insurance Ltd.(RBS/Direct Line?)

theonlywayisup

If insurance is seeming elusive and when found the rates unacceptable, the easiest solution is to book your accommodation/fares to those which are cancellable. In effect, probably the same cost against the non cancellable with the 'risk'.