Travel insurance start date

London_1981

Apologies if this has been covered many times already (I'm new here)...

I keep reading you should book your travel insurance as soon as you book your holiday. I booked my August 2019 holiday over the weekend so I now want to book the insurance.

When I'm obtaining quotes, should I put the start date of the trip as today and the end date as the date we return from the holiday? That may sound stupid and very obvious but I just want to make sure the quotes I'm receiving (which start from around £150 for a 7 night holiday in Spain for a family of 4 in August) sound about right. To cover the actual days of travel starts from around £7 so I just want to be sure that the quotes I'm getting to start the insurance now, 4 months before the holiday, are roughly how much I should be expecting to pay.

Thank you

Mark_Bedford

https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/travel-insurance.htm

all you might need to know.

Shedman

If you are just booking single trip travel insurance then you just put the actual start and end days of the trip (so the 7 or 8 days in your case) otherwise you're paying for days you're not actually on holiday and hence why the premiums you've seen in that scenario are so high. (Having said that £7 for a family for a week in Spain - given Spain is generally treated as higher cost area by a lot of insurers - seems too low...always check it's a reputable insurer even if it costs a a bit more).

However, as soon as you take out the insurance you are covered for cancellation from that point onwards, which is why you see the recommendations to get the insurance as soon as you book holiday (as one never knows when that Clapham omnibus is going to run you over )

mgfvvc

The holiday dates should be the dates you actually go and return. Buying in advance is mostly for the cancellation element. If something happens after you buy the holiday, but before you buy the insurance then you won't be able to claim. Similarly if a medical condition develops in the same period, then it will be a pre-existing condition and will increase your insurance premium.

agrinnall

If you put the start date as today for a holiday taking place in August then you'd be paying a fortune for it, that's if you could even get it considering most single trip policies limit the amount of time that they are valid for. So as previously stated, you use the dates of the holiday, but some parts of the cover become active immediately.

London_1981

Hi everyone

Sorry for the late reply.

Thank you very much. It's all crystal clear now. I can confidently book my insurance now!

Thanks again