Martin Lewis: A warning for anyone who's booked their holiday this year

MSE_Molly_G

If you've booked a holiday and haven't sorted your travel insurance yet, do it NOW. Many leave it until the last minute, but if something happens that stops you going, you won't be able to get your money back, as MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis warns in the latest episode of ITV's The Martin Lewis Money Show Live.

Read the full story:

Martin Lewis: A warning for anyone who's booked their holiday this year

If you haven't already, join the forum to reply.

TELLIT01

How many times to people need to be told this? 

MATTR5

TELLIT01 said:

How many times to people need to be told this? 

It's crazy - I had a year when two customers lost their holiday because of this - one her daughter broke her leg 2 weeks before the holiday - I told her her insurance should cover it "Oh we hadn't got round to doing that yet" - why on earth not? 

soolin

MATTR5 said:

TELLIT01 said:

How many times to people need to be told this? 

It's crazy - I had a year when two customers lost their holiday because of this - one her daughter broke her leg 2 weeks before the holiday - I told her her insurance should cover it "Oh we hadn't got round to doing that yet" - why on earth not? 

Had similar with a work colleagues a few years ago. They booked a ‘holiday of a lifetime’ to celebrate an anniversary, paid a low cost deposit and put off buying insurance as they were planning to shop around for a good deal nearer the time and funds were tight,

A few months before travelling partner was involved in a serious road incident, spent weeks in hospital and had life changing injuries which meant he could not continue his self employed work  As they were so close to travelling date before they cancelled (obviously they had other things on their mind) they ended  up paying around 80% of the holiday cost. Most of that ended up on a credit card which meant that they looked to pay monthly, plus interest for years for a Holiday they never took. 

That frightened me so much that I am now almost paranoid about insurance. 

Mark_d

Whilst it's generally good advice to have travel insurance from the moment you book a holiday, it's not as simple as this.  If you have a medical condition under investigation, insurance will be very expensive if not impossible to get.  So I'd wait.

Travel insurance gives you protection if you need to cancel your holiday but often if holidays can't be cancelled they can be re-scheduled, or transferred to another person.

MATTR5

Mark_d said:

Whilst it's generally good advice to have travel insurance from the moment you book a holiday, it's not as simple as this.  If you have a medical condition under investigation, insurance will be very expensive if not impossible to get.  So I'd wait.

Travel insurance gives you protection if you need to cancel your holiday but often if holidays can't be cancelled they can be re-scheduled, or transferred to another person.

There will definitely be exceptions but i'd say for the cast majority of people the best advice is the opposite - Dont wait! 

TELLIT01

There are exceptions to every rule/guidance but they are minority.  There was somebody on this board a few weeks ago who has booked a cruise some 18 months in advance and they have been unable to find travel insurance that far in advance.  At least they want to get insurance at the earliest opportunity.  It's those who deliberately travel without insurance and then go to the media with a sob story when things go wrong abroad that really get my goat.

Years ago a friend of a woman I worked with broke his back skiing and didn't have insurance.  He'd always said it was a waste of money as he'd never had to use it!  It wasn't like he was short of cash as he was a Merchant Banker, genuinely, not rhyming slang :-)

NoodleDoodleMan

The main reason we have a bank packaged annual travel insurance policy is to avoid the potential dramas lurking around after you book a holiday and need to look around for cover.

Doshwaster

NoodleDoodleMan said:

The main reason we have a bank packaged annual travel insurance policy is to avoid the potential dramas lurking around after you book a holiday and need to look around for cover.

I don't have packed cover with my bank account but I always have annual travel insurance in place so that I don't have to remember to book it for each trip. Might not be worth it if you only go away once or twice a year but it makes sense if you travel regularly.

NoodleDoodleMan

Doshwaster said:

NoodleDoodleMan said:

The main reason we have a bank packaged annual travel insurance policy is to avoid the potential dramas lurking around after you book a holiday and need to look around for cover.

I don't have packed cover with my bank account but I always have annual travel insurance in place so that I don't have to remember to book it for each trip. Might not be worth it if you only go away once or twice a year but it makes sense if you travel regularly.

Bottom line, we get a decent deal from the bank, having at least two holidays each year - individual trip cover is no cheaper in the long run - and the annual policy saves the need to trawl around for cover each individual booking.

Inforapennyinforapound

Just an aside,and it may be my fault? Last year I took out travel insurance for  a 1 week holiday abroad. I followed the advice here and bought it at least 8 weeks before said holiday .
it was only when we were due to go that I saw that the insurance was actually dated for just the 1 week of the holiday which is obviously the dates requested with the Insurance company.

so my question is: when I take out insurance this year I obviously give the dates of the start and end of the holiday which is what they will cover. Do I need to request that the start of the insurance is the day that I pay for it(2 months in advance for example) ? Surely this will make the price very much more expensive??
Yes,I am a little confused by this. Can someone please explain how it covers me for 2 months before the holiday if I am only asked for holiday dates when I take it out?

Thanks