How to choose the best travel insurance for three main types of travel situations: worldwide travel, travel to the UK and for expatriates traveling on short-term trips from the UK

Travel Insurance Options

1. Short-term worldwide travellers (links to info below)
2. Travelers relocating to the UK
3. UK expatriates (or UK residents) going abroad

Option 1: Travel Insurance for short-term worldwide travelers
Before you leave home we strongly advise all travelers to invest in travel insurance to cover you for the entire length of your holiday. There are many insurers offering competitive travel insurance policies, so make sure you shop around and get a policy that best suits your needs.

The three main points you should be covered for are travel health insurance, baggage insurance and cancellation insurance. Before taking out coverage, you should be able to answer ‘yes’ to the following:

• Are you covered up to the completion of your journey?
• Does the policy include travel health insurance including emergency hospital, prescription drugs, daily living expenses while you are ill, x-rays, hospital transfers and ambulance cover?
• Does the policy cover the loss or theft of personal belongings?
• Does the policy cover you for cancellations, in case you are medically unfit to travel or unable to travel due to tragic circumstances?
• Is the cancellation amount enough to cover the entire cost of the trip?
• Have you declared pre-existing medical conditions? If not, this could jeopardise your chances of making any future health claims.
• Have you declared any extreme or dangerous activities or sports you plan to do on your travels? If not, this could jeopardise your chances of making any future health claims.
• Have you checked that you have had all the necessary vaccinations at least two-weeks before your departure date?
• Are you required to pay an excess on claims? If so, are you aware of how much this is?

It’s a good idea to keep a copy of your travel insurance policy with you so you know what you are covered for in case of an emergency or accident in case you need to make a claim. Leave a second copy at home or somewhere safe.

If something is lost or stolen while you are away, make sure you report it to the police immediately and always take good care of your belongings as you will not be covered for negligence. This includes leaving luggage unattended or visibly stored in locked vehicles.

Option 2: Travel insurance for travelers relocating to the UK
If you are relocating to the UK, you should only take out a comprehensive travel insurance policy covering you for travel health care, theft and cancellations insurance for the period of time you will be in transit because once you arrive in the UK you will be classified as a temporary resident. This means you will be covered under the NHS (National Heath System) and entitled to free basic health care.

Some GPs may legally insist that you have been living and/or working in the UK before accepting you as registered patient for free health care. This leaves you with two options:

1. You either pay full price to visit the GP when you are ill
2. You do you research and find a GP in the area that does not enforce this restriction and register with them for free health care under the NHS

It is important to note:

• You may still wish to consider cancellation insurance or baggage insurance as you will only be covered for health insurance in the UK.
• You will not be covered by health insurance for countries where you have stopovers, transfers or if your plane is diverted.
• Many people in the UK, and most other countries around the world, also take out ‘private UK health insurance’ which is not to be confused with ‘travel health insurance’. Travel heath insurance only covers you for emergencies in a travel situation.
• If you have taken up residence in the UK, your 'travel health insurance' may cease to cover you - be sure to read the fine print or ask someone.
• If you are just visiting the UK and have been living outside of the UK for more than 3 months (even if you are a British citizen), you may have to pay for hospital treatment whilst in the UK. Anyone who comes to the UK on holiday or for a short-term visit will have to pay for any NHS hospital treatment. There are a few exemptions to this. Visit the Department of Health (http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/index.htm) website for more information.

Option 3: Travel insurance for UK expatriates (and UK residents) going abroad

Most expatriates make the mistake of taking out insurance for the entire period of their stay in the UK, but this is unnecessary and extremely costly. As previously mentioned, you are covered for basic health insurance as a resident in the UK under the NHS. If you do find yourself going on a short holiday outside the UK, we recommend you take out short-term travel insurance.

Short-term travel insurance is extremely easy to organise and very cheap. It’s simply a matter of walking into you nearest post office, bank, supermarket or chemist and taking out a short-break, annual multi-trip, single trip or sports trip travel insurance policy. For example, a three day, short-break travel insurance policy for Europe costs around £7!

Prices are very competitive so make sure you shop around before committing to one policy and always read the small print first.