The cost of being repatriated home to the UK from the USA is shocking and for most of us it would constitute great financial hardship, in addition to the emotional and physical consequences of suffering an accident like a broken leg or a heart attack. Some estimates have put the price of care alone following a heart attack in Spain at ?35,000.
It therefore makes great sense to take out a good quality travel insurance policy. This will give you the peace of mind you need as well as the knowledge that should the unexpected and unfortunate occur, you will be protected from the majority of possible financial losses.
Experts recommend that you should look for around ?2m of medical expenses cover in your travel insurance policy, along with up to ?1m of personal liability and ?3,000 of cancellation cover as basic requirements. This may sound a lot, but the costs can add up if things go wrong.
For example, personal liability cover is very useful to have, because often we take part in activities we do not normally do at home, such as skiing or boating. If you cause an accident or the illness of another party, your personal liability insurance will cover the damages that might need to be paid out to that person.
This would also be especially relevant in the case of a road traffic accident, where the other driver may be local, and not have fully comprehensive insurance. They could then be entitled to sue you under the laws of that country, which is where the personal liability clause of your travel insurance would come in handy.
Looking more towards a less dramatic change in circumstances, having adequate cancellation cover in place is absolutely key. Most policies will also pay out in the event of a delay over a certain number of hours: time spent waiting in an airport or needing to get a hotel room overnight equals hefty bills especially if you have family and small children accompanying you.
The most frequent reasons people need to claim on a travel insurance policy are for lost luggage, personal belongings and the like. This can happen more often that you might think, and while most household insurance policies cover 'out of house' possessions, they may not necessarily cover those which go missing abroad.
Given all the above reasons, you are strongly advised to take out a good policy when travelling because it will more than repay itself should you need to make a claim ? whether it be for medical expenses or for more sundry items.
