In modern times, holidaying abroad is far more common with many households opting to have more than one trip per year, making annual multi trip travel insurance very much in demand. With such a wide range of providers offering cover, a common mistake is to assume all policies are the same.
This is not always the case, especially for holidays where additional cover needs to be taken out, such as winter sports travel insurance.
In the past, holidaymakers simply arranged their insurance when they bought their holiday – a trip to the local travel agent covered everything. However, times have moved on with individuals preferring to handpick individual components, no longer willing to settle for inconvenient flight times or expensive add-ons which can be found cheaper elsewhere.
Providers of financial services compete fiercely for new customers, offering a whole host of extra benefits, with credit card firms and bank accounts including car and annual multi trip travel insurance.
Recent research has shown how some of the terms and conditions in the policies purchased as add-ons maybe aren't scrutinised as carefully as consumers who are looking specifically to take out an annual multi trip travel insurance policy.
A recent story given coverage in the press described how a skier included winter sports travel insurance in his bank account, thinking he was fully covered. However, upon sustaining a nasty broken leg after driving to Europe, the insurer agreed to fly the injured person home and eventually the rest of the family, but refused to make provisions for the car to be brought back to the UK, leaving it stranded on the continent. The policy covered 'reasonable costs,' an ambiguous term allowing the insurer to apply it selectively.
Policyholders of packaged insurance deals should therefore look closely at their terms and conditions before any trip, to ensure they have the cover in place that they think they do…
