Travel insurance - Tips & Advice - About Direct Line travel insurance
Having to cancel a holiday just before you are due to go, or having to cut it short once you have left, can be very upsetting. That’s why Direct Line offers travel insurance that can help should this happen to you
You’ve been looking forward to your holiday for months, your passport is at the ready and it won’t be long before you are lying on that beach or exploring the sights. Then the unthinkable happens – a member of your immediate family falls seriously ill. There is no way on earth that you can consider going on holiday now, their well-being is your first concern.
Perhaps even more stressful is if you have already left for your holiday and you get a phone call to say that a family member is ill or has died, and you have to get home as soon as possible.
There are many personal reasons that might mean you have to cancel or cut short a holiday – you could be injured or seriously ill yourself, the person you are intending to stay with may be seriously ill or something may happen while you are away that means you have to return home. While it may not be a priority at the time, it’s worth knowing that you may be able to make a claim should this happen to you.
Recompense
The first thing to do is to go to the holiday company you bought your holiday from. Many have a cancellation policy, especially if they are ABTA members. If you cancel before you are due to go, you may get a refund of the amount you have paid – this tends to be on a sliding scale, with the refund being less the nearer you get to departure. However, there are still many holiday companies that don’t provide compensation if you have to return home for personal reasons.
The other thing you need to do is take out travel insurance that has cancellation or curtailment cover – just like with Direct Line. Our Single Trip, Annual Multi-trip and Discoverer travel insurance policies offer cover should you need to cancel before you go or have to come home early. But it’s important to note that coverage is very specific. For instance, you would be covered if, after you have booked the holiday, you are diagnosed with a new condition and are too ill to travel and have the relevant medical evidence. You wouldn’t be covered if you arrived at your destination and didn’t like it and decided to come home. All pre-existing conditions should be disclosed when the policy is arranged, so everyone is aware exactly what is and isn’t covered so as to avoid nasty surprises at claims stage.
Naturally, all of our travel insurance policies cover you for medical attention and the loss of personal possessions.
You can find out exactly what is and isn’t covered in our policy documents and get a travel insurance quote online. And, if you buy online, you get an instant discount.
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