When Is The Best Time To Buy Travel Insurance?

When taking a holiday abroad, travel insurance is a must-have to cover you from the unexpected such as missed or delayed flights, lost luggage, credit card fraud, emergency medical expenses and much more.

Travel insurance covers you not just when you board that plane, but also in the weeks and months beforehand. Therefore, if some unforeseen event occurs that means you must cancel your entire holiday, you will be relieved to know it’s covered by your policy.

If your question is when should I buy travel insurance the short answer is to buy it as early as possible when planning your holiday, and in this article we’re going to tell you exactly why.

The benefits of buying travel insurance early

Insurance is there to protect you and your family from the unexpected and is a worthwhile investment when you’re planning a holiday, whether it’s a city break, winter sports holiday, a week in the sun or your honeymoon on a tropical Caribbean island.

It’s a good idea to buy travel insurance early in your holiday planning, for example when you are booking your flights and accommodation. Here’s why:

• You won’t be in a rush and will have more chance to compare policies and options to get the right cover for you. This can include everything from single-trip and multi-trip policies that cover missed departure, luggage and cancellations, to additional cover for credit card fraud and emergency medical expenses.
• Getting travel insurance well in advance of your holiday lengthens your cover period so you can take advantage of things like cancellation cover if anything does go wrong and you must make a claim.
• Flights and accommodation are often the most expensive, non-refundable purchases of your holiday so you’ll want to know you’re covered as soon as possible after booking.
• If something happens that means you can’t go on your holiday before you book travel insurance, then you’ll have no cover to fall back on and will end up losing a lot of money on flights, ferries and accommodation.
• When you take out a travel insurance policy with Chill, you can be compensated if you’ve cancelled your holiday for one of the following reasons:
  • Death of a fellow travel companion, family member or business associate (if you’re travelling for work)
  • Pregnancy
  • Burglary at home
  • Fire or flood at home
  • Compulsory court or jury service attendance
  • Redundancy of you or your travel companion.

Is there a deadline for buying travel insurance?

There is no deadline for buying travel insurance. You can purchase travel insurance right up to the day you leave for your holiday. But beware this leaves you without cover in the lead up to your holiday. For example, if you must cancel your holiday for some unforeseen reason.

Buying travel insurance last minute can also limit your options and be more expensive overall. Certain cover benefits might have waiting periods and not cover you right away if bought too close to your time of departure.

If you are a frequent traveller, it might be a good idea to consider a multi-trip policy to avoid having to think about when to buy. A multi-trip policy covers you for more than one trip in a 12-month period.

How can I make sure I’ve got the right cover for my holiday?

Always check your policy documents to find out what you’re covered for and what you’re not covered for.

Know what you want to be covered for; from missed and delayed flights, to credit card fraud and emergency medical expenses.

Consider how long you will be away for, where you are going, what activities you will be doing and what are the risks involved if you get sick while abroad or are involved in an accident and require urgent medical assistance.

Most good policies will provide cover for:

• Cancellation or other disruption
• Medical
• Personal belongings
• Documents like passports
• Personal liability
• You may also be able to add extra cover like emergency evacuation, winter sports insurance, credit card fraud or pre-existing medical condition coverage.

Make sure your policy covers you for the locations you’ll be visiting because some policies only cover certain countries.

To ensure you’re covered from the start of your travel plans, check the start date of your travel insurance policy is the same as the earliest pre-paid purchase for your trip.

Planning your next holiday?

At Chill, our travel insurance policies will protect you from the unexpected when booking a holiday and travelling abroad.

Remember it’s always best to buy travel insurance as early possible to get the best cover and value from your policy.

If you’d like to find out more about what’s available, you can get a quote for travel insurance with Chill by entering your travel details and preferences and we’ll do the rest.