It’s the time of year when hundreds of thousands of Scots head for the sun, sea and sangria. No matter whether it’s a package holiday in Torremolinos or a self-organised cultural trip to Florence, it’s worth thinking about travel insurance. In an effort to remind us about this, the Edinburgh-based flight comparison site, Skyscanner, has produced a helpful if slightly tongue-in-cheek guide to 10 of the best ways to void your travel insurance claim.
Its James Teideman points out that, according to the British travel industry association ABTA, one in five UK holidaymakers don’t buy travel insurance. They simply hope it never happens! But if you do get mugged, get injured or get eaten by a leopard while on holiday, will your insurance policy cover the damage?
Do people get lost on the way to the airport?
The most common type of travel insurance claim is medical, whether it’s related to a pre-existing health condition or something that happens while on holiday. After that, the top five reasons to claim are: cancellation, baggage damage or loss, travel delays and missed departures (it’s not clear whether missing a flight was caused by some last minute crisis or simply that they get lost on the way to airport).
For those who do end up making a claim, the disappointment of a ruined holiday can be further compounded by refusal by their travel insurer to pay up. You may think you’re covered – but all too many holidaymakers get caught out.
Here are 10 of the most common ways to void your travel insurance.
Don’t declare existing medical conditions?
Got a dodgy ticker? Broken leg? Keep it to yourself. For some reason, insurance companies think you’re a liability if you’ve got pre-existing medical conditions, especially if your holiday involves air travel, or rollercoasters.
Make your purchasing decision entirely based on price. Buy a policy that doesn’t cover you for anything – you’ll save up to £80 per person per trip. Passport replacement, cancellation, baggage loss, missed flights cover – all these cost extra and you never need them.
Hopefully it won’t ever happen, but if you get mugged, make sure you don’t tell the coppers. Keep it to yourself. No-one likes a grass.
Don’t bother proving that the £3000 camera that got nicked is yours. It was your fault for taking it on holiday anyway, but we’ll let that pass. Just as it’s a waste of money paying for an extended warranty – you’ll never drop it, will you – making sure you’ve got evidence of ownership is just a waste of time and effort.
If skydiving, take out a special insurance policy
It is possible to take out insurance policies that cover sporting activities of the most extreme nature, but you will need to state beforehand to get it added to your insurance, or maybe get a separate policy for the activity. So don’t. Try out activities that you’re not covered for, such as sky diving, base jumping and shark fighting.
The abuse of alcohol and drugs is generally frowned upon by insurance companies. Unsurprisingly, they won’t pay out for anything that happens while under the influence of 11 pints of lager or anything else, even if it’s legal. So if you fall into a canal in Amsterdam and lose your Rolex, you’ll have to prove that you were sober as a judge at the time.
Of course, circumstances beyond your control may dictate that you become embroiled in a 50-person brawl in a saloon bar in Tijuana but, just as in a court of law, you’ll have to claim self-defence. So drink 11 pints of lager, get lairy at innocent bystanders, and throw the first punch.
They never used to, but now 60% of insurance policies cover anything that happens on your holiday that disturbs it in some way (such as cancellation or delays) as a result of terrorism. So don’t take up one of those and take matters into your own hands by hijacking your plane home. It’ll beat most of your mates’ travellers’ tales at least.
Avoid known trouble spots and war zones
If the Foreign and Commonwealth Office advises against travel, standard holiday insurance policies won’t cover you. So check the latest advice and get on the first plane where there are, for example, ‘violent clashes’ / ‘incidents involving grenades’ / ‘repairs to the runway surface’.
Public liability insurance is essential for visiting the US – if you injure a fellow golfer with a stray tee shot, you could have a no win, no fee lawyer on your case.
You have been warned.
Skyscanner also produces this more thorough and helpful guide to holiday insurance.