The 1, 2, 3 of Travel Insurance

But if you can't get enough of sunny Mediterranean beaches, or even further afield, and then it's probably time to start planning your break. Flights and hotels… check! But what about getting properly insured? An amazing two thirds of Brits travel abroad each year without an insurance policy, while 8% admit never taking out insurance on a foreign trip! Travelling uninsured presents a number of risks. It's not particularly likely that something will go wrong on your dream holiday - but if in the case it does, how will you compensate it? If you don't know where to start when it comes to shopping for travel insurance, then answering the following three tips will give you some good pointers.

Check What Cover You Already Have
Before you wade into the travel insurance market and spend time finding the right package for you, make sure you check bank accounts and credit cards to see if they already offer you cover. Many credit card and bank account providers have benefits for ‘premier' customers, and it's possible that you may already be one of these and therefore already have a policy. If you're not sure, then call your bank to find out what they can offer. Paying a monthly fee for having a premium account is unlikely to be worth it in the long run, but it's possible you could upgrade for free if you're a particularly good customer and the bank wants to give you incentive to stay on. If you can get one of these deals, then great, but also make sure your holiday destination is covered.

Get an EHIC card
The free European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) entitles you to free or discounted medical treatment in state run hospitals in the European Union and Switzerland. If you're travelling in Europe, it's important you get one, as it means you'll be treated like a citizen to the country that you're visiting. However, don't be fooled into thinking this alone is an adequate substitute for travel insurance. For a start, it's only valid in the EU and Switzerland. Then you've got to remember that you will only have access to state run hospitals with an EHIC, which may be more limited and few and far between in some countries. Also, an EHIC won't cover you for anything other than medical expenses - so remember you'll still need cover for baggage loss and flight cancellation, and it won't cover you if you go further afield.

Know What You Need
When booking a holiday, it's quite easy to be sold a travel insurance policy that over covers you. For instance, you could be asked to upgrade to a platinum policy, which might offer £200 million worth of medical cover - but when would you actually need such an excessive amount of cover? In essence, it's incredibly unlikely. You're never really going to need more than £2 million worth of medical cover, while for personal liability (damage to other people and their property) £1 million should be enough, and £1,500 for baggage. Meanwhile, also make sure you have cover for cancellation and delays; there's nothing more soul destroying than getting excited for your dream holiday, only to find you can't go for reasons out of your control and yet you still have to fork out for it.