Travel Insurance: Your Safety Net in a Post-Brexit World 🛬

Brexit has done many things, one of which is making travel abroad tricky for UK citizens. 

Local authorities no longer view Brits abroad as favourable tourists. This is why travel insurance is essential, as you will unlikely be given the benefit of the doubt. As stated in the name, travel insurance covers the risks of travelling. These might include lost luggage 🧳, flight cancellations ✈️, medical expenses 🩺, etc., all of which can incur huge costs, and you will regret it massively if you aren’t covered! 

I have a rather anxious personality type, so the coverage of travel insurance gives me that peace of mind so that I can enjoy my holiday without the constant background fear of the worst. 

The Importance of Travel Insurance 🪪

A lot of people regard the British public as stingy. This may be true for some, but we have a population that is too varied to be typecast. If you are a stingy Brit, don’t let this stop you from getting insurance coverage when travelling. Here’s why: 

1. Medical costs abroad may surprise you. In the UK, we are lucky enough to have free healthcare (excluding taxation). This means that if you have an emergency or a physical injury, you are looked after by a state-run healthcare system that won’t charge you for treatment. 
   
   In the US, for example, a simple emergency visit can cost thousands of dollars, and more advanced treatment like an MRI and surgery might cost you hundreds of thousands. These are debts that most people cannot afford to repay. From my experience, the times I’ve been travelling or on holiday are the most high-risk periods of my life. Whether it be cliff-jumping, open water swimming, staying overnight in shifty neighbourhoods with heavy crime rates, horseback riding, or even the fact that in Europe and most of the world, people drive on different sides of the road to Britain and attitudes to road safety can vary massively depending on where you are. Therefore, you must get travel insurance for this reason alone!
   
2. Travel cancellations and interruptions. Those of you familiar with the London airports in England will know how difficult it has been to attend a flight that departs on time with no delays and no rerouting. Difficult times in the global economy introduce complex challenges to the travel industry. Thousands of strikers have taken action across Europe against poor pay, work conditions, expensive fuel costs, and environmental issues. 
   
   These issues will affect your travelling experience. Your flights will be delayed, your trains won’t run, and your buses will be overcrowded. Therefore, you must be covered. Otherwise, you may not be reimbursed, even though you’ve been deserted in some airport from home.
   
   I remember flying back from Abu Dhabi to London with my family. Most flights were experiencing heavy delays, including our flight at a whopping six and a half hours. The airport was overcrowded, with very few escaping on the runway. We sat and waited to board the flight eventually. It was about 2 hours into the journey when we heard an announcement that the cabin crew had worked overtime and needed to finish their shift, causing the flight to land in Vienna (Austria), where we waited for a further three hours so that a new crew could take us to London.  Eventually, we arrived home 14 hours later than scheduled, and if it hadn’t been for travel insurance, none of the expensive flights with Emirates would have been reimbursed. 

Travel Without Visa Concerns: A Unique British Advantage 🇬🇧

The British passport 🛂 is one of the most potent pieces of documentation worldwide. The world is your oyster, and you can travel most without a visa. However, in many countries, you still need to apply for a visa, including Russia, China, India, Iran, Ghana, Nigeria, Cuba, Vietnam, Turkmenistan, Belarus, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Pakistan, Nepal, Burma, Algeria, Angola, Azerbaijan, Congo, and many more. 

This point is significant because most countries require travel insurance to apply for a visa. This protects both you and the hosting country, as they don’t want you to end up owing high costs. So, to travel to any of these countries, you must have coverage. 

Selecting the Right Travel Insurance Provider 🔍

Now that we’ve established how important travel insurance is, it’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty question… What should I look for in a travel insurance provider and policy?

I like to view this through these two key areas:

Firstly, coverage limits. You must find insurance with sufficient coverage for various issues like medical expenses, evacuation, and repatriation. This is especially important if you plan on travelling to countries like the USA 🇺🇸, which has super-high medical care costs. Otherwise, you could be surprised that specific procedures may not be covered by the insurance you’ve paid for, making it even more expensive. 

Secondly, exclusions: Look at what is not covered by the insurance. Many travel insurance offers will not cover the risks of partaking in extreme sports. So, if you are a bit of a daredevil, make sure you are covered. Certain activities that you thought were not extreme, like skydiving, may not be covered through insurance. 

Choosing the right Travel Insurance Provider ✅

I have a few leading providers that are my ‘go-to’ for travel insurance. I trust them, and I can relax on my holiday, knowing I’d be in safe hands if anything were to go wrong.

The best is Allianz. Their package is well known, and they are one of the most popular insurance providers in the world. 

They offer unlimited access to their Health Hero service, which includes a 24/7 GP helpline. They have specific coverage for COVID-19 and a global insurance provider that will cover nearly all risks when travelling. 

You can opt for annual insurance (for frequent travellers), a solo trip, or a backpacker option (my favourite), so it caters to all needs. 

My second ‘go-to’ is AXA travel insurance. From just £30 a week, it will cover £100,000 in medical expenses, with extended protection in all Schengen countries 🇪🇺 and Great Britain. It also offers medical reimbursement, COVID Coverage, and 24-hour assistance. 

Another is Avanti Travel Insurance, which offers 24/7 medical support, unlimited medical coverage, and cancellation coverage. 

Fourthly, Staysure is fantastic. They offer great flexibility with different offers for young tourists, people over 50, and people over 70. Their customer feedback is fantastic, with twice as many 5-star reviews on Trustpilot as any other travel insurance company. 

Fifth, EKTA travel insurance—another fine option! Less known than the others, EKTA offers unique benefits such as global operation, constant client support, and no hidden restrictions for medical services. 

Last but not least, Klook and Medical Travel Compared. I rate these options greatly because their premium option is more affordable than others. Also, you have everything in one place with the Klook account, which has a simple design with a friendly UI that caters to all technological abilities. 

In conclusion, all of these options are great. The most important takeaway is that you pick at least one of them! We know how stressful travel insurance can be, and I want you to sit back and enjoy your holiday without the paranoia. My favourite is Allianz; the others are great. Feel free to comment on this post and tell us what your favourite is and why!