Is an annual travel insurance policy the ‘way to go’?
In years gone by, the average UK family would go for one holiday abroad a year at most. In this paradigm, it made perfect sense to purchase travel insurance purely for the duration of that trip.
But recent statistics from RealHolidayReports have shown that more Brits than ever are taking more than one overseas holiday per year. The survey of 700 website visitors revealed that 76% took more than one overseas holiday a year while only 23% said that they had only taken a single holiday. Almost 40% said that they had taken two holidays in the past 12 months, 23% had taken three overseas holidays or breaks, and 14% said that they travelled overseas four or more times a year.
Brits taking more holidays overseas each year
As air travel and accommodation abroad have become cheaper, people are seeking to make the most of their holidays from work by jetting off for exotic adventures, or simply spending a little extra time in the sun by the pool or on the beach. So does it still make sense for those who travel abroad more frequently to purchase travel insurance on a trip by basis? Here we’re going to take a look at the alternative: an annual travel insurance policy.
Multi-trip travel insurance
An annual multi-trip travel insurance policy does roughly what it says on the tin – it insures you for the duration of the year on any overseas trips you make during that time. Such policies will generally work out much cheaper than insuring for each individual trip, particularly if you make three or more trips abroad a year.
This will, of course, depend on the number of times you go abroad though and if you’re only going for a couple of trips it’s worth checking that annual insurance is indeed the most cost-effective deal. Annual insurance is naturally more expensive than a single-trip policy, but if you take enough trips this will still work in your favour.
So whether annual travel insurance is the ‘way to go’ comes down in large part to whether it’s going to work out more affordable for you. But there are other things that you should consider.
Trip duration
Most annual travel insurance policies set a limit on the length of time that you’re covered for each individual trip – usually around 30-45 days, but in some cases longer. So if one or more of your trips is set to last longer than this period, annual travel insurance might not be right for you.
Who is covered?
Whether you’re covering just yourself, you and your partner or the whole family will have a significant effect on the overall cost of the policy, and you should examine whether this represents good value for money.
What is covered?
Many annual policies don’t include cover risky activities like skiing or mountaineering as standard, so if you’re planning on taking part in any of these this is something that you should examine the small print for.
If you’d like to find out more about annual travel insurance, get in touch with Park Insurance today.