Travel Insurance – UK
Government Travel and Health Advice
Most national governments will provide specific travel advice for people travelling overseas to most countries in the world.
This advice will include information on safety and security in specific countries, entry requirements of whether or not a visa is required, any specific travel warnings and the latest information on coronavirus and any other current medical-related issues.
All this advice is useful for anyone travelling abroad for any reason, for any length of time, and people should sign up for email alerts which are normally offered by the government website as well, say that they can be aware if any situation suddenly changes, and the government advisor changes as well.
From the point of view of travel insurance, the insurance company expects people to comply with any recommendations issued by the government that are contained on the government website.
This specifically and mainly applies to any government advice not to travel to a particular country, or a particular area of a country if there are real security concerns.
Failure to follow this advice could potentially validate someone’s travel insurance policy.
Different countries have different perspectives on the world, and their travel advice websites might differ depending upon their view of what is going on in another country.
For this reason, it is a good idea to look at other countries’ websites to see the advice they offer on the country that you may be visiting, the case the risk assessment or threat intelligence differs.
Below or some of the main English-speaking government websites, including where applicable health-related websites that may be part of a national government.
UK Government
- Foreign Travel Advice
- NHS Travel Health Advice
- NHS Travel Vaccinations
- Travel Insurance
- Help and Services around the World
Canada Government
- Travel Advice
- Travel Outside Canada
- Assistance Outside Canada
- Travel Health – Vaccinations, Health and Safety
USA Government
- Travel Advisories
- International Travel
- Travel Health Notices – CDC
- Medical tourism – CDC
- Traveler Advice – CDC
Australia Government
- Travel Advice – Smartraveller
- Travel Health
- Health Direct
- Travelling with Medicines
- Medical Treatment Overseas Program
- Yellow Fever Vaccination
- Travel Insurance
New Zealand Government
- Travel Advisories and Alerts
- Health and Travel
- When Things Go Wrong
- Travel Insurance
- Security Advice
South Africa
Types of Travel Insurance Policy
For many people travel insurance used to be one of those last minute emergency things that they did before they went on a trip, like checking their passport was still in date and making sure they had cancelled the milk.
Covid has changed all that, in ways that are likely to stay with us all for many years to come. The uncertainty that Covid created in the world order, has made travel insurance a key element of peoples freedom to resume travelling, and explore the regions of the world in a safe and secure manner.
Understanding how travel insurance works, its different elements and how it affects different types of traveller has become a really important part of the preparation for any travel trip, whether it be a week, a year or a new life altogether.
There are two or three main types of travel insurance, with numerous different add-ons, additions and different ways to make sure the insurance cover is appropriate for someone’s needs.
Backpacker / Longer Stay Insurance
Specialist Travel Insurance Holidays and Trips :
There are various other types of travel insurance policy available, either as stand alone policies or as additions to one of the above types.
These normally include things like cruise insurance, winter sports insurance, sports and activities insurance, notably golfing trips, overseas weddings insurance as well as travel insurance for people over a certain age, normally 65/75-85.
There are also policies available for people based in the UK who live abroad for a certain amount of the year, although these are more health insurance policies than travel insurance.
The main ones are listed below :
- Business Insurance
- Credit Card Travel Insurance
- Travel Insurance Comparison Sites
- Nurses
- Age Related Travel Insurance
- Travel Insurance for Cruises
- Backpackers
- Expats
- Children
- Working Abroad including TEFL
- Travel Insurance for Moter Cyclists
- Anyone with a disability
- Travel Insurance for people who are pregnant
- Students
- Golfing holidays
- Skiing
- Snowboarding
- Winter Sports
- Extreme Sports