Travel Insurance Information

Everyone knows that travel insurance is essential when going on holiday but when visiting family and friends overseas, many Brits opt to forego insurance, leaving themselves exposed to huge costs or losses.

The Foreign Office is an invaluable resource for travel insurance information and a study by the department has found that as many as one in two people did not take out cover when visiting loved ones or friends in Asia.

With global travel now far more prevalent, many more Brits are deciding to move overseas either temporarily or long term and this is leading to an increased number of family and friends eschewing formal holidays to stay with them. According to the Foreign Office, as many as 12 million people from the UK will visit overseas, staying with people they know rather than in traditional holiday accommodation.

Jeremy Browne, the Minister for Consular Affairs, says that Brits are failing to think about what they might need to do before they go and are treating the overseas visit as similar to popping over their friend's house for a cup of tea.

As well as getting travel insurance information, it is also important to check the conditions of the country you are visiting, as you will not have a travel agent to advise you about what to avoid. The Foreign Office website has up to the minute details about conditions in each country and to ensure any travel insurance you take out remains valid, it is important to adhere to any warnings given.

The Foreign Office have launched a campaign to help prepare people thinking about visiting overseas – Know Before You Go – which highlights the various considerations such as travel insurance and medical preventative measures which need to be taken, which tour operators would normally help to make holidaymakers aware of.