Often when booking a holiday you are asked if you need holiday or travel/health insurance.  As this is an additional expense, you may decide that you don’t need it or can’t afford it.  But if things go wrong you could be seriously out of pocket if you have no insurance.  It is particularly important if you are travelling independently, eg not a package holiday

For instance:

• cancelling or cutting short your trip for reasons beyond your control
• missed transport or delayed departure for reasons beyond your control
• medical and other emergencies
• personal injury and death
• lost, stolen or damaged items, including baggage, passports and money
• accidental damage or injury caused by you.

Travel insurance is widely available. You can buy it from:

• insurance companies
• banks
• retailers and supermarkets
• travel agents
• online comparison websites
• holiday companies.

Sometimes, travel insurance might be included as an extra service offered through your bank account or credit card, but you’d need to check it covered all aspects of your holiday – for instance you may be going to participate in sports, or you may have a medical condition that invalidates the insurance.

For full information see this article.

Do remember to apply for a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) for European travel as the EHIC allows you to get free treatment in public hospitals in many European countries.

However, it won’t cover getting you home if you need medical help to return to the UK, so you shouldn’t rely on it as your only form of medical insurance.

Brexit – if the UK leaves the EU without a deal

If the UK leaves the EU without a deal, EHICs won’t be valid for travel in the EU.

You’ll need to have your own travel insurance that covers you for medical treatment when travelling to the EU, Norway, Switzerland, Iceland or Liechtenstein.

You can check the rules for the country you’re travelling to with the NHS.

Find out more about travelling in Europe after Brexit.