Why You Need Travel Insurance for a Family Trip to the UK

0
2104

Historic cities. Beautiful rolling green hills. Quaint old world towns and village pubs plus world class visitor attractions and theme parks.

There are plenty of reasons to pack the family off to the UK for a vacation. But before you do, as you’re checking passports and air tickets and accommodation, stop for a minute and ask – have you got the right travel insurance in place?

Here are some of the main reasons why you need travel insurance for a family trip to the UK. If you want to find out more about travel insurance for the UK, visit this website.

Children get sick and have accidents

That’s right, children get ill and fall over and hurt themselves at all the most inopportune times in all the most inconvenient places. Not that any parent needs reminding of that. The problem is, if you happen to be abroad, you will have to pay for any medical treatment they need.

The UK is famous for its free-at-the-point-of-delivery National Health Service (NHS). But free healthcare is only extended to British citizens or permanent residents. The exception is if you are visiting from a European Economic Area (EEA) country. But with the UK on the brink of leaving the EU, European visitors could end up having to pay like travellers from everywhere else.

As things stand, for non-EEA visitors, if you have to visit an emergency room or a doctor in the UK and don’t have valid travel insurance, you will be charged 150% of the standard NHS rate for that treatment. In the case of hospitalisation in particular, that could end up costing you an eye-watering sum.

Protect those gadgets

For the modern parent, gadgets such as iPads and portable gaming consoles have joined the ‘how did people cope without them in the past’ category of must-have travel accessories. From keeping children seated on flights and other long journeys to ensuring noise levels in restaurants remain at a civilised level, they are priceless.

They are also expensive and, in little hands while out in the big wide world, readily damaged. Unless you want to add a several hundred dollar bill to your holiday to get an iPad fixed or replaced, make sure you have travel insurance to cover any gadgets you take.

Keep warm whatever happens to your luggage

In some countries, lost luggage is an annoyance but not necessarily an emergency. If you lose a bag but still have shorts and T-shirts for everyone in another case, you will probably be ok, for a few days at least. But the notoriously damp and changeable UK climate does not really allow that. If you find you’ve lost your kids’ woolly jumpers and coats, you are going to have to prioritise going out and buying replacements.

If you have travel insurance in place, at least some of the sting is taken away by the knowledge you can claim back whatever you spend.