8 things you need to know about travel insurance

Travel insurance is a type of cover that is intended to help with medical expenses, trip cancellation, lost luggage, flight accident and other losses whilst travelling, this is either internationally or domestically. The insurance can be booked at the time of booking a trip or during the holiday. You can book multi trip holiday insurance to cover you on unlimited amount of trips and countries.

Types of travel insurances coverage:

- Medical treatment, including transportation to the medical facility

- Trip cancellation

- Accidental death or injury

- Lost, stolen, misplaced or damaged luggage

- Officially recommended by the government to the intended destination.

Travel insurance is extremely important considering all the possibles risks you may encounter during your trip. It’s very comforting to know that you are protected even when you are many miles away from home. We never expect anything but good things when we are on holiday but sometimes this isn't the case.

• There are many travel insurance providers out on the market that are offering you excellent deals, but you need to always read the fine print and actually see what is included. Here are a few things you might not have known about travel insurance:

• The best travel insurance always offers multi trip insurance but always ensure you check how many days come under your "maximum trip duration". Some policies offer as little as 3 days, leaving you at risk if you decide to stay longer. Always speak to the adviser before you get the insurance to ensure they are compliant on your holiday. Whilst you may take a small weekend break to Lagos, you will need to check the small print to see whether the travel insurance is going to cover your home country.

• Travel insurance is calculated based on various factors but the most important one is destination of the country you are travelling to. The insurance would go high if you travelled to high-risk countries.

• Honesty is always the best policy when it comes to travel health insurance. It is important to let them know about any pre-existing medical conditions you have.  Not many people know that if you are dishonest on your policy, it can be invalidated.

• People usually don’t know that if you are stuck in traffic or on the train and miss your flight through no fault of your own, most policies will not cover you for new flights. Always check the terms and conditions of the policies.

• It is ok to let your hair down and relax on holiday, but insurers will not cover you if you’re injured under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

• If you are a victim of theft abroad, there is usually a time frame in which you need to report the crime to the insurance company. This is usually in the small print of the terms and conditions.

Before you book travel insurance, you need to be sure that you are not travelling to a country excluded from the insurance.