When is the best time to buy travel insurance?

You’ve got a holiday planned and you’ve been wondering: when is the best time to buy travel insurance? The answer is simple. Here’s everything you need to know about using your money wisely and keeping yourself protected.

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Nobody wants to pay for a holiday they don’t take

With a single trip policy, your cover is active from the moment you purchase it. That has numerous benefits. You see, most travel insurance policies come with cancellation cover. If something unexpected forced you to cancel your holiday, you would be able to claim for any money you were unable to recover for things like flights and accommodation. In essence your policy is protecting you before you’ve even gone on holiday.

Life is unpredictable sometimes. The best laid plans can sail out of the window at a moment’s notice. If something unexpected happened to you, cancelling a holiday would be frustrating enough. But if you lost the money you paid for flights and accommodation on top? That would be particularly galling. That’s why it’s always best to purchase travel insurance the moment you book your flights or secure yourself a place to stay. No policy, no cancellation cover.

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Is there any benefit to last minute cover?

Many people leave travel insurance until the last minute. Doing the same leaves you without cancellation cover until you get your policy sorted. But is there any benefit to buying late? Some insurers offer last minute travel insurance without cancellation cover included. That can save you a few pounds. The drawback is that these policies generally don’t cover last minute delays (such as a travel problem causing you to miss your flight) and won’t offer trip abandonment. So if something unexpected forced you to return home early from your holiday, you would be left out of pocket.

Got any medical conditions to declare?

Another thing to consider is medical screening. When taking out travel insurance, you must declare any pre-existing medical conditions. Depending on the insurer that could dramatically inflate your premium. So if you have anything less than a flawless medical history, it’s best to give yourself time to shop around for travel cover.

>> Find out how World First makes medical travel insurance more affordable

How does it work with an annual policy?

Do you have an annual travel insurance policy? Your cancellation cover will become active from the start date you specified when taking out your policy. (The start date will be shown in your policy documents if you are unsure.) That means if you have any holidays that you have already booked, you may want to bring the start date of your cover forward if you want to have cancellation protection for any holidays that you have already booked.

So when is the best time to buy travel insurance?

Unlike flights and accommodation, travel insurance policies don’t fluctuate in price across the course of the year. Nor is there any great advantage to gain from waiting until the last minute. And when you do get your cover sorted earlier, you get the full benefit of your cancellation protection. So do future you a favour and always aim to take out travel insurance cover as soon as you have booked your flights or accommodation.