Time and again travellers from the UK are reminded to take out travel insurance before setting off on a trip or dream holiday. Often they are reminded of the numerous advantages and the cost of not having a valid policy.

One very important reminder, which may not necessarily be overemphasised, is the fact that once one leaves home on a journey anything could happen. From airport delays or outright flight cancellations to the loss or damage of valuables or even accidents leading to injuries or death.

To drive home some of these points let’s joggle our memories back to the events of Heathrow’s Terminal 5 some months back. Many people who travelled or attempted to travel via the terminal shortly after its launch were left with some of the ugliest experiences any traveller could face. Each day, as the chaos dragged on, several flights were cancelled and hundreds of travellers were left stranded. Worse still many had bags either lost or misplaced and several had their dream holidays or honeymoon shattered. But in spite of all this some wise travellers had a fallback – their travel insurance.

For those who had a comprehensive travel cover, or any form of travel insurance for that matter, it was easier for them to get some help. But those who had no cover lost both ways.

Learning a lesson from previous experience

Learning a lesson or two from the T5 example, perhaps, many people need not wait to be reminded to take out travel insurance before travelling. If nothing else, there are many unforeseen events against which people would need some form of cover.

Let’s also ponder the case of those who go abroad and take part in dangerous activities that put their health and lives at great risk. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office was, sometime ago, forced to issue a warning to British holidaymakers, particularly the elderly ones. It had been found that many of our elderly travellers enjoy having fun while far-a-field, which is not a crime though, but they often did that without having the necessary arrangements for eventualities in place.

Many were found to have fallen into trouble and constituted consular problems abroad. Of course it was not just this category of travellers that was always causing trouble for themselves. There were many others, including gap-year students, who would travel without adequate cover or backpackers that would set off with the wrong or inadequate policy. And when things went wrong they were left to foot their bills from their own pockets. Imagine paying your hospital bill or the cost of your repatriation from your own purse, which would leave you several hundreds of pounds down? Compare this scenario to one in which you were insured and had no trouble making claims on your insurance cover to foot those bills. The difference is very clear!

As the winter sets in many are travelling with skiing top on their agenda. You need to remember that your travel insurance cover is a basic necessity that must not be missed. In the words of Biba’s Graeme Trudgill, it is “as important as your suitcase.”