It is also important to find out the overall cost of the insurance before you choose a holiday. Cost covers can vary from country to country, also depending on the type of holidays.

Activity holidays are increasingly popular, but find out if your policy covers your chosen sports, as insurance companies differ in their approach. If you will be skiing you will naturally need winter-sports insurance, but check if it covers anything special such as skiing off-piste or snowboarding.

If they ask you to mention your "pre-existing medical conditions" on insurance application forms, be honest. It is a good idea to put such information in a letter and ask for a written acknowledgment from the company.

Annual policies are worth considering if you have more than one holiday a year.

Take a copy of the insurance contract with you: if you need to claim, you will be able to check what you have to do. For instance, medical treatment may need to be approved by the insurance company beforehand (to avoid unnecessary treatment carried out by private hospitals).

If you are claiming for breakage (a camera, laptop, cell phone, jewellery etc.) keep it no matter how damaged it is. It is also a good solution to take a photograph of your valuable goods (before and after the breakage), so that you will be able to prove the loss or damage. Also report the theft to the police in the first 24 hours.

For many people, travel insurance is the best precaution, to have an enjoyable and safe holiday. But for others, travel insurance is a way of getting easy money by making false claims against companies. For example, some people claim that they have had valuable equipment stolen, which in fact never existed, and then claim large sums of money in compensation. Such false claims cost insurance companies millions a year. But this cheating will no longer be tolerated. Due to new online systems, companies will be able to tell almost immediately whether a person has made a claim in the last two or three years.

How to find the best insurance offers? It is the same like finding the best holiday offers: the Internet can be again one of the best advisers. With a personal computer and Internet access it is now possible to organize anything from a weekend break to a round-the-world trip from the comfort of your own home. Once you start exploring cyberspace you'll be amazed at how much you can find out about transport, accommodation, weather, costs, sights and activities.

A great number of websites offer you the opportunity to get in touch with the best insurance offers: comprehensive travel plans, low cost, single or annual holiday insurance. Of course, it is also possible to place an electronic order for the insurance chosen by you, as well. There are even search engines, which compare, select and provide you the best service, by searching among hundreds of websites simultaneously.

It sounds good to be true, and in fact there are some drawbacks, among which the most important is the huge mass of information available. It is sometimes difficult to find what you are exactly looking for, although web sites are becoming increasingly user friendly. It is also difficult to decide which insurance company to choose, so here are some golden rules what should a travelling insurance cover:

• Medical and health problems, either sudden illnesses or just some injuries.


• Loosing and/or damaging valuable items


• Cancelling the whole trip (for good reasons like: accidents, bad weather, emergency cases, jury services)


• Personal liability (when you cause damage or injury to others)


• Non stop emergency assistance


• Emergency funds (that is financial protection in case your agency or airline goes bust)

It is also important to notice that a travel insurance should cover the whole period of your holiday. If you have special needs, that can be discussed and negotiated with the company. Travelling insurance agencies are usually flexible, but they also have some standard exclusions, like: damage of property, damage of health due to drug and/or alcohol usage, expenses related to your pre-existing health problems, terrorist attacks. All in all, you are also responsible for your possessions, so you are required to take care of them all the time.

And finally here are some tips for buying the best travel insurance:

• Get informed before making a choice. Look for the best prices and the best offers. Seek for advice before placing an online order.


• Special offers are very tricky: low cost insurances may be good, but they may not cover all the fields enumerated above.


• Save time and money: buy annual insurance if you go on more than one holiday a year.


• Check out if the offer covers the full time of your holiday, and provides cancellation policy.

Keeping all these things in mind, you surely will have a well-organized, very safe holiday!