Saturday, November 17, 2007

Buying Travel Insurance Online

Many travelers take the easy option when buying travel insurance for their holiday, and often buy it from their travel provider such as their travel agent or tour operator. But that isn't always the best option. Travel insurance bought through travel agents is still expensive whereas you can now get much better deals from a wide range of companies directly, cutting out the middleman many of which are online.

There are many benefits to buying travel insurance online, one of which is the ability to visit a shopping site to compare the prices of similar travel insurance policies without the need to trawl through loads of sites individually. You will usually get more detailed quotes if you visit each site separately however, so it's best to use the first method to narrow your choices down to half a dozen or so, and then investigate each insurer in more detail.

There are a growing number of dedicated travel insurance specialists who only operate over the internet, meaning you can usually get a lower price as they have lower overheads. Full details of all the policies they offer should be made available to you to read before you actually buy any cover. If you have any questions or any requirements that don't seem to be covered, it's worth emailing or phoning the company to iron these out first. Also make sure that the policy is underwritten by a reputable underwriter.

Once you have bought your policy you will be able to print it out immediately. This is another benefit of buying online, no queues, no waiting and no problems. You can buy at anytime, day or night. Simply choose your cover, pay online and print out your documents.

One thing to bear in mind however is how important it is to read through everything thoroughly after you have bought your cover, because if there are any errors these need to be corrected straightaway. If you don't check your policy and you need to make a claim, any errors may invalidate your cover.