Citizens Advice: The importance of travel insurance

By Kirklees Citizens Advice & Law Centre chief executive Nick Whittingham

The chances are you’ll have the holiday you deserve, but there are a few things you can do in advance to help your holiday go smoothly. That includes the golden rule of getting travel insurance, ideally as soon as you book the holiday, and brushing up on what your rights are if something goes wrong.

The first thing to do is check if your passport is in date. Renewing can take several weeks so you don’t want to leave this until the last minute. You can check the validity of your passport for your trip on GOV.UK by seeing the entry requirements of the country you’re travelling to.

This is especially important if you’re flying to Europe, as EU countries no longer accept passports that are more than ten years old. If your passport was issued pre-Brexit then the expiry date might be more than ten years from the issue date, but if it’s older than ten years, you’ll need to get it renewed for EU travel - even if it’s still in date.

Flight delays and cancellations could happen to any of us, so it’s worth knowing what your rights are if this happens. If your flight is delayed long enough, your airline has to give you access to food and drink vouchers, phone calls and emails, and accommodation if you’re delayed overnight. If your flight is cancelled, you have a legal right to a full refund or replacement flight to help you get to your destination.

Bags going missing is another classic holiday nightmare. But you do have a right to compensation if your airline delays, loses or damages your checked-in luggage. The Citizens Advice website shows you how to do this, and your travel insurance will also have some information.

You might also get compensation for other things, like a day trip getting cancelled, or if you paid for a deluxe room but only got a standard. This will depend on whether you booked a package holiday, made ‘linked travel arrangements’ or organised the holiday yourself as an independent traveller, so it’s worth checking to see what compensation you can get.

Finally, Citizens Advice says you should get travel insurance, as it can cover many of the things already mentioned, like flight delays and lost luggage, but also things like a holiday cancellation and medical emergencies. You should get travel insurance as soon as you book a holiday, but check first to see if you’re covered for what you need through an existing insurance policy or maybe through your bank account.

Hopefully, you won’t face any problems while on holiday, but early planning and preparations can go a long way. If something goes wrong and you need advice on a consumer problem, check the Citizens Advice website.

If you would like to speak to Kirklees Citizens Advice and Law Centre, you can call us on 0808 278 7896 (Freephone), or visit our contact centre in Dewsbury. We can help with issues such as housing, employment, debt, benefits, and more. See our website at http://www.kcalc.org.uk for some more information.