In short, the answer is yes, most certainly. So why is 1 in 5 of us still travelling without it? Whilst many people may to try to scaremonger you in to thinking you must have travel insurance, let’s be honest, the type of life or death situations often described happens once in a blue moon. What is often neglected is all the small things that it covers, which unfortunately for most of us do occur at least once within our lifetime. So whether you booking a long weekend holiday away to Marrakech or you’re after a family holiday to France, this article will help you decide whether you need travel insurance or not.

For example all good travel insurance policies should cover you in case you get sick whilst abroad, whether you eat something dodgy or scrape yourself at the pool, any sort of medical visit abroad can be ridiculously expensive and you may be left to fly home early for treatment if you cannot afford the fees. Chances are if you don’t have travel insurance, you’re going to have to pay for that early flight home too!

Another reason why travel insurance is imperative is for the protection of you and your personal items. Whilst losing money abroad or being pick-pocketed could be traumatic enough, imagine if you weren’t covered and you lost all your money.Your holiday would come to an abrupt ending and with no money or means of making payment; you may not be able to book yourself an earlier flight home.Worse, can you imagine losing your passport? Apart from the obvious thought of how are you going to get home, what most people don’t think about is where will you stay once you have checked out of your hotel, missed your flight and have no choice but to wait for a replacement passport to arrive? Again if you’ve lost money as well as your passport you could really end up in trouble and end up unsafe abroad!

Finally, we all know airlines are infamous for losing bags, or sending them to the wrong destination. All good policies should cover your bag and its contents allowing you to get on with your holiday, with the aid of emergency funds for supplies if necessary. This leaves you with the peace of mind that comes from knowing you can leave the airport and head home and your belongings or money for their replacement will find their way to you.