15th February 2019
Travel insurance premiums are likely to rise with a no deal Brexit.
Travel insurance
Michael Masterson at Cover4Insurance says that travel insurance premiums are likely to rise with a no deal Brexit.
At the moment the UK is set to leave the EU on 29th March 2019. If there is no withdrawal agreement in place by then or a specific agreement to the contrary, the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) will no longer apply. This in turn will make medical treatment in these countries more expensive, which will have a direct impact on insurance premiums as claims costs will rise.
This means that it is even more important than ever that you have the appropriate travel insurance in place to cover medical costs while you are travelling in an EU country, in the same way as you would when travelling to a non-EU country such as the USA.
Beat the price rises:
There are 2 ways in which you can beat the expected price rises at the end of March.
- If you have already booked your holiday then you should book your travel insurance now. You will not only beat the price rise but will also cover yourself against cancellation. Cancellation covers you if you have to cancel your holiday due to a number of reasons such as your unexpected illness, jury service, posting overseas (if you work in one of the services such as police, nurse or armed forces), you being made redundant, fire flood or burglary of your home.
- Take out an Annual Multi Trip insurance policy. This will cover you for any number of trips during a 12-month period. This normally has a limit on the number of days that each trip can be for example no individual trip may be longer than 45 days.
According to the gov.uk website, the rules for travel to most countries within Europe change if the UK leaves the EU with a no deal Brexit.
Rules for passports After 29 March 2019:
- You should have at least 6 months left on your passport from your date of arrival. This applies to adult and child passports.
- If you renewed a passport before it expired, up to 9 extra months may have been added to your new passport’s expiry date. Any extra months on your passport over 10 years may not count towards the 6 months that should be remaining for travel to most countries in Europe.
The new rules will apply to passports issued by the UK, Gibraltar, Guernsey, the Isle of Man and Jersey.
We would advise everyone to check their passport is still valid for travel before they go. Please note that travel insurance will not cover you if your passport is no longer valid for travel.