Family travel insurance guide

Travelling with a family can be fabulous, fun and frustrating! It can be difficult to get multiple adults from point A to Point B, combine this with some little people and things can get crazy! You plan and prepare for as much as you can - but we all know that even the best laid plans can fail. To avoid some of the frustration and much of the associated costs with travelling in a large group, some families opt to holiday separately or not at all.

Cost is an often the primary concern among family travellers. They need to budget for every detail to be sure they can afford accommodation, flights and fun for everyone. Often, they don't leave enough in the budget to cover unexpected expenses and that's when disaster strikes. If you are having a hard time paying for a trip for your family, can you imagine the hardship that a medical emergency abroad would bring?

Family Travel Insurance To The Rescue!

You might be thinking you can't afford travel insurance, but when faced with the possibilities, can you afford not to have it? The truth is most insurers offer policies that have been specifically tailored to meet the needs of travelling families. Family travel insurance is cheaper than purchasing a separate policy for everyone in your party. However, if you don't take the time to shop around for the best deal and coverage, travel insurance for your family can cost you way more than it has to.

Kids Are Covered For Free!

Did you know in most cases dependent kids are covered for free! This makes a family travel insurance policy even more affordable. With these kinds of savings you'll have more cash to splash on water parks and ice creams!

Are You Eligable For A Family Policy?

Your first step in choosing a policy is to define your family and compare it to the insurer's definition of family. Most companies consider, for insurance purposes, a family to be two adults and up to four children. Again, what qualifies as a 'child' is open for interpretation among insurers. Most of them consider a child to be a financially dependent person under the age of 18. However, others make allowances for children up to 21 years of age, provided they are living at home and are not in full time employment. Some insurers cover kids for free on a single adult policy. The cover limits remain the same as for one adult, however cover is provided for the child and guardian.

What's Important When It Comes To Cover?

Important benefits to consider when comparing family travel insurance is the allowances offered in terms of medical expenses, luggage and personal property. A policy with very limited coverage is, sometimes, not much better than no policy at all. Our family travel insurance comparison allows you to compare a host of reputable insurers offering cheap policies. With so many variables, it really pays to do your homework and comparison shop whenever possible instead of locking yourself into the first policy that is presented to you.

Family Togetherness -- What Could Go Wrong?

Traveling in a group will mean there are lots of important things to consider:

• Cover limits - do you have enough? When selecting a policy be sure to consider the varying limits of cover for each benefit, such as luggage and medical coverage. A family policy will have a set limit for a family travelling with dependents.
• Luggage cover limits apply to the whole family, not per person. It's rarely light to travel with the kids. Three ipads, two ipods, two iphones, two cameras (including a fancy new DSLR) and one laptop quickly adds up. So make sure you have enough cover!
• Are you sticking together the whole trip? You know how it is, that magical time when kids turn into teenagers -- all of a sudden they go from clutching at your skirt to needing a bribe to even get them to board the flight for your annual family holiday. (And that bribe is often a promise they'll be able to do their own thing for part of the trip.) But remember, all dependent children need to be named on your policy, and many insurers require them to be travelling with their parents for 100% of the journey. So if you're travelling separately from your kids for a part of your trip you may need to buy separate policies.
• Are your kids adrenaline junkies? Manykids adventure activities aren't covered automatically. So check your policy to make sure go-karting, zorbing, black water rafting, abseiling etc. are covered!
• Pre-existing medical conditions aren't normally covered, but to be sure check your policy wording for a list of covered medical conditions.
• Are you kids forgetful? Remember unattended items aren't covered. So if you're at the airport boarding area and Jimmy leaves his ipad under his seat to go to the bathroom and it's gone when he comes back, chances are it wont be covered.

Exclusions Apply To All Insurance Polices!

Before you fly the coup with your flock it's vital to read the policy wording (PDS) to ensure you understand what is and isn't covered. And if there's something you don't understand you can contact the provider directly.

Save time, worry and loads of money! Compare family travel insurance online will leave you plenty of time for family fun.