Travel Insurance Protects

But now the ban has been raised as the threatrecedes. Unfortunately those who fear swine flu and no longer want togo to Mexico are not entitled to a refund, unless there happens to beother legitimate reasons to stay at home. The opposite also applies.People who ignore the FCO warnings put themselves at risk, because theywill be invalidating their travel insurance.

Frequent updates to the status of places occur, so itis important to take a look often. The FCO warnings areregion-specific, so might include only part of a country. An examplewould be the recent bomb in Lahore, Pakistan, which put parts of thecountry off limits whilst other parts were open to travel to.

If it happens that the travel company is responsiblefor disrupting or cancels your holiday they should give you analternative or your money back. However, they are not obliged tocompensate you for any disturbance, inconvenience or disruption caused.They might if you are lucky.

If all goes well and you arrive where you should haveand on time, you should also reduce the risk of becoming ill whilstabroad. Most of it is common sense. If the guidebook warns againstdrinking tap water, then obviously don’t do it. Washing your hands isoften even more important abroad, particularly in hot countries, thanat home, and is the simplest way to avoid the transmission of germs andbacteria.

The food you eat has the potential to cause illness,particularly meat or fish. Make sure it is thouroughly cooked throughso that any bacteria is eradicated. Pale meat like chicken isparticularly important to check. When you cut into white meat the juicethat comes out needs to be clear, otherwise the meat is not cookedproperly. When dealing with red meat, which don't need to be fullycooked, use your discretion and check that it is fresh.

Other annoyances occur for a vast number of reasons,such as the incident at Bangkok airport in November, when protestersheld a sit-in and stopped the airport from functioning. There was nodanger of violence but it did casue a lot of flights to be cancelled.Travel insurance really helps under these circumstances because itmeans another flight will be provided for you, so you won't end upstranded.

The bottom line is, anything can happen. So whilstyou shouldn't be put off travelling overseas by the dangers orinconveniences that may occur, you should buy a decent travel insurancepolicy to give you peace of mind and make sure you’re protected.