Recommendation for travel insurance for a trip longer than one month.

[Reney]

Hi all,

I think most travel insurance policy assumes you are travelling for less than a month at a time. I am planning a trip that will be 5 weeks i.e. just over the threshold. I have the amex plat card and HSBC plat insurance policy.

Has anyone tried to extend the coverage of these policies beyond 30 days? Is there a charge? Otherwise welcome recommendations of other insurers which are priced reasonably. One of the travellers has pre-existing medical issues so will need a separate policy anyway.

Thx

[AnotherUser]

Amex plat insurance should cover a 5 week trip, I think, though not preexisting conditions

[JDB]

Reney wrote:

Hi all,

I think most travel insurance policy assumes you are travelling for less than a month at a time. I am planning a trip that will be 5 weeks i.e. just over the threshold. I have the amex plat card and HSBC plat insurance policy.

Has anyone tried to extend the coverage of these policies beyond 30 days? Is there a charge? Otherwise welcome recommendations of other insurers which are priced reasonably. One of the travellers has pre-existing medical issues so will need a separate policy anyway.

Thx

Amex Plat is 90 days. HSBC and Nationwide Flex Plus 31 days, but with the latter you can buy out existing conditions very reasonably and trip extensions, plus overall better coverage but no car hire excess cover. HSBC covers many more existing conditions than Amex.

[Philondon]

I got a good deal with Churchill for a long trip.

[meta]

You can also buy trip extensions with HSBC Premier and you can tell them of other pre-existing conditions that are not covered. The extensions work on a scale: extra 30, 60 and 90 days, so if you go even 1 day into the other scale, say 62 days instead of 62 days (31 days standard + 31 days extra), you’ll have to pay more.

[Reney]

Thanks all! Great news that Amex plat is 90 days, was getting quotes that alone ‘saved’ me £190 for 2 of us! I’m definitely not having a problem justifying the Amex Plat this year.

Will look into the HSBC prem and pre existing conditions as one of us have lots of pre existing conditions but insurance was a given in the budget anyway.

[TimM]

Use the likes of MoneySupermarket to compare travel insurance policies. Maximum stay length is one of their criteria. Beyond 90 days, I believe it is called ‘backpacker insurance’ with minimal coverage. 5 weeks is straightforward.

Pre-existing conditions have extra diligence requirements. To cover pre-existing conditions, insurance becomes extortionate. I would consider self-insuring, i.e. just paying for any treatment or for a flight straight back if fit to fly.

For valuable possessions such as laptops, phones and tablets, it is usually a very cheap add-on (possessions away from the home) to a house insurance policy, e.g. <£30 p.a. for multiple items worth <£2,000 each without the need to specify them, and with the option to reduce the excess to zero. It can work out far cheaper to offload possessions to the house policy then the travel insurance can be focussed on other things.