Talk about travel insurance and I’ll tend to stick my fingers in my ears, despite being an every-headache-is-a-tumour hypochondriac, so I assume that most hard-arsed, Ray Mears-style stoics barely give it a thought. However, I’m increasingly hearing tales from mishap-prone mates very grateful that they bothered to get some cover before they set off. So I’m calling out to bloggers and forum members to help the travel community by posting their top travel insurance do’s an don’ts, so I can collect all the links together to build a mighty tried-and-tested manifesto about just how much you need, for what, and from where.

Here’s a few STA-related examples I found across the web:

Vickersontour from Mansfield has been taking stock of the costs for planning his round the world trip to date on his TravBuddy blog. Having booked his flights and Australian visas with STA Travel, he also decided to go for their Worldwide insurance with winter sports included. Lasting for one year, it protects the cost of their flights (which he fervently hopes won’t need to be refunded!) and ‘cost us about £350 each, which seems pretty steep but we just wanted to be sure we were fully covered as this is our first major adventure.’

In his LiveJournal blog, Martin Hopley has found that STA put their money where there policy is. He’s flying to Japan and ‘I got my travel insurance from STA Travel on the basis I fractured my leg here once and they paid for the treatment so I know they work’.

At BackPackingAbroad.com, they’ve been asking just the same question - is travel insurance really necessary? - and all the replies give a resounding yes; Unhealthyman agrees that ‘it is seriously foolish not to have it.’ STA comes out well again, with the splendidly named Pompous Rhombus recommending: ‘try STA Travel if you haven’t already. If you’re eligible, you get some basic coverage with the $25 ISIC card that would probably be enough.’

Share your experiences and send us the links so we can create a great resource. I might even make you a badge or something. With stick-on stars, and glitter.

by Molly on 16 May 2008
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