Travelling abroad – if things go wrong
Going on holiday should be fun, but sometimes things don’t go as planned. Your travel plans might not go right or you may have an accident or become ill. Here are some useful tips and in particular, tips if you’re planning a late winter holiday.
- Travel delays and cancellations
- If your airline or travel company goes bust
- If you become ill or are injured
- If you become a victim of theft or fraud
Disruption to your journey may be covered by your travel insurance policy. Your policy may provide cover for delay of flights, ferries and train journeys, including disruption due to bad weather or strike action. It may also cover you if you miss your flight due to bad weather, for example if your train is delayed or cancelled. But not all do, so it is important to check the terms of the policy before you buy.
When buying travel insurance it is important to choose a policy that meets your needs rather than simply opting for the cheapest. And always take the policy document and helpline number with you when you travel.
If your flight is delayed or cancelled, for whatever reason, then you may be entitled to help and assistance under the Delayed Boarding Regulation. This may include refreshments while waiting at the airport and hotel accommodation if appropriate. Your rights vary according to the length of your delay, where you are flying from and to and the distance of your flight.
You may also be entitled to compensation under the regulation, although not if the flight disruption is caused by bad weather or other ‘extraordinary circumstances’. For more details have a look at the Air Transport Users Council’s website.
Booking through a tour operator
If you booked a package holiday, your tour operator must hold an ATOL (Air Travel Organisers Licence) from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). This provides you with the following protection.
- If your airline fails before you travel, your tour operator must offer you a replacement holiday or a full refund.
- If you airline fails while you are abroad, your tour operator will take care of you and get you home at no extra cost to you.
- If the tour operator fails, the CAA will get you home if you are already on holiday or give you a full refund if you have not travelled.
See Related links for more about ATOL and how to make a claim.
Booking direct
If you have arranged your own holiday and booked your flights and accommodation separately, you will not be covered by ATOL (unless you have booked through an agent that offers ATOL protection). You will need to arrange your own journey home and pay for the arrangements yourself. However there may be various options available to you.
- You may be covered by your travel insurance policy if it includes Scheduled Airline Failure Insurance (SAFI). However, many policies don’t include SAFI and those that do may limit the amount that you can claim or exclude particular airlines.
- Check with other airlines to see if they will offer reduced ‘repatriation fares’. These are usually available, by telephone only, within a few hours of an airline going bust.
- You may have protection if you have paid by credit card (for sums over £100) or Visa debit card. Your card issuer may be equally responsible for a refund, check with them to see what cover is provided - see Bought on credit in Related links.
- If the airline has gone into administration you can try claiming from the appointed administrator. You may be able to get their details from the airline’s website or from the website of the AUC – see Related links.
Travel insurance
You should arrange adequate medical and health insurance before you travel so that if you become ill or are injured your medical expenses will be covered. This will usually be included in a travel insurance policy. You should also make sure that your policy covers you for any activities that you plan to do and check any exclusions. You should also declare any existing medical conditions that you have; to not do so may invalidate your cover. Take the insurance policy and helpline number with you.
EHIC (European Health Insurance Card)
If you are visiting a country within the European Economic Area or Switzerland then you should get an EHIC (European Health Insurance Card) before you travel too. This entitles you to free or reduced cost treatment in these areas, but does not replace the need for Travel insurance.
Swine flu
If you have a travel insurance policy, you should check your insurance policy documents carefully to make sure you understand what you are covered for, the level of cover and any limitations that apply. Also make sure that you have any supporting papers to make a claim. For more information see the Foreign & Commonwealth Office's swine flu page – see Related links.
Winter sports
Skiing and snowboarding holidays can be great fun but they do carry particular risks. If you are going on a skiing holiday then make sure that your travel insurance policy covers you for winter sports.
Depending on what level you are skiing at think about what you might need. You may want to look for a policy that includes:
- medical and air ambulance costs, including search and mountain rescue;
- UK physiotherapy to help you recover from an injury after you are home; and
- cover for the cost of ski school fees etc if you can’t ski due to an injury.
See our Travel insurance page for more information.
What to do
If you do become sick or get injured while you are abroad you should:
- seek medical care locally and contact your travel insurance company as soon as possible;
- if you are in a relevant country, take your EHIC card with you to the medical provider;
- if you are travelling on a package tour you should contact your tour representative who should be able to help; and
- if you are admitted to hospital you should contact your national embassy too who will be able to help you. See Related links for more on how the embassies can help you.
No-one plans to be a victim of theft or fraud while on holiday and there are lots of things you can do to stay safe. However if the worst does happen, help is at hand.
- First of all you should cancel any cards or travellers’ cheques that are stolen – you should do this as soon as you become aware that they are missing.
- Report any theft to the local police as you will need a police report or reference number in order to claim against your travel insurance policy.
- Let your travel insurance company know as soon as possible.
- Contact your embassy. If you need a replacement passport you should contact your national embassy. They should also provide information on how you can safely transfer money from relatives or friends. In an emergency, the British embassy can help British citizens by cashing a sterling cheque up to £100 with a valid banker’s card into local currency, although there will be a charge for this.
See the Foreign & Commonwealth Office’ tips in Related links.