Three Reasons You Need Travel Insurance for Your UK Holidays in 2021

So it looks like ‘staycations’ will remain the big holiday trend throughout the first half of 2021 at least.

With the announcement of tight new restrictions on leaving and entering the UK and all so-called travel corridors suspended indefinitely, it’s possible that we’ll see even less international travel than we did in 2020.

Which is both good and bad news for all the campers, caravanners, hikers and home adventurers who love exploring everything the UK has to offer anyway. Good because we’re probably feeling less down about our holiday prospects than the overseas jet setters. Bad because it means our favourite campsites and B&Bs will probably fill up much more quickly!

On a serious note, with millions of Brits expected to holiday at home this year, one topic that is well worth raising is travel insurance. UK holidaymakers are not exactly the best at protecting themselves with travel cover even when they do head abroad. It’s a safe bet that a majority have never even considered the need for travel insurance if they take a break in
this country.

Staycations look set to remain a big holiday trend in 2021

However, in the times we’re living in, there are very good reasons to take out holiday insurance for a UK staycation. Here are three of the most convincing.

COVID restrictions are unpredictable

No one knows where we’ll be with COVID restrictions in a few months’ time. You might book a caravan by the sea or a quaint B&B somewhere in the countryside for the latter half of the year confident you’ll get your well-earned break by then. But can you be absolutely sure you’ll be allowed to go?

It isn’t just tight national lockdowns you have to think about. The UK’s tier system of coronavirus restrictions means any local area can tighten rules on travel and hospitality at any given time. The different nations of the UK have their own rules, with Scotland and Wales banning travel from other parts of the UK several times during the pandemic already.

Booking a holiday in the UK isn’t always cheap, especially with demand so high. Can you afford to lose your deposit if COVID restrictions mean you can’t go? The cancellation cover included in travel insurance is the only way to be sure of getting your money back.

Your circumstances might change

It isn’t just restrictions on movement that could end up scuppering your UK holiday plans. Regardless of the national picture, the message to stay at home and self-isolate if you have a positive COVID test, suspect you have symptoms or have been in contact with someone who has the virus is not going to change.

Imagine that – just days before you’re meant to be setting off for your holiday, and you or a member of your party is struck down with COVID. That’s it, game over, there’s no way you can travel. Again, how confident are you that you will get all your money back? Yes, many hospitality companies are offering refunds in a bid to encourage more business. But those
terms might end 48 or 72 hours before check-in, they might not cover the full amount, and you might not get the same generosity on train tickets or pre-booked attractions.

Again, travel insurance cancellation cover is the only way you can be sure of getting a pay out.

Stay in control if you suffer a medical emergency

In the UK, we are of course very privileged to have the NHS. This means that if you go on holiday anywhere in the UK and fall ill, including with COVID, you will receive free care at any clinic or hospital.

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t situations where the medical cover included with travel insurance wouldn’t be useful. What if you are hospitalised at the far end of the country and decide, for everyone’s convenience, that you would rather be transferred closer to home?
The only option might be to pay for this privately.

Want to learn more about how UK travel insurance works for domestic holidays? Find out more here.