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Original poster

Travel insurance for child on a school trip - any advice?

23 replies

DavesNotHere · 09/10/2019 18:43

Greetings wise ones! Year 8 DS is going on a 4 day trip to Germany with school this month. He's not brilliant at holding on to his possessions so thinking about single trip insurance that will cover phone, camera, money etc as well as the usual. He has an EHIC card. Have so far forgotten to ask school if they will have any group cover - does anyone know if this is usual? I will ask tomorrow but assuming they don't, want to sort something out asap. It's the first time he'll be going abroad with school (first time full stop in fact!) so not had to think about it before! Can you chuck some recommendations and advice my way?

OP posts:

Boyskeepswinging · 09/10/2019 18:46

School trips are usually covered by the school insurance policy.

TheCanterburyWhales · 09/10/2019 18:48

Our students aren't allowed on school trips unless they either have their own or they pay for us to book it for them as part of the trip

Our school insurance doesn't cover trips because they're not in school Others may have a different system though.

Original poster

DavesNotHere · 09/10/2019 18:56

Thank you for your replies. Different opinions! Will def call school tomorrow and see what they have in place but want to make sure we have extra cover if necessary. Sorry, have to go out in a minute but will check in when I get back. x

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CampingItUp · 09/10/2019 18:56

You need to ask if they have group travel insurance and what it covers.

An EHIC card is good for on the spot treatment but it wouldn’t cover him being flown home ill or injured, flights and accommodation for you to visit if he was in hospital and other things that travel medical insurance covers.

I would e mail the staff member organising the trip.

Original poster

DavesNotHere · 09/10/2019 21:37

Thanks CampingItUp - good advice. Will call them in the morning. So assuming I do need to get extra insurance, any recommendations as to who to buy it from? I've spent quite a bit of time looking but it's hard to find anything that applies to that specific situation. But then again I've never been in the habit of buying travel insurance so am probably making it more complicated than I need to! I'd prefer zero excess so hoping that for a single short trip that won't add too much to the cost...

OP posts:

Sgtmajormummy · 09/10/2019 21:52

I’ve used Allianz over the years. Three non-family 13 year-olds, DD and me in Europe costs £45 each (Health, Baggage, Third Party, Electronics and Cancellation) for a week in November.
I’ve paid less in previous years but this year with Brexit/No Deal I didn’t want to suddenly have an invalid EHIC so I bought higher health cover than usual.
I got it through my bank which offers insurance deals with Allianz. It gives me peace of mind if I ever had to make a claim they would deal with it rather than online. Not happened so far...

ColdRainAgain · 09/10/2019 21:56

World Nomads were who oir school told us to get insurance through when a group policy wasnt purchased.

Original poster

DavesNotHere · 09/10/2019 21:57

Ah thanks - I did use Allianz for musical instrument insurance many years ago, had forgotten that. I'll check them out.

OP posts:

Original poster

DavesNotHere · 09/10/2019 22:02

Hmm doesn't look like they cover an individual under 18. Never mind, I'll keep looking!

OP posts:

curlycat · 09/10/2019 22:54

You may find it hard to get insurance for an individual under 18. When DD19 went away in the summer she basically had to insure her 17 year old friend as a child on her insurance as the friend couldn't get one herself

WickedGoodDoge · 10/10/2019 06:45

I got insurance for DS when he 13 and going to Panama on his own. I’ll try to dig out who I used later as I found most policies from the bog standard places only cover the child if the covered adult is also travelling with them. I needed to get a policy from a specialist company.

FunkySnidge · 10/10/2019 06:55

You'll need to try a broker as the vast majority of online stuff will be for families as a group or for children travelling with a related guardian.

Bumpinthenight · 10/10/2019 07:07

Try the Post Office. We got insurance through them for our DD a few years ago when she was going on holiday with her grandparents.

Irisloulou · 10/10/2019 07:13

I always use the post office.

CampingItUp · 10/10/2019 07:48

Find out what the position with the school is first.
Ask if the group school trip insurance covers medical, and personal possessions.

My Dc, nieces and nephews have been on numerous school trips, my sibling and best friend are teachers who have escorted trips abroad and I have never known any of them not automatically have group cover in with the price of the trip. But it often doesn’t get specifically stated.

JollyAndBright · 10/10/2019 07:49

You are going to have a very difficult time.

Ds(12) went on a school trip to France earlier this year and it took me weeks to find an insurance company that would cover a child travelling with school/non family.
Most companies just don’t offer it anymore.

We tried ringing around all of the big companies and a few smaller ones but they all said no they couldn’t do it.
In the end we spoke to a broker and they could only offer us two policies, one was £70 and the other was over £100 both had a huge excess, it just didn’t seem worth it.

What we did instead was take out individual item cover for a trip, so mobile phone insurance, cameras insurance, etc
It worked out a lot easier.

TeenPlusTwenties · 10/10/2019 08:41

the health etc is covered by a group school insurance.

I've never sent a DC with enough valuable personal possessions to make personal insurance necessary.

Original poster

DavesNotHere · 10/10/2019 10:58

Thanks everyone. I called school this morning and they do have insurance that covers all the main aspects of the trip, but personal possessions, unsurprisingly, are the responsibility of the children / parents. I'll ask in the Post Office, seems like the best bet. And also look into getting general cover for individual items like his camera (which tbh is the only valuable item he wants to take!).

OP posts:

bruffin · 10/10/2019 11:03

Surely your household insurance cover possessions away from home upto a certain limit

SnowsInWater · 10/10/2019 12:03

You might find the limits for individual items like a camera or phone to be so low it's not worth it tbh, especially as there is likely to be an excess too.

CampingItUp · 10/10/2019 12:05

Call your household insurers and ask if it is covered in a school trip to wherever, and if not can you pay an add on to cover it.

bruffin · 10/10/2019 12:33

The limits on our household insurance is £1500 per item away from home total £5000 with a £100 excess and voluntary excess £ 150 total £250. Thats is on a really cheap esure building and contents policy

mencken · 10/10/2019 14:32

as mentioned, check with the school for essential medical/repatriation cover. If they haven't got it then either it gets arranged or he doesn't go. The worst case (hope not!) can be a sell-your-house scenario even from Germany and even with an EHIC.

insurance for 'stuff' will only cover theft, not 'left it lying about' which from your post sounds like what will happen. He'd need a police report if anything was nicked.

simple talk and text phone (so charge will last days not hours), or no phone at all. If he insists on taking the camera, make it clear that if it is left lying about, he won't get another.

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