What am I looking for in travel insurance policy?

[DoubleYew]

Feeling a bit brain dead, I know you are supposed to shop around but what is 'good' in insurance?

We are going to Scotland then Germany to visit family, ds has been in hospital a couple of times lately with post viral wheeze so want something in case we have to cancel or re-schedule flights if he is ill. Thinking of just getting an annual policy (me and 1 toddler).

Very grateful if any clever person can tell me what sort of detail I'm looking for.

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Perhaps it would be better to turn the question around. What do you need in a travel insurance? How much does your holiday cost? What will you do when you're there?

Eg when I'm looking for insurance I want to know will it cover the cost of my holiday if I have to cancel, if I'm ill can I get medical treatment and will it cover some out of pocket expenses if I have to stay in hospital abroad. For me it's also important to have UK based call centres (in a crisis I want to be easily understood).

Personally I'm a great fan of tescos insurances. The info is clear, the price is comparable, they've been good paying out on on my own (small scale claim) and good to deal with when I worked in insurance. Starting out its worth looking at this table here just to get a good idea of what it's all about even if you do then shop around.

I do also use the comparison sites to get an idea of prices generally.

grr it's under the whats covered tab

As your DS has been in hospital recently you should look for any exclusions relating to pre-existing medical conditions, paying particular care to what falls within the definition of a pre-existing medical condition. Don't rely on a summary. Look at the actual wording of the policy, which you should be able to find online.

yes sorry I missed he been in hospital. Talk to the insurance company direct and Declare declare declare. Last time I needed insurance like you my Ds had had some episodes requiring significant medical attention (ambulance and ongoing investigations, no admissions though) and has ASD which vacillatates between being classed as a medical condition and learning difficulty. I spoke to virgin, tesco and one other making clear i wanted cover because I was concerned by a reoccurance of the medical problem. It took a long time to on the phone to get quotes, no one refused, ultimately the insurance was higher but I had the peace of mind of knowing it was covered. Tesco was still the cheapest.

I didn't use price comparisons site for that one.

Thank you!

Well it does pay to shop around. Virgin cover him for no extra fee ie 20 quid but Tesco wanted 110!