As the day of romantics approaches this year, couples’ heading off to remote corners of Europe and Britain is one of the most common sights these days. While most accessories involved with travelling during Valentine’s go unnoticed, one thing needs to be given utmost attention: TRAVEL INSURANCE.

Defaqto, a UK financial research services has warned ‘cloud niners’ to ensure that travel insurance covers all the activities engaged during the valentine’s break. It is true that the most precious moment that comes once a year (maybe once in a lifetime with the present partner) could turn into an unforgettable nightmare in a matter of minutes.

"By taking a few minutes to check your [travel] insurance cover, you can cover your losses from unforeseen problems and help ensure that you and your loved one have a Valentine's Day to remember," commented Mike Powell, a Defaqto spokesperson.

From the fact file, Paypal has reported that around 27% Britons are awaiting to be surprised this weekend. Well, anything said and done will be surprising if we are with our dear love, right?

via GTI

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) will be in charge of regulating all travel insurance sold along with holidays starting the 1st of January, 2009. This is a move aimed at trimming the wings of agents who abused selling of insurance by taxing buyers with unwanted coverages. This is definitely beneficial for holiday makers but they will have to wait over a year to reap the benefits from new regulations.

Treasury Economic Secretary Kitty Usher feels that regulating the sale of travel insurance will protect customers if something goes wrong during the sale.

“Travel insurance is a relatively complex product and things do sometimes go wrong during the sale process. Extending FSA regulation to cover the sale of all travel insurance, and providing consumer access to the Financial Ombudsman Service, means that if something does go wrong, consumers will be protected”

She wanted to obtain suggestions from the travel industry for the manner of regulation so both buyers and sellers of travel insurance would not end up on the losing side.

” I strongly encourage the travel industry to contribute to the FSA's consultation on how best to regulate travel firms selling insurance, to ensure a regime that benefits both consumer and seller.”

Bringing travel insurance sales under FSA’s supervision is a commendable decision. It will most definitely help newbie travellers.

Purchasing travel insurance can never be a seamless process. We have mentioned over and over again that people who buy insurance should understand the complete terms and conditions, including reading between the lines.

Times Travel has published ten questions that need to be asked before purchasing travel insurance. Here are the questions:

1. Are pregnant women covered and up to what extent?
2. Is vacation insured if it gets sabotaged as a result of bad weather?
3. What is the area of coverage for people above the age of 70?
4. Where can UK residents find insurance if they are out of country for a long time?
5. Can your insurance provide coverage for driving out of EU?
6. Does my insurance cover mishaps in adventure sports like skiing?
7. Will my insurance cover delay and cancellation of flights?
8. Can I leave my luggage in the open lobby of hotels?
9. Does my insurance cover other amenities like rental cars?
10. If I drive off road in my SUV, will my insurance cover for damages?

This list is not comprehensive but extremely important to be asked before the purchase. So, make sure your eggs are in the right basket before you buy one.

There have been bizarre cases in courts where people have sued for the most unbelievable instances. A thief was injured when he was climbing over a fence while running away with the booty. He was caught but surprisingly, the thief sued the family who owned the house for the injury and won the case hands down. There have been many such travel insurance claims and each one sets up for a good laughter.

A list of 25 most bizarre travel insurance claims has been collated by Times Online on one of their blogs. They have obtained the information from various insurance companies. While most health related claims have been compensated, many dubious claims were shot down. Here are some of my favourites:

It is a good idea to keep your wallet secure at all times when you are away, as one careless Briton discovered to his cost in Israel. The holidaymaker accidentally dropped his wallet down a drain in Natanya. However, his claim wasn’t for his lost credit cards or cash. It was for hospital treatment after being stung by a poisonous scorpion while reaching down into the drain to get his possessions back. Thankfully, his travel insurance covered the cost of treatment.

Misreading your flight details is easy to do, usually necessitating a frantic rush to the departure gate. But one family that turned up late for their flight had no such panic. Their plane had departed the previous month. They were denied compensation from their travel insurer.

It’s every parent’s nightmare. Your children are playing on the beach and they think it would be fun to bury your camcorder worth £600. Thankfully, when this happened to a family in Cornwall, their insurer saw the funny side and refunded the cost.

Another couple stayed in a Parisian hotel room infested with fleas. After two days of itching and scratching, the pair cut their trip short and returned home, where they hastily burnt all their clothes on a bonfire. However, their claims for replacement wardrobe were rejected.

If you wish not to go into the hall of fame for the most bizarre travel claims, try to stick towards and health, injury and losses while you claim. It helps to know the history of claims before claiming; doesn’t it?

According to a survey conducted by Sainsbury travel insurance, many travel agents are selling travel insurance without revealing policy details. These agents sell insurance that probably has everything under the sun and coverage that are usually not required by maximum number of tourists.

The survey estimates that around 3.56m tourists have been misled by agents in the past 12 months. Around 17% of the duped tourists who bought insurance say that they weren’t asked if they had a pre-existing medical condition, and around 13% tourists were not told by the agent what the insurance covered. To add to this list, 9% claim that agents misled them by bullying them to buy insurance.

Financial Services Authority (FSA) had passed a notice to regulate all insurance sales. Unfortunately, this regulation would not come into full effect until the start of 2009.

If you are reading this article, you are probably aware of miscreant travel agents. Be careful until the year 2009. Ask some questions like – What does the insurance cover and what does it not cover? Does the insurance cover for pre-existing medical condition whilst on trip? Does it cover the activities I am undertaking on my trip?