BUSINESS TRAVEL ADVICE

If jetting off on business trips is a regular thing for you, annual multi-trip policies will be more suited to your travel routine. This will provide cover for your business trips all year round. Then again, if you only take business trips once or twice a year, you’ll be better off with a single trip policy to cover you for those rare occasions that you do go. It is worth noting, some travel insurance policies will offer a business extension on both annual multi-trip and single trip policies.

Although most travel insurance policies will cover things such as; medical emergencies, possessions and delays and cancellations, a business travel insurance extension will provide you with additional cover for your work-related matters. So, what exactly can you get cover for?

You’ll want to know your business equipment is safe for sure!

Loss or theft of business equipment:

If you’re travelling to a meeting, and somewhere along the way, your briefcase is stolen, a business extension will offer to pay up to £2,000 (amounts will vary between insurers) for the loss of any business-related equipment.

Transportation costs to replace business samples:

If your business samples were lost, stolen or damaged and you needed to hire transport or pay for the shipping to get a replacement to you  then you’ll be able to claim the costs back from your travel insurer when you get home, just make sure to keep all your postal receipts as evidence when submitting a claim. You may also need a police report for lost or stolen items so be sure to check this before you leave the country.

Loss or theft of company money:

It’s highly likely you’ll be taking company money with you on your trip and it wouldn’t be too great if that money was to get lost or stolen. If this does happen, however, some business extensions will cover up to £500 for the loss or theft of your business cash. This amount will differ between policies so be sure to check the cover levels are suitable before you buy your insurance.

Medical expenses:

If you are in an accident or require emergency medical treatment and, as a result, are either hospitalised or need to be brought back home (repatriated), you may be able to claim up to £1,000 towards the cost of sending a replacement employee or if you need to re-plan your business trip.

Cover for electrical items: 

You’ll want to make sure your laptop or tablet is safe when you’re travelling abroad. It’s important to note that laptops and tablets will be covered as electrical items under the personal possessions section of your policy. Some travel insurance policies will pay up to £2,000 in total if your electrical items are lost, stolen or accidentally damaged during your trip, and a total of £500 for accessories. Laptops are covered under electrical items, but the single article limit may be low depending on the policy so you may find it more beneficial to have worldwide home insurance or worldwide specialist gadget/laptop insurance.

Cancellation:

So… your business trip abroad was a success and you secured that all-important deal, but, in an unexpected turn of events, a severe storm brewing overhead has delayed your flights until the morning. To top it all off, because severe weather conditions are known as ‘extraordinary circumstance’, your airline is not obligated to g pay you any compensation. They do however have a duty of care to re-book, refund or re-route your flight and provide refreshments and accommodation if necessary. Your travel insurance policy may offer to pay compensation, regardless of the reason for a delay or cancellation – provided you were checked-in on time. Take a look at ‘Departure Delay’ for more information on this.

Consequential loss:

It’s worth noting, travel insurance policies will not provide cover for consequential losses. For example, if you miss your meeting because your flight was delayed, and you didn’t secure the deal or partnership, you will not be covered for any consequential loss you or your company may incur as a result.