Travel Insurance for Northern Ireland Residents

Here we have another product with plenty of online insurers willing to insure residents of Northern Ireland but again there's an awful lot of different options that you can pay for.

To begin with, the first decision is to decide if you're looking for a single trip policy or an annual policy. The single trip version is cheaper if you're only going to make one trip in the following 12 months, 2 trips and it's touch and go, 3 or more trips and the annual policy is definitely the way to go. A further variation is for a single trip, long stay policy for those wise souls who have taken the very sensible decision to move to warmer climes during the winter months.

If you're going for the annual trip version then you now have to decide if you're going to visit North America during the next year. Medical expenses and the general litigation mentality in the United States means that travel insurance premiums to North America are considerably higher than those when only travelling within Europe.

Next we need to consider if you're likely to take part in any hazardous activities. The most popular of these is skiing and most companies offer a specialised winter sports policy. There's also the really crazy sports and pastimes such as hang gliding, rock climbing, white water rafting and a whole host of other amazing activities. All of these can be covered within a Northern Irish travel insurance policy but you'll have to pay a little extra and you might find that there are some rules applied as to what you can and can't do. Never be tempted to go on one of these specialised holidays armed with just a normal travel insurance policy. Should the worst happen and you end up in hospital you might well find that you are not covered for some very hefty medical bills.

You will find that age limits vary considerably between insurers. Most will offer single trip insurance to just about anybody that is actually alive but annual policies are sometimes restricted to those under 65, 70 or 75. Check each insurer to see if their age limits will affect you and don't be afraid to shop around, there will always be a company that will offer you a policy, you just have to be patient and find that company. 

One other thing to consider is that most travel insurance companies will want to know of any pre-existing medical conditions before they quote a final cost for travel insurance originating from Northern Ireland. Obviously they need to be aware that somebody has a history of heart problems or that they're suffering from a long term illness. Many times the company will offer insurance with no additional premium or restriction but you must be sure to tell them or you risk invalidating the policy. There are also some rles and limitations on issuing travel insurance to pregnant women. Again check the small print or ask the insurance company what their rules are, they vary from one insurer to the next and you are quite likely to find that one company will not insure anybody within 3 months of the projected birth date whereas another is quite happy to insure women with only a few weeks left to go before the great day.