Whatever your choice of holiday activities, you should never travel without insurance. Ensure that your policy includes your chosen destination and, most importantly, the sports or other active pastimes you plan to indulge in.

There are two basic ingredients in most travel insurance policies, cover for what you paid when you booked the trip, so you are not out of pocket if you have to cancel, and emergency medical treatment and repatriation, if you are sick or injured whilst abroad.

But, choose your insurance carefully: Travel Insurance policies vary widely. And beware low-priced insurance: it may restrict or totally exclude your chosen activity, leaving you exposed to major costs if there is an accident.

According to a recent report in the trade newspaper International Travel Insurance Journal, there is considerable misunderstanding among travel insurance customers. To avoid this, UK specialist provider MPI Brokers urges people to read the conditions carefully before purchasing a policy.

With long experience of travel insurance, MPI focuses on providing insurance appropriate to its customers’ chosen activities. It prides itself on some of the UK’s most user-friendly travel policies.

Founded on a tradition of skiing and sailing, two of the largest activity holidays, MPI gives customers the widest margins of cover. For example, while some ski insurance policies do not cover off piste, MPI allows off piste skiing – and without a guide and we also cover dinghy and ski racing. We cover sailing up to12 miles offshore and anywhere in European waters as well as mountain biking and motorcycling.

MPI also recognises that with healthier lifestyles many customers are now able to enjoy sporting activity later into retirement than previous generations, and so its policies are available to much older people. It is also more accommodating to people with certain ‘pre-existing’ medical conditions.

And good news for sports enthusiasts with bulky kit to take away: Working with leading luggage forwarding specialist BagSolo, MPI travel insurance can include unaccompanied baggage cover.
Tour operators are obliged, under the Package Travel Regulations, either to offer cover under a company policy or to ‘signpost’ the customers to suitable travel insurance.

MPI urges customers to follow this signposting as soon as they book the trip.