Travel insurance might not be the first thing that comes to mind when planning a business trip. However, having the right policy could be helpful if your journey is delayed, cancelled or affected by issues like lost baggage.
Here’s everything you need to know about choosing the right business travel insurance.
What does business travel insurance cover?
Business travel insurance should cover a range of things.
Personal possessions
Gadgets like laptops and phones are often a major component of business travel. If you’re taking a few high-value tech items, adding gadget insurance to your policy will cover your gadgets if they’re lost, stolen or damaged on your trip.
Remember to check if the insurer covers items owned by the business or only items owned by yourself.
It’s highly recommended that you back up any essential data on an external hard drive and carry it in a separate bag.
Most policies won’t cover you for lost data – and if a business contract is riding on a presentation that’s on a misplaced laptop, the consequences could be costly.
Cancellations and delays
Cancelled or delayed flights could be an issue if you have important meetings.
A good travel insurance policy includes protection for these types of disruption, paying for additional accommodation and travel if your journey doesn’t go to plan.
In some cases, you can also recover the costs of unused deposits, hotels, excursions, or other pre-booked expenses from your insurer.
Medical expenses
If you have to cancel your business trip because of ill health, you should get your money back for your flights and accommodation.
Bear in mind that you might need to provide proof from a doctor that you’re unfit to travel.
Also, if you become seriously ill while on your business trip, a travel insurance policy will pay for emergency medical treatment and repatriation (getting you home).
Check whether you already have cover
Some companies offer insurance as part of their employment package, so check that you’re not already covered before taking out travel insurance.
If you’re self-employed, then you’ll need to arrange your own travel insurance.
If you’re working with a business who’s paying for your travel and accommodation, they may organise a travel insurance policy for you also.
How is business travel insurance different?
You can find specific policies tailored to the needs of business travellers, although generally, standard travel insurance policies can be used for both holidays and business trips.
Check the exclusions for business use in your policy. Our policies cover you for both leisure and business trips (excluding any manual work), but other insurers may not.
Cover for activities on your business trip
Your business trip might also involve some networking and socialising activities.
If you’re playing golf with potential clients for instance, golf equipment is covered on your standard policy.
We cover you for personal accidents and liability when doing various sports and leisure activities, including golf, cycling, fishing and yachting (as long as it’s inside territorial waters).
If your skiing or snowboarding, you can upgrade your cover to include winter sports insurance.
Annual versus single-trip insurance
If you travel abroad for business trips several times a year, an annual travel insurance policy might be more cost-effective.
As well as working out cheaper than multiple single-trip policies, an annual policy means you can arrange business trips without worrying about sorting insurance each time.
Our annual multi-trip insurance covers you for unlimited trips lasting up to 31 days at a time as standard.
