Save money and donate to charity with our bespoke insurance!

Travel Insurance is insurance that is intended to cover medical expenses and financial (such as money invested in nonrefundable pre-payments) and other losses incurred while traveling, either within one's own country, or internationally.

Temporary travel insurance can usually be arranged at the time of the booking of a trip to cover exactly the duration of that trip, or a more extensive, continuous insurance can be purchased from travel insurance companies, travel agents or directly from travel suppliers such as cruiselines or tour operators. However, travel insurance purchased from travel suppliers tends to be less inclusive than insurance offered by insurance companies.

Travel insurance often offers coverage for a variety of travelers. Student travel, business travel, leisure travel, adventure travel, cruise travel, and international travel are all various options that can be insured.

The most common risks that are covered by travel insurance are:
  • Medical expenses
  • Emergency evacuation/repatriation
  • Trip cancellation/interruption
  • Accidental death, injury or disablement benefit
  • Overseas funeral expenses
  • Curtailment
  • Delayed departure
  • Loss, theft or damage to personal possessions and money (including travel documents)
  • Delayed baggage (and emergency replacement of essential items)
  • Legal assistance
  • Personal liability and rental car damage excess
Some travel policies will also provide cover for additional costs, although these vary widely between providers.

In addition, often separate insurance can be purchased for specific costs such as:
  • pre-existing medical conditions (e.g. asthma, diabetes)
  • sports with an element of risk (e.g. skiing, scuba-diving)
  • travel to high risk countries (e.g. due to war or natural disasters or acts of terrorism)
Common Exclusions:
  • pre-existing medical conditions
  • war or terrorism - but some plans may cover this risk
  • injury or illness caused by alcohol or drug use
Usually, the insurers cover pregnancy related expenses, if the travel occurs within the first trimester. After that, insurance coverage varies from insurer to insurer.

Travel insurance can also provide helpful services, often 24 hours a day, 7 days a week that can include concierge services and emergency travel assistance.

Typically travel insurance for the duration of a journey costs approximately 5-7% of the cost of the trip.

Extract from wikipedia.org
Columbus Direct We’ve teamed up with Columbus Direct to provide travel insurance for our members.

Our partnership with Columbus Direct allows you to get a discount on insurance and donate money to charity at the same time. And you can choose how much you save, and how much you give.

The charities will be chosen by Responsible Travel and will vary over the years. Please see below for the recent charities that have benefited.


How it works

There is a 20% discount on normal Columbus insurance rates available. You can choose between:

  • Taking all the discount yourself
  • Giving it all to charity
  • Taking half as a discount and giving half to charity

Columbus offers:
  • Up to £15 million emergency medical cover
  • Up to £5,000 cancellation cover
  • Up to £2,500 baggage cover
  • Over 150 sports and activities covered as standard
  • Optional cover available – including winter sports, adventure pack and gadget cover

You can also benefit from airport lounge access if your flight is delayed for one hour or more, allowing you to enjoy complimentary Wi-Fi, food and drinks while you wait.

Get a quote now on the Columbus website using the links below:

 

Terms and Conditions

*Benefit levels vary depending on cover selected. Cover limits shown are for Gold cover.

*The policyholder can register both themselves and up to four traveling companions for Columbus Direct’s Airport Delay services. They will then be eligible to receive free airport lounge access in the event a delay of one or more hours is announced for their flight.

*Following purchase of travel insurance, the donations made to charity are by Responsible Travel.


Charities we support

On behalf of our travelers who have bought their insurance policy via Columbus, we have donated over £2000 to charities. The charities having benefited most recently are:

The World Cetacean Alliance: £1450
The World Cetacean Alliance is the largest global partnership working to protect whales, dolphins and porpoises (cetaceans). They not only aim to conserve and protect these intelligent creatures and their habitats but are also committed to preventing all cetaceans from being held in captivity except for rehabilitation and release purposes. We are proud to be working in partnership with WCA on our joint ‘Say No to Orca Circuses’ campaign.

Elephant Family: £250
Asian elephants are amongst the world’s most magnificent and threatened species. But sadly the future for this iconic animal is under threat as the spread of human settlements continue to infringe upon their natural habitats. Their long-term survival depends on diffusing such conflict and securing their corridors of travel – a challenge Elephant Family are determined to meet. Since their launch in 2002, they have been working hard to secure elephant and wildlife habitat whilst supporting local communities to promote human-elephant coexistence.

All Out Africa Foundation: £250
All Out Africa is a responsible travel company and a non-profit foundation which focuses on supporting social and environmental projects in Swaziland, Mozambique, South Africa and Botswana. Our marketing director, Tim Williamson, volunteered with his family in Swaziland with All Out Africa and set up the swimming programme after learning about the large numbers of children who drown whilst playing and washing in the dams and rivers. Brighton based swim club, Pool to Pier (part of Brighton Swimming School) has now hosted 3 annual “Swazi swims” between the famous Brighton piers and have raised over £3,000 so far. These funds go directly to pay the wages of a swimming teacher for a year in Swaziland and the purchasing of much needed swimming equipment.

Surfers Against Sewage: £250
Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) is an environmental charity who run community action projects aimed at protecting the UK’s oceans, beaches and waves for all to enjoy sustainably. Campaigns target a range of coastal environmental issues from marine litter, sewage pollution and toxic chemicals, to shipping, industry, coastal development and climate change – all things which also matter to our coastal swimmers in the Responsible Travel office!


Columbus Direct is a trading name of Collinson Insurance Services Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under firm reference number 311883.