Money expert Martin Lewis has issued a fresh ‘ASAB’ warning to anyone planning on going on holiday this year that they need to do one thing as soon as they book.
Posting a clip from his ‘Travel Special’ instalment of The Martin Lewis Money Show Live on ITV1 on Friday, May 1, Martin explained that most people have now booked their holiday abroad for this year. But you could through no fault of your own find yourself losing the entire cost of the holiday if you fail to take out travel insurance at the same time you book the trip, Martin warned.
Martin said: “My big travel insurance rule is get it…ASAB – as soon as you book.
“But of course, the reason you do that is because half of the cover you’re paying for is in case something happens that stops you going before the trip.
“But at this time of year, when many people have already booked, I have a slight adaptation, which is this: If you’ve booke and you don’t have it yet, just get it now.”
Martin previously explained that there’s a tragic reason behind the warning, too.
He added: “The reason I do this, every year someone asks me a question, something like, ‘I’ve been diagnosed with cancer, we can’t go on holiday they’re saying we can’t have our money back. What do I do?’.
“And I’m impotent. Because the answer is, get on your travel insurance. And they say ‘well I haven’t got my travel insurance yet’.
“Do not get your travel insurance the day before you go. Get your travel insurance ASAB, as soon as you book.”
Martin then heard a message sent in last year by someone who couldn’t go on holiday as he told his audience ‘this is what I had a year ago, that I want you to read’.
The message read out by co-host Jeanette Kwayke said: “I booked a holiday for Christmas, I was then medically advised not to fly. The holiday was already paid for, and I hadn’t taken out any travel insurance. I’m now being told I lost all the money for the holiday, is there anything that can be done?’.
Martin added: “Please don’t be the person who asks me that question this summer. If you’re going to book a holiday, ASAB. The answer is no.
“Very simply just think about it for a second. If you bought a tennis racquet, and you broke your arm, you can’t say to them ‘I want a refund cos my arm’s broken’. The tennis racquet still works. The flight still works, the hotel still works, it’s not them that’s got the problem, it’s you.
“That’s the logic, that’s what you have insurance for.”