Conor Pope

do a tiny bit of research.

I'm not saying you do a huge amount of research.

And I always think you're probably better off to pay as much as you can, because the difference in price between the cheapest chips and the gold-plated travel insurance policy might be as little as 30 or 40 euro.

But I think it's probably worth spending that extra few bob on it just for the peace of mind.

Not just me, everybody.

But the reason why you should take it out straight away is a huge percentage of the claims that people make are as a result of cancellation due to illness or bereavement before you travel.

So you don't know when that's going to happen.

You don't know.

You might get sick two days before you're due to travel.

You might get sick two months before you're due to travel.

But there's no advantage whatsoever to waiting until closer to the time.

So always take it out as soon as you have a trip booked.

And the funny thing is a huge percentage of people in Ireland don't book travel insurance at all.

They think they don't need it.

Particularly when it comes to weekend breaks or short trips.

Yeah, in the EU.

Oh, I'm just going to Barcelona for the weekend.

Why would I need travel insurance?

For exactly the same reason that you'd need it if you're travelling anywhere else in the world because something can go wrong.

Okay.