Travel with World First and you’ll never be left high and dry if something unexpected happens on holiday. Let us show you why.

It’s gut-wrenching when a good holiday goes bad. That’s especially true when you’ve spent months looking forward to having fun and relaxing with your nearest and dearest.

Unfortunately, sometimes holidays do go wrong. (We see it day in, day out, as travel insurers.) And it doesn’t take much to spoil a well-planned getaway. A travel delay or a slip in the hotel lobby can be all that’s necessary to throw an extremely unwelcome spanner in the works.

The good news is that, with a little preparation, it’s unlikely that your fun will be interrupted by an unwelcome visit from the unexpected. But the proverbial holiday from hell is on the rise for British travellers. So what do you do if something goes wrong?

Well, if you’re a World First Travel Insurance policyholder, we’ll always be there for you when you need us. We’ll do everything we can to make things right for you, as quickly as possible. And there are a number of ways we do it, from supplying 24/7 customer support to flying health professionals out from the UK to get you back on your feet if you get hurt or become unwell.

Here’s a quick look at the ways we help our policyholders when they need us most.   (more…)

A round of applause and glasses charged for our Managing Partner Martin Rothwell and his wife Kate, who have just welcomed a healthy baby girl into the world.

Noni Alice Elsie Rothwell was born at 15:10 on 22nd August 2012, weighing a healthy 9.7 lbs. You’ll have to forgive us for getting excited. As a family business, there are some things we can’t help shouting about.

It’s baby number three for Martin, who was recently included in a list of the westcountry’s 42 most successful entrepreneurs under the age of 42 (for his business acumen, you understand, not his procreation expertise). Baby babble, sleepless nights and nappy changes. He’s got it all to look forward to – again – and we couldn’t be happier for him!

Congratulations Martin and family.

Greece has been in the news for all the wrong reasons recently. In this guest post, EFL teacher and travel blogger Rebecca Hall reveals how this beautiful country is still full of life.

“Pame!” I look up from my chocolate croissant and fresh orange, eaten on the balcony of my bedroom, to try and locate the source of the call.

“Pame” means ‘come’ in Greek.  It must be a shepherd as the early morning stillness is interrupted by the jangling of goats’ bells obeying their master’s instructions.  I can hear, but not see them on the hill opposite – it’s too densely covered in pine trees.

Ithaca, from Athens, is an 8 hour journey by bus and ferry via Kefalonia.  Both are incredibly green.  I was debating whether to bother with this Ionian island or go to an island nearer my adopted hometown of Athens: Poros, Aegina or Agastri.  Yet I wanted to be inspired to write, and if Lord Byron could be inspired to wax lyrically by Ithaca and her beauty, why not me? (more…)

Get automatic cover for more than 75 sports and activities when you insure your holiday with World First.

We made our name providing travel cover for medical conditions. But did you know we have the perfect policies for Olympics fever too?  

It’s official. Britain loves sport. Though London 2012 arrived on a whirlwind of anticipation, it still served up an almighty surprise. Few would have predicted either the impact Britain would have on the Games, or the impact the Games would have on Britain. But so it was. The Union Jack has rarely flown so proud.

Two weeks of watching the best athletes on the planet has inspired hundreds of thousands to take their involvement with sport to the next level, whether they are budding professionals or simply trying to despatch a few unwanted pounds and get in shape. Maybe you’re one of the people who have been inspired. In which case, we’d like to say congratulations! (more…)

Recent statistics have revealed that The Philippines, Thailand and Jamaica are the most dangerous countries in the world for British travellers.

The exotic destinations ranked as those in which British travellers are most likely to require consular assistance, according to the Foreign Office’s freshly-pressed British Behaviour Abroad paper, an annual report revealing every instance where the Foreign Office has administered consular assistance in the preceding twelve months. (more…)

The youngest British female ever to conquer Everest chose World First as her insurer.

At World First we arrange travel cover for all kinds of people, with all kinds of holiday plans. But it’s not every day that we get to cover a record-breaking ascent to the summit of Everest.  And we have the rather spectacular Becky Bellworthy to thank for giving us the chance.

Turns out the relationship worked brilliantly for both of us.

Say hello to Becky…

Becky Bellworthy is a 20 year old medical student from Southampton. You might describe her as ambitious, until you realised that would be an understatement to her seemingly limitless determination. Becky was just 17 when she committed to her dream of climbing Mount Everest, eager to do something special to raise as much money as possible for the charity Women For Women International. That takes some guts. And so does the three years of training, research and fundraising it took for Becky to fulfil her dream.

Insuring a trip to the top of the world

Before Becky could attempt to climb to the highest point on the planet, there was plenty of planning to do. You can imagine. One of the final obstacles to hurdle was the search for quality travel insurance. Becky could only find a couple of insurance providers that gave her the cover she needed, without charging stratospheric premiums. World First Travel Insurance was one of them and Becky decided to follow up her online quote with a call to our customer service team to discuss her insurance requirements. After all, this was no jolly to the seaside. This was Everest. We offered Becky a single trip policy for 56 days with cover for mountaineering over 4,000 metres. The total cost was £217, which turned out to be money well spent.   (more…)