Last week my wife and I booked a seven day holiday in Tobermoryon the wonderful Isle of Mull. All that grand scenery withbrightly painted houses clustered around the harbour. Hands upwho knows Tobermory as Balamory!

You could have knocked me down with a feather when the travelagent assumed that I wanted travel insurance for an additional£27.50. Not on your Nellie the Lock Ness monster, I thought. Ican spot a rip off when I see one! Who needs insurance for atrip to another destination in Britain? The NHS is free and inan emergency, my daughter could drive up and take us home.

Later in the comfortable setting of my lounge I got to thinking.......

Holiday disasters don't only happen abroad. So I made a list ofthe risks:

One of us could be taken ill before we depart and we'd be forcedto cancel. As the ferries and the hotel were non-cancellable,we'd lose everything we'd paid.

My parents are getting on. God forbid, but I'd have to cancelthe holiday if something happened to them just before we're dueto go.

My wife or I might be called up for jury service.

There may be a major delay at the ferry. Besides theinconvenience, we have to arrange an overnight stay in Oban.

Someone might steal our luggage

I've just bought an all singing and dancing camera especiallyfor the trip. I might lose it.

If either of us were hospitalised we wouldn't want to be stuckon Mull. We'd want to be transferred to our local hospital inCheshire.

Then it struck me that my Home & Contents insurance wouldprobably cover me for loss of luggage or my camera if I wastravelling in the UK. I dug out the policy. Lucky I checked. Iwas only insured for "personal possessions" if the items werelisted and as I'd only bought my camera last week I hadn't gotround to getting it documented on my policy as a valuable item.

Another point struck me. If I made a holiday related claim on myHome & Contents policy I'd lose my no claims discount. Thatdidn't appeal one little bit. I've a ten years claim free recordon my H&C policy and it still cost me £305 a year. I jotted downa note to self - when that policy comes up for renewal, checkout the Internet to see if I could get it any cheaper.

By now £27.50 for a travel policy was beginning to lookworthwhile.

But you'll realise I'm a bit of an old skin flint - at least mywife says so! I know, get online and check out whether thetravel agents' policy at £27.50 was competitive.

Not all the sites I visited could offer me single holidayinsurance within the UK but within ten minutes I'd found what Iwanted - a travel policy and a saving of over £10!

Time to read the small print to make sure I truly had the coverI needed. Great, all the risks I had jotted down were covered.They'd even pay me £30 if my ferry was delayed for up to 12hours and then give me the option to cancel my trip and get arefund.

Now check out the exclusions - what wouldn't they pay for? Iwasn't covered if my holiday was for less than two nights or ifmy holiday destination was less than 25 miles from home. I alsohad to pay the first £30 of any claim. All seemed fair to me.

The decision was made. Key in my credit card details and CLICK Iwas insured. Peace of mind restored!

About the author:Michael writes for Brokers Online who offer most UK financialservices including travel insurance Travel Insurance Topics