Travel insurance question!

[tigwig]

A friend of mine is going on holiday shortly. She has decided to just get currency in cash rather than using traveller's cheques. I wondered if the money is kept in the hotel room's safe is there any way it can be stolen and if that did happen would she be able to claim on her travel insurance or would they just say she should have used traveller's cheques?

[bednobs]

it depends n the policy - she should read the wording relating to cash

[jno]

safes are pretty safe, I've used them for years. It's worth having a backup money system, say a credit card, just in case Plan A goes wrong. Normally I would have thought insurance would cover you from theft if you hadn't been reckless, and putting money in a safe isn't reckless unless you actually see a little man inside it with a hoover.

[koster]

Traveller's cheques are a bit old-fashioned aren't they? Does anyone still use them?

Unless she's going somewhere with no cash machines, just take a card and get cash out when necessary.

[jno]

travellers' cheques are still usable as currency in the USA, especially Amex ones. If you're going to use a cash card make sure it doesn't charge heavy commission (I think there'sa NatWest one that's commission-free but other ABers may be able to confirm this).