Differences between travel insurance policies and their provisions can vary greatly. One aspect is that of delayed departure cover.

This form of cover provides financial assistance in the case that a flight or another mode of transport to or from your holiday destination becomes delayed. Also accommodation, travel costs or anything else incurred due to the delayed departure can be covered by this policy.

According to a price comparison website and travel insurance provider, the differences in a delayed departure cover policy can be very distinct when compared with different insurance providers.

Delay disbursement

An example would be the policy that is provided by AIG. Although AIG Direct's Platinum cover will allow you to claim a maximum of £500 per insured person for a delayed departure, you would have to be delayed for 25 days in order to claim the maximum allowable. That's slightly better than AIG Direct's Silver cover though, which has no departure delay cover at all.

Cover that is offered by American Express could prove to be more useful, as it allows the policy holder to claim £20 per insured person once you've been delayed for at least six hours and then an additional £20 for each further 12 hour delay, up to a maximum of £200 per person. It would take a delay of 4.75 days to claim the maximum £200 allowable from American Express.

Another policy provision comes from Virgin travel insurance, which pays out £25 after an 8 hour delay and another £25 for each subsequent 8 hour period, up to a maximum of £100. Virgin travel insurance provides a payout of £75 per insured person for a delay of just over 24 hours, the best payout for this length of delay of all the insurance companies looked at in this research.

Hayley Parsons, the chief executive of the price comparison website, said: "It's unlikely many holiday makers would wait for more than two or three days before abandoning their holiday so policies offering larger payments more quickly are more useful than those with simply the highest maximum cover. I can't imagine any circumstances where you'd delay your holiday for 25 days.

Last resort: Abandoned holidays

"Twenty-five hours hanging around a departure lounge with bored children would be enough to cause most people to abandon their holiday, especially if their travel insurance gave them the option to give up and go home."

Hayley Parsons had this advice for holidaymakers: "Having your holiday delayed is no fun at all, but if you are held up on your outward or return journey it's worth checking your travel insurance policy to see if you can make a claim when you get home."

She concluded by saying: "If you're delayed for more than 24 hours, or 12 hours with some insurers, and your policy includes abandonment cover, you could consider giving up on your holiday before it starts and rearranging it for a future date.

"In all cases check the terms of your insurance carefully and get official confirmation of the length of the delay and the reason for it from your Holiday Company or airline as your insurers will need to see proof when you submit your claim."

Most insurance providers do have provisions for delayed departure cover, if the holiday goer(s) decide to abandon their delayed trip. This usually kicks in after 24 hours.

Furthermore policies do provide cover if the trip has been affected by excessive delay caused by industrial action, adverse weather or mechanical breakdown of public transport, including ferries and aircraft, but it's always worth checking the wording of your policy.