Depending on where you’re travelling and what you plan on doing while you’re out of the country, there are different options you should consider when you look for traveller’s insurance. It’s important to know the difference between these types of traveller’s insurance so that you choose the right package that fits your needs. Otherwise, you could end up paying for something you don’t need or underpaying for coverage you do need.
Traveller’s Health Insurance
Most people understand this coverage is imperative to have whenever they travel outside of their home country. Some insurance plans that pertain to your home country might cover travel outside of the country, but others will not. Medical costs in many other countries can be much more expensive than yours, and an accident or an illness could cost you thousands quickly.
Traveller’s health insurance was created to provide coverage for emergency medical situations such as emergency room fees, hospitalisation, and prescription drugs while you’re in the hospital, and ambulance costs. There are other benefits such as covering the cost it takes to transport you home for personalised care and covering the travel costs for your family.
Even if you’re travelling outside of the country for just a few hours, having travel insurance will cover you in case of an illness or an accident, which can happen at any time. These unfortunate circumstances could leave you with mounting medical bills that are your sole responsibility.
Trip Interruption or Cancellation
Make sure to research the different travel insurance policy types to be sure yours covers trip interruption or cancellation. Many portions of a large trip are paid in advance and they are non-refundable. This includes your hotel stay, airfare, tickets to attractions, and much more. A major vacation could have you putting out thousands in fees before ever leaving your home. If you’re forced to cancel your trip at the last second due to an emergency or a medical situation, you won’t get any of that money back.
The same goes for a situation where you might cut a trip short and head home immediately due to an emergency. You’ll end up having to pay for the change to your flight and you might lose the cost of your hotel room and other items you already been paid in advance.
Trip interruption and cancellation insurance will pay for these costs in the unfortunate event that your trip has to be cancelled or cut short. This puts money back into your pocket that you’d otherwise never get to see.
Traveller’s Life Insurance
It’s something that everyone hopes will never happen while they’re out of the country, but accidents do happen. Having this insurance provides you with additional death benefits to the life insurance you already own, and can also pay any additional fees such as returning remains home for burial. In some cases, helping to cover the costs of an unfortunate death while out of the country can be drawn on faster than a traditional life insurance policy.
Travel life insurance is not meant to be like full-time life insurance, and it’s only enforced while you’re on your trip. It’s often combined with accident insurance that covers you for the expenses associated with an accident that is outside the realm of medical coverage.
Flight Cancellation, Delay, and Lost Baggage
Most airlines are not required to provide you with any assistance or compensation if your flight has been delayed or cancelled because of bad weather. You might be stuck away from home and you need to pay for a hotel, meals, and might even miss something important that could cost you money. This coverage provides for these types of situations and helps you pay for the unforeseen expenses of a delayed or cancelled flight.
In addition, coverage for lost baggage is also included with this type of insurance. This lets you replace the items in your luggage if your airline has lost it in transit. Most people travel with valuables in their luggage, and carrying coverage for those items is a good idea because bags are lost on a daily basis.
Policy and Package Choices
Many policies come with packages that combine the popular choices in a bundle in order to save you money and make purchasing a policy a smooth transaction. These packages are the easiest way to get a package that covers you for most of the common risks you take when you travel.
For a family, policies exist to cover all the members of the family who are travelling together under a single policy. This streamlines the process of getting every member of the family the coverage they require. It also saves you money.
For those who travel a lot, a multi-trip policy could be the best idea. It lets you purchase a policy and be covered for every trip you take during the time period outlined in the policy. These usually last a year. That means you don’t need to qualify for and purchase a new policy each time you travel, saving you a lot of time and money.
Travel insurance comes in numerous different forms, but for most it makes sense to purchase a package policy rather than picking and choosing each item. However, you can choose to just buy the coverage you feel you need the most. The most important thing is to be aware of the potential risks and expenses as you’re travelling, and guard against those with the proper policy.
Adventure Policies
Some people don’t like to play it safe and go to a hotel and spend hours lazing around on the beach all day when they go on vacation. They prefer to do water sports, skydiving, or something else that might be considered a little extra dangerous than the regular vacation. Be sure to check out some additional packages for these types of trips. Most standard policies will not cover accidents that occur while doing something considered more dangerous than usual.
Choosing the proper policy will save you time and money in the future so be sure you’re honest on your pre-screening and understand what type of policy you need.