For those who intend to make a long trip, travel a lot, or want to have a dream-holiday, purchasing travel insurance that covers medical expenses and losses occurred while traveling is a must, as sickness, unanticipated accidents or even natural disasters can bring one’s travel to ruin.
If such incidents occur those who have travel insurance are helped financially. However, this insurance-product is highly complex, so people intending to have it need to be well-informed in order to choose the right policy.
How can such a policy be arranged?
Travel insurance products can usually be purchased when booking the trip or the flight. There are several companies from which it can be obtained: travel insurance companies, travel-agents, and travel-organizing companies such as cruise lines. People should be aware that the purchased travel-insurance should cover the whole duration of one’s trip (including departure and arrival dates).
For those who travel a lot, there is the option of buying travel-insurance for a longer period of time; this is called “continuous insurance.” It is good to know that comparing policies is very important as prices differ from company to company, the worst (that is to say, the most expensive) suppliers generally being travel agents. However, purchasing such insurances online may be a good idea.
The commonest risks that are covered by travel insurance are:
Medical expenses; cancellation or delay; overseas funeral expenses; accidental death or injury benefit; loss or damage of personal belongings, documents or money; legal assistance, and many other factors. Most of the times a separate insurance needs for those people who would like specific coverage, for instance for those traveling to countries with high risks.
Common excluding factors from travel insurance are:
war/ terrorism
pre-existing medical conditions
injury caused by alcohol/ drug use
What kinds of travel-insurance types exist?
It is very important to choose the most suitable travel insurance that fits to one’s needs the best. There are two basic categories: the continuous Annual Multi-Trip coverage and the Single-Trip coverage. Generally speaking, the Single-Trip coverage is best for those who travel maximum 1-2 times a year. Otherwise it is better to choose Annual Multi-Trip coverage due to the savings-possibilities.
What kind of options are for families?
There is the so-called family insurance coverage specially designed for families who are traveling. This policy seems to be cheaper than the individual insurance, which is the case with the restricted policy (referring to region-restrictions), which is obviously cheaper than one without such restrictions. However, the list of travel-insurance types tends to be infinite (from the International Travel Insurance, through the Adventure or Cruise Travel Insurance, to the so-called Leisure Travel Insurance, or from the Student to the Business Travel Insurance), so one is recommended to study carefully the various offers.
Next, one should be aware of several minor factors regarding travel insurances. One of these refers to the small-print of the policy, which needs to be studied carefully. Otherwise one may end up with an unpleasant surprise of not being paid in case an insured event occurs. One should know that every particular detail is important in an insurance policy. If one has family travel-insurance, checking the maximum number of people the policy covers is essential. Age-limits are also to be checked, both for adults and for children who are to be traveling.
The financial protection provided by travel insurances may be quite expensive if one is not careful enough. For instance, it may happen that one pays twice for something: one may happen to have a home insurance contract that already covers certain elements, such as the loss of one’s personal belongings. Or one may have a private medical insurance that usually have clauses referring to the coverage of the treatment-costs that were incurred abroad. In such cases if one does not pay attention, one may end up paying extra money for those elements that are already covered.
Finally, people should never forget that paying more does not necessarily mean getting more in this complex world of travel insurances. So one should patiently compare policies and prices, which is quite easy on the internet. By being attentive, one will not pay more for a service than it is necessary.