Travel Insurance

Accidents are unpredictable and inevitable. So, if you don’t have travel insurance, you will be personally liable for covering all the losses. Travel insurance is the insurance policy that covers medical expenses, financial default of travel suppliers, and other losses incurred while travelling, either within one’s own country, or internationally. It is an insurance policy that covers the costs and reduces the risks associated with unexpected events during domestic or international travel.  Travel insurance usually covers the insured in two main categories i.e. costs associated with medical expenses and trip cancellations. Such insurance policies are mainly provided by online companies selling airplane tickets or travel packages to the customers as an added service. Some travel insurance policies may also cover damage to rented equipment, such as a rental car, or even the cost of paying the ransom in case of kidnapping.

          Insurance has a long history, ever since there were financial institutions and issues of risks and losses, people have taken steps to avoid damages and limit their losses by as much as possible. But travel insurance has come over as a modern concept of insurance policy. It’s been around more than hundreds years that travel insurance industry has come into existence. The idea of travel insurance was commenced first in the United States. On April the first 1864, a man named James Batterson opened the doors of the world’s first travel insurance agency. The name of that business was “The traveler’s Insurance Company. The main task of that company was to ensure travelers against accidents and theft while they were travelling. Since that time the face of the travel insurance industry has changed dramatically and there are all kinds of risks against which you can take out insurance.

          There basically three main types of travelling insurance. They are: medical coverage, trip protection and luggage or car rental protection. Medical coverage basically deals with the medical and dental expenses caused due to injury or illness. You will even be transported to the hospital if you need any serious medical assistance during your travelling.

          Another type of the travel insurance is trip protection. This coverage is classified into three parts. First is cancellation coverage, second delay coverage and finally trip interruption protection. Cancellation coverage reimburses your prepaid expenses if you need to cancel your trip. It also allows cancellation if a family member is sick or dies. Similarly, delay coverage deals with the delays in the transportation. If there is any problem in your hometown airport and there are no flights going out for few days then your prepaid hotel expenses are covered. The last type of coverage is trip interruption protection. If you get sick while away or a family member falls ill or dies, you will want an interruption policy. It covers your trip if it’s cut short due to bad weather, travel company bankruptcy, an airline strike, etc.

          Luggage/car rental protection is another type of travel insurance that covers your rental car in the event of an accident and personal items if they are lost, damaged or stolen. However it may not cover all the loss and damage of some of your personal items in the flight as they can be too expensive to cover.

          There are two major classes of travel insurance. They are: international travel insurance and domestic travel insurance. International travel insurance covers travelling outside your country of residence. This is an essential part of international trips because many healthcares won’t apply in other countries and you either need insurance or be able to pay all the medical bills on your own. Similarly, domestic travel insurance covers travel inside your own country residence. These policies are generally cheaper than international policies. They generally focus on compensating you for purely travel-related problems like cancellations and closures. They are also much less essential and you can consider their worth on a trip-by-trip basis.

          Purchasing travel insurance is not compulsory, it is certainly advisable. It is better to be safe towards something that goes wrong on your holiday and you are faced huge medical bills. There are various policies offered by travel insurance such as single trip travel insurance and annual multi trip travel insurance. Single trip travel insurance compensate only for single trip that means, such travel policy has to be purchased before each trip. Similarly, multi trip travel insurance facilitates you to ensure multiple trips that you plan over a year. The total number of trips that will be covered depends upon the policy terms and condition, but many insurers don’t impose limits on your annual travel.

          Arranging travel insurance is an additional effort required while planning your trip or holiday but it is an important step for a safe travelling. While taking travel insurance you must take various things into considerations. Firstly you must check how many days will the insurance policy cover. Your policy will be invalid even by one day. Next thing that has to be ensured is the destination you are going because some insurers don’t include countries like USA, Canada and Caribbean. So ensure your policy if you are going beyond the coverage area. Likewise it is also very important to check the claim that you will be receiving back in the event that you lost your wallet or had to cancel your trip. Some travel insurers won’t cover you for the items such as mobile phones so you’ll need to insure them in other way through separate mobile phone insurance.