Going on Vacation? A Guide to Travel Insurance

June 22, 2016

If you have ever booked a plane ticket or a vacation package, many times there is a question that prompts at the time of payment offering travel insurance. Common responses to this might be; Do I need it? Is it really worth it? What am I actually buying? Let us help answer these questions.

Do You Need Travel Insurance?

There are two main questions that you need to answer in order to make a wise decision as to whether you need to buy travel insurance: Does your medical insurance cover you in the territory in which you will be traveling? And, are your trip expenses refundable? If the answer to either of these questions is no, I would recommend travel insurance.

· Medical Insurance – Most of us don’t go without medical insurance in everyday life, so why would we go without it on a trip? Check with your insurance carrier and know where you are covered and where you are not covered. It’s especially good to check into this when traveling internationally. If you are traveling to a remote area that may lack modern medical professionals and facilities, we recommend adding Emergency Medical Evacuation coverage.

· Non-Refundable travel costs – If your trip is cancelled or delayed due to illness, serious injury, inclement weather, natural disaster or default of a travel provider, travel insurance offers protection up to the amount of your purchase.

Is it Worth it?

Like any insurance, you never know if you will have a claim or not. Therefore, you must weigh the risks. If only we all had a crystal ball! Consider how much is at-stake financially and if something bad happened on your trip or if you had to miss it. Could you afford the loss or would it seriously set you back? It’s never fun to regret that you didn’t buy the insurance.

What Are you Buying?

Peace of mind! If travel plans have you laying out money that you can’t afford to lose, you should consider travel insurance. Unplanned circumstances, such as catching the flu the day before your trip, impending death of an ailing parent, weather delays causing last minute flight changes and unplanned hotel expense can cost a traveler major dollars.

Give us a call when you are planning your next vacation if you are interested in travel insurance. It’s a good buy when you are investing in a pricey vacation. Travel insurance is very inexpensive and can be well worth the cost if something should go wrong.