Things Your Travel Insurance Must Cover

With travel becoming an important part of the bucket list of most people, travel insurance is becoming increasingly popular these days. Also, with an increase in travel expenditure, the travel insurance market is also growing at a rate of 15% every year.  Considering the cost of traveling and high health care costs in foreign countries, more and more people are getting drawn towards buying a travel insurance policy for their travels.

There are different travel insurance plans available online nowadays. You can get to know the available options of online travel insurance plans just by visiting the website of the insurance providers and opt for them from the comfort of your home.  Here, we bring to you a quick guide on what travel insurance is, its importance, and the things it must cover.

What is Travel Insurance?

Travel insurance is a cover designed to ensure that you are protected against the costs and risks associated with unexpected events that could occur during travel.  It is a useful protection, whether you are travelling within the country or outside. A travel insurance policy normally covers things like:

  • Trip cancellation
  • Medical expenses incurred while travelling
  • Lost luggage
  • Delayed baggage
  • Accidental death
  • Travel delays
  • Flight accident
  • Other losses like passport, etc.

Ideally, you should buy travel insurance when you are booking your trip. You can cover a single trip or multiple trips within that given duration.

Why you should Buy Travel Insurance

People don’t realize that even after meticulous planning, sometimes the vacation can turn out to be a traumatic experience. Due to unexpected developments, you may have to cancel your trip, you may lose your baggage or passport, or any medical exigency may arise. In any of these scenarios, your travel insurance policy will cover your costs, and not only save you from financial distress but also provide additional support.

Many renowned travel insurance companies offer 24×7 emergency helpline for when you are in a foreign land where you don’t know anyone and feel helpless. Hence, it is always advisable to get the travel insurance done before traveling.

5 Things the Travel Insurance Must Cover

There are several travel insurance policies available in the market, but you must decide on one that you find the most apt for you, after being fully aware of what is covered by that policy. Here are the top 5 things that must be included in your travel insurance policy:

Trip Cancellation

This is one of the foremost concerns for travelers. People invest a huge amount of money while planning a trip like booking the tickets, booking a cruise, subscribing to the tour packages, hotel rooms booking, fees for tourist’s spots, etc. In case these expenses are non-refundable, it comes like a setback to the travelers in case of trip cancellation. They lose a lot of money which causes disappointment and frustration in them.

Most of the travel provide trip cancellation coverage and reimbursement for the pre-paid expenses and non-refundable expenses made by you. The insurance providers also provide a list of reasons they cover for the trip cancellation, like health illness, injury, death (your or someone in the family), natural calamity in the destination, flight cancellation, work requirement, disturbance in the destination city, etc.

Also included is the trip interruption coverage which covers you when you have already begun your trip. In case of an emergency when you need to return home, the insurance provider will reimburse you for the remainder of the trip along with the additional expenses made for booking the last-minute travel.

Medical Emergency

In the foreign land especially in countries like the US and UK, the cost of medical treatment is very high. If you are visiting there and you fall sick, you will have to bear a huge expense in the form of medical bills. Thus, it is important that your travel insurance policy covers the cost of medical expenses.

Make sure that your policy includes the medical expense coverage to offer protection against accidents and medical emergencies, including dental care when you are on your international visit. Though routine dental checkup is not the part of the travel insurance coverage, dental trauma is. Also, ensure that your travel plan covers medical evacuation. It implies that you must be covered if you are medically evacuated in an emergency situation like from a cruise ship. In this case, the travel insurance should bear the cost of your return ticket along with accommodation.

Loss of Baggage and Other Items

We often travel with expensive baggage and belongings like technological equipment including expensive mobile phones, handy-cams, digital cameras, iPads, etc. It will make a huge dent in your pocket if something goes missing or is stolen while you are on your trip. Thus, your travel insurance must provide coverage to help you bear such losses.

Most of the time, a good travel insurance plan covers the loss of expensive items you take along. So, when these items are lost, stolen or damaged, you can raise a claim to get the reimbursement. The only thing you will have to do is to produce the receipts of purchase and proprietorship proof.

Missed Departure

People often miss their flights for several reasons. One of the common reasons is unexpected traffic in the metro cities. Missed departure coverage protects you against the costs of accommodation and travel expenses in case you miss the flight or train. But the reason for missing your flight should be sound enough and beyond your control, like a car breaking down, accident, or public transport sudden strike, etc. Hence, this is must-have coverage to seek.

Entertainment Activities

If you are adventurous and plan to participate in sports like parasailing, bungee jumping, mountain climbing, water sports, etc., you must ensure you are covered against any injury.

So do your research before you select from online travel insurance plans to protect your next travel; enjoy your travels without any worries.