Travel Insurance is a Safety Net For Your Holiday
Probably the first thing that enters most people's minds when they hear the term Travel Insurance is a form of health insurance policy that will give them additional coverage in another country. Certainly, travel insurance will include this element, but a good travel insurance policy will cover every aspect of your trip and provide a safety net for any and all contingencies. A good policy includes protection against cancellation, travel delay and trip interruption. All prepaid, non-refundable trip costs such as airfare, hotels, and tour costs can be insured, meaning that the insurance will reimburse these costs if the flight is cancelled or illness prevents you from going.
As mentioned, an integral component of travel insurance is emergency medical care, but evacuation is also included. Evacuation is the term that describes return of an injured or ill insured person to his or her own home based medical care provider by private plane or helicopter. Another aspect of this is cost coverage for the return of a person's body or cremated remains.
The lost luggage coverage provided by most travel insurance policies is worth its weight in gold. It is possible to augment a travel insurance policy with separate policies that cover specific events, or to only buy these policies if the traveller does not want the full coverage. These policies protect segments of the trip, such as the airplane flight and will provide benefits in case of an accident, or flight cancellation. Loss of the airline ticket can be insured against, making certain that the traveller can return home without purchasing another ticket if he or she is pickpocketed.
Separate life insurance and health insurance policies may be obtained, and there are some that are tailored to specific areas of travel, such as a safari or mountain hiking. There are policies that the adventurous are encouraged to buy for high-risk activities such as canyoning or winter sports. Separate Cruise Insurance coverage can be bought and will protect against cancellation, accident, and theft while onboard.
If you are planning to rent a car on your trip, a separate rental car policy may be a good idea. Many traveller's Insurance policies include this in their broad coverage, as well. It is a good idea since purchasing automobile insurance from the rental company at the time of rental is costly. The insurance cost often far exceeds the rental and can be expensive in high-risk auto theft areas, such as the Balkans and Italy. Some rental companies will not rent vehicles to these destinations. Before purchase, check with your automobile insurance, automobile club and credit card issuer in case any of these already cover car rental.
by Sally.Anderson 19 years ago