The importance of travel insurance for your next trip
While often we decide to head off on an adventure at the last minute, it is always important to ensure that you are covered with adequate travel insurance.
When traveling the world, Murphy’s Law can step in and mishaps do happen. Your luggage could get lost en route, or your flight could get cancelled or delayed, leading to an extended stay at the airport. You need travel insurance cover in these eventualities.
Lost luggage
I personally had an experience in Cape Town, South Africa some years ago, where I placed my dark red suitcase in the luggage room of my hotel to collect later, shortly before my flight. However, it turned out another guest at the hotel had the identical make and color suitcase and took mine instead of theirs.
I was fortunate. While my suitcase was lucky enough to go on a worldwide tour, it did return to me a week later, fully intact. As I had been traveling on business, my entire work uniform was in that suitcase, meaning if it didn’t come back to me and I had no cover, I would have had to fork out a lot of money in replacements.
photo/ Jan Vašek
What else does travel insurance cover?
Besides covering travelers for loss of luggage and cancelled flights, travel insurance covers you in the case of a medical problem which prevents you from flying. Alternatively, you could get ill while overseas and run up huge medical bills. Just one medical emergency could take your entire holiday budget and more, but travel insurance will cover you for this.
Flight delays
There is nothing worse than arriving at the airport on time for your flight, only to find the flight has been delayed. If you are traveling on vacation, this won’t likely be a major problem, but if traveling for business, this could lead to missed opportunities and meetings. With proper planning, you can be compensated for the lost time spent sitting at the airport.
What should your travel insurance policy cover?
In conclusion, a comprehensive travel insurance policy should cover travelers for medical emergencies, losses incurred due to flight cancellation or having to cut your trip short, personal liability cover, luggage cover and death and disability cover.
It should also cover other inconveniences, such as having to extend your stay due to adverse weather, especially in a world of climate change, where hurricanes, storms, bush fires and volcanoes can cause never-ending problems.
Traveling locally
Many travelers wonder if they still need travel insurance while traveling within the same country. Misfortune could also affect you while traveling locally, so yes, you do need travel insurance cover for those trips too.
Long stay travel insurance
When planning longer trips, between, say, 90 days and 18 months, you can get long stay travel insurance to cover you. If you are a regular traveler throughout the year, particularly on business, all year round travel insurance policies are also available.
When planning your next trip, don’t take any chances. Contact your travel insurance broker to get the best deal for the perfect cover in any eventuality.
Author: Anne Sewell
Tips For Buying The Very Best Coffee Beans Or Pods In The World
