Men are apt to overlook travel insurance, which often means it’s up to the woman in their life to ensure that sense prevails with adequate travel insurance purchased! That said, nobody particularly likes buying insurance. We know we’re paying for something that we may never need. However, the cost may be minuscule, compared to the trauma if you have a holiday mishap without travel insurance in place. Let’s look then at what travel insurance is and why it’s so important to include it in your travel plans.
The essence of travel insurance is that you pay a one-off fee and, in return, are protected against the possibility of certain things going wrong during your holiday. You can either arrange Single Trip, or Annual Multi Trip insurance. The multi trip insurance may work out as cheaper if you plan to travel more than once during the year. Things typically covered include medical care costs, getting a refund for personal belongings that get lost, stolen or damaged, and the ability to get a refund if you have to cancel your holiday.
Travel insurance becomes particularly important if you are travelling with a family. As a loving and conscientious mum, you’ll want to ensure that you have cover in case little Johnny or Jenny needs medical treatment. You shouldn’t assume that any insurance cover that you have in your home country will extend overseas; in most cases it won’t. As with any type of insurance, the cost of insurance varies by provider so it’s important to shop around to ensure you’re getting a good deal. Remember, though, that you’re not just looking for the lowest priced deal. Instead, you’re looking for a travel insurance policy that covers all the main things that are important to you and that’s also reasonably priced.
One pitfall to avoid is accepting a policy that your travel agent cross sells to you when you book your holiday. Their travel policy might be good but you won’t know until you have compared against competitor offerings. It’s very easy to get travel insurance details these days. You can visit price comparison websites, and then it’s usually just a case of entering some basic details about yourself and your trip.
Of course, the cost of travel insurance is likely to be higher if your trip involves potentially dangerous activities, and/or if you are visiting a country that is deemed to present a higher risk of injury or theft. There may even be some places, for example war-torn countries, where you may struggle to find companies willing to offer travel insurance.
Travel insurance does more than just provide monetary compensation. It also buys you peace of mind. It means you don’t have to suffer from a constant worry bead about what might go wrong! Travel insurance is always a good idea but just make sure that you’ve read the small print and that you’ve only purchased cover for what you really need. For, as nice as it is to have cover, you don’t want to go to the other extreme and pay over the odds to protect against eventualities that perhaps don’t require cover. Finally, make sure that you’ve chatted with your other half and made sure that they don’t already have travel insurance in place that already covers all the family.