Travel Insurance

Being Covered Away from Home with Travel Insurance

Travel insurance is different than most other forms of insurance in that it is able to be purchased on an as-needed basis, for certain duration of time and for specific locations in the world during periods of travel. There are a number of different categories of travel insurance available such as cruise, international, flight, travel medial and student insurance.

When an individual’s total insurance plan, such as a common homeowners plan, will not cover international events or event out-of-state issues, travel insurance may be a good idea to purchase to ensure coverage for emergency travel, health services, theft or loss or other types of trip interruption. When looking for insurance in any area, make sure to look around and talk to people who have insurance in the area you’re looking at. A good tip to keep in mind when purchasing insurance coverage plans is that you’ll get what you pay for.

Travel insurance coverage is similar to other types of insurance coverage in that it requires that you purchase a contract with a company and agree to pay a certain amount each year in exchange for an insurance company’s promise to pay for specific financial losses during the term of the policy. The amount you pay, called a premium, for the contract of insurance with a particular company. A deductible is the amount you pay before the insurance coverage policy goes into effect. Some insurance companies will offer discounts based on steps the client takes to educate themselves or take action in protecting their assets.

The Specifics

One benefit of travel insurance is that it is often more comprehensive and provides better coverage that ‘travel clauses’ that are part of other plans. For example, an auto insurance plan may cover a few travel-related issues, but there are very specific ones that will not be covered. Travel insurance is designed to help protect the insured for smaller and larger issues from cancelled, non-refundable flights. However, proof of emergency must often be shown and the reason for the emergency must meet the terms of the policy. Some types of travel insurance policies may even cover terrorism-related events overseas.

Travel insurance will often provide coverage for more specific types of travel such as a golf trips, a student trip with a school, boat trips and sports-related travel. There may also be coverage for last-minute leisure or non-emergency travel such as a last-minute vacation trip.

The cost of purchasing travel insurance is usually based on the location of the trip, the trip’s financial value and the age of the travelers. From there, a premium is determined that generally falls within 5%-7% of the cost of the trip.

There are many different types of insurance available to people who are looking to protect themselves, their loved ones or their interests in the event of an accident or unforeseen circumstance. Many people consider it wise to have, even though the chances of needing to use insurance may be rare.