Even the best planned vacations can be interrupted by disruptions and emergencies. You lost your luggage. You slip or you get an insect and you need medical treatment. These not only disrupt your travel schedule, but can also cost you a lot of money.
That’s where travel insurance (also known as travel protection) comes into play. This is specially designed to address the situations and risks of travel and provides coverage from the moment you leave until the moment you return to your home.
For example, travel insurance can reimburse you for any luggage or items you lose during your trip. This is especially important if you plan to buy something of high value, such as local antiques, or have very expensive jewelry or electronic equipment with you.
Your standard health insurance policy is also usually limited to a network area, so without travel insurance, you’ll have to pay for hospitalization or medical treatment you receive while abroad. This can be very pricey, not to mention stressful: imagine being sick and broke in an unfamiliar country! If you’re visiting a place where doctor bills and other emergency procedures are expensive, or where there are very real health risks, travel insurance is absolutely crucial.
Travel insurance is also very important if you are planning a driving holiday. Many car policies do not extend coverage outside of your country of residence. The last thing you want to worry about is how to pay for a rental car that was wrecked by another driver, or how to afford the cost of repairing a car you may have hit (a risk everyone takes by traveling on unfamiliar roads with unfamiliar driving behaviour). regulations).
Travel insurance can also provide protection against calamities that are so specific to going abroad that they cannot be covered by your standard insurance policy. This includes trip interruption. Any fees or deposits you may have made that would otherwise have been forfeited if you had suddenly canceled your trip will be returned to you.
Travel protection plans may also provide emergency services such as an emergency hotline and medical transportation services. This is very valuable when a crisis arises abroad, where you may not speak the language or know your way around a city well enough to find the nearest emergency facility. When you are distraught or upset, or when time is of the essence and you need immediate help, travel protection plans can be your safety net. You may be a stranger in a strange land, but you are not alone.
You may be wondering, “Why should I get travel insurance when I have really good regular insurance?” Many people are under the impression that their auto, credit card, and homeowners’ medical policies are so “comprehensive” that they would automatically provide protection anywhere in the world. That is not necessarily true. You have to read the fine print. If you don’t and don’t take advantage of the additional coverage provided by travel insurance policies, you may find out the limitation of your insurance policies the hard way: when you find yourself in an emergency and spend a large amount (on top of the deductible and personal contributions) with the hope of compensation far away. Travel protection is a sure guarantee of safety. Now you can go on holiday with peace of mind – and that’s what a holiday is all about, right?
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