Traveling by land, sea or air has always been said to be relatively safe. Yet we read and hear of disasters every now and then. Vacationers and travelers are potentially at the risk of facing nightmarish situations when they are least expecting them. Accidents, medical emergencies, lost baggage, misplaced documents – all of this can contribute to the proverbial “Holiday from hell”. So how do you protect yourself against such worries when all you want to do is enjoy your vacation?
The answer is simple – travel insurance. It can protect you from the most common to the oddest of travel perils. There are provisions to take care of your medical expenses, compensate you for lost baggage and documents, the cost of postponing or canceling a vacation and much more. It all sounds great till you go out to buy travel insurance to cover your upcoming vacation. Insurance scams and unreasonable exclusions can me the process of purchasing travel insurance a little problematic.
Here are a few tips that might help you to find the perfect policy which can keep you and your family safe while you travel for business or pleasure:
- Annual or multi trip coverage policies cost lesser than periodic or short term coverage plans. The difference in cost may not be apparent at first glance, but you will definitely save more with an annual coverage plan.
- You may be planning you holiday in the Bahamas or up in the Alps. Remember that each destination has a different set of inherent risks. Vacationing near the seas of course entails the risk of drowning or facing natural calamities like sea storms. Up in the mountains, you may face a different set of perils altogether. Check your policy carefully and find out if all the necessary angles are covered.
- Policies don’t generally include coverage for any and all situations. For example, it might not cover you for injuries resulting from winter sports like skiing or snowboarding. A very common exclusion in case of travel insurance coverage is that of injuries sustained due to assisted diving activities like scuba diving and submarine trips. Check to see if your policy has coverage for the specific vacation activity you want to engage in.
- You might already be covered under your existing health plan but you need to remember that it won’t be applicable in certain situations. Healthcare and private health coverage doesn’t cover you oversees or on a vehicle flying under a foreign flag. You need to look for a travel insurance policy which will cover you within your nation’s border as well as beyond it.
- Most people don’t take the idea of travel insurance seriously and settle for the coverage provided by the travel agency. You should essentially avoid doing so or at least review the policy before going along with it. Agency provided policies have multiple loopholes and coverage gaps. It is a better idea to get your own policy through an experienced insurance agent.
- Don’t fall for such products as ‘Flight insurance’. Flight insurance is nothing but a life insurance policy which covers you while you are on the aircraft. If you and your family members are insured by a life insurance policy, there is no need to invest in this option. A life insurance policy covers the death of the insured if the insured was traveling in a commercial airline. Private or chartered flights are excluded in case of life insurance as well as flight insurance.
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