Travel insurance

Travel insurance vending machines in Japan

Travel insurance is insurance that is intended to cover medical expenses, trip cancellation, lost luggage, flight accident and other losses incurred while traveling, either internationally or within one's own country.

Travel insurance can usually be arranged at the time of the booking of a trip to cover exactly the duration of that trip, or a "multi-trip" policy can cover an unlimited number of trips within a set time frame. Some policies offer lower and higher medical-expense options; the higher ones are chiefly for countries that have extremely high medical costs, such as the USA.

Coverage types

The most common risks that are covered by travel insurance plans are:

This section covers any unused travel and or accommodation costs, pre-paid charges (including any additional travel expenses incurred, provided they are deemed reasonable and necessary) if a trip is canceled or cut short under a variety of circumstances, which may include any of the following, depending on the policy:
  • death, bodily injury, illness, disease, or pregnancy complications
  • compulsory quarantine
  • jury service
  • being called as a witness
  • termination of employment (provided you did not know about it before you booked the holiday)
  • being called up if you are a member of the armed forces or other public defense or safety organization
  • prohibition of travel by the government to the intended destination
  • officially recommended evacuation from the intended destination
  • official advisory against going to or remaining at the intended destination

Medical expense coverage can be per-occurrence or maximum-limit.

Optional coverage

Some travel policies will also provide cover for additional costs, although these vary widely between providers.

In addition, often separate insurance can be purchased for specific costs such as:

Common exclusions

Travel insurance can also provide helpful services, often 24 hours a day, 7 days a week that can include concierge services and emergency travel assistance. Pre-existing medical conditions must be declared prior to the trip start date. In case you ignore this requirement and fall ill during your trip abroad, you may find that you are not covered.[1] The European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) entitles to treatment in state-run hospitals in EU countries and Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland[2] but it is not a substitute for travel insurance.

References

  1. "How to Undergo Pre-existing Medical Conditions Screening". Globelink International Travel Insurance Consultants Ltd. 2016-01-12. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
  2. "Medical conditions travel insurance: Your 10 need-to-knows". Money Saving Expert. 2016-04-01. Retrieved 2016-04-18.

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Travel insurance.


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, April 18, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.