Have you ever tried to go through the various travel insurance policies available on the international travel market? Actually, it is not a walk in the park to locate the one that fits you most. It is not easy to fathom the differences between the various types of policies that exist. For instance, does a cancellation plan come with medical benefits? What about if you leave your country only twice a year, do you need to consider taking an annual insurance plan in this case?
Based on one’s destination and activities abroad, the Center for Disease Control recommends that people consider purchasing a travel insurance policy whenever they are on the road. Generally, such an insurance policy will be in the form of trip cancellation insurance, travel medical insurance or medical evacuation insurance.
Below are some of the factors to consider when choosing your travel insurance policy out of the three varieties above:
Trip Cancellation Insurance
This insurance covers an involuntarily-forced cancellation of travel. Some of the expenses that it may help you recover include common carrier air/train/bus/cruise fare ticket costs, any expenses associated with organized tours, and any cancellation costs that may affect you. It is also important to note that all trip cancellation policies are not equal, with some of them being able to cover more circumstances that would lead to the cancelation of your trip than others do. A "Cancel for Any Reason" policy enables you to be able to recover your trip costs for any reason of cancelation.
Travel Health Insurance
Most of the times, your regular health insurance policy does not cover you while traveling overseas. Additionally, a healthcare provider in your destination country may not recognize your health insurance as valid. Insurance companies therefore came up with a special, short-term health insurance policy to cover travelers. In case of an illness or injury while traveling abroad, this plan helps you get compensated. Some of the things you should be keen to ask when considering this kind of plan include the presence or absence of any pre-existing waiver exclusion period, and other exclusions that may be hidden in this policy. Though their primary objective is to cover your health and wellbeing during an overseas trip, some plans may also come with some trip cancellation benefits.
Medical Evacuation Insurance
During your trip abroad, what would happen in case you got injured? How would you get back home? Fathom this: if you needed a major hospitalization, an air ambulance evacuation may cost you upwards of $30,000! That is why you need an inexpensive alternative like a medical evacuation insurance so that you are always ready of any eventualities. One of the factors to be considered when you are seeking such a cover is age. Since some travel health or trip cancellation insurance plans can include medical evacuation insurance, be sure to be fully informed of the benefits you will get before you consider any of these policies.
The knowledge about the main differences between the various kinds of travel insurance plans will help you to choose the most appropriate policy for you whenever you are traveling abroad. With a little bit of planning today, you will surely be able to avoid a lot of potential trouble tomorrow, even in the worst scenario.