Choosing Travel Insurance

If you are going on vacation, it is important that you have travel insurance. It protects you not just for your personal items, but also for cancellation and medical treatments.

Don’t think “it won’t happen to me” as it can happen to anyone as there are so many things that travel insurance covers. It is not just cover for things such as baggage or cancellation, but also medical cover and cover for other important things.

For example I was on vacation with someone, which rarely ever happens as I travel solo all the time. But this one I went with someone else and they had a medical emergency while in the USA which ended with a $15,000 medical bill as well as a deposit we had to pay there and then of around $600.

Without travel insurance, they would be broke now.

And you might be thinking, “$15k, that must have been a big emergency”, wrong! It was a bill pretty much just for dehydration!!
The person was vomiting and had diarrhoea that left them very dehydrated, plus they couldn’t keep food or water down. We bought things but it didn’t help, so ended with a trip to the emergency hospital.

Don’t think it won’t happen to you, as it can happen to anyone! Something so simple can leave a huge hole in your wallet!

There are a few companies I definitely recommend you try when getting quotations for travel insurance. All of these are legitimate and safe to use.
Cedar Tree, Cover For You and also Medical Travel Insurance for if you have pre-existing medical conditions.
You can declare medical conditions with all three of these travel insurance companies which you must do or you risk invalidating your whole travel insurance policy! If you have any medical conditions, declare them!

There are also a few things you should also look for when purchasing travel insurance.

What to look for when purchasing travel insurance:

• Cancellation/curtailment: this covers you for any travel and lodging expenses you’ve spent but can’t utilise or claim back in the event that you need to cancel or end your trip early.
  
• Medical Expenses: covers you for medical treatment during your trip. In some countries medical care is very expensive so this is important.
  
• Missed departure: If you miss your departure flight, ferry, or train due to circumstances beyond your control, this insurance will pay for additional lodging charges and travel expenditures.
  
• Baggage cover: if your luggage is lost, stolen, harmed, or destroyed, it is covered.
  
• Getting you back home (repatriation service): cover against the cost of emergency medical repatriation home.
  
• Delay: covers you for any delays, such as those brought on by bad weather, industrial action or mechanical failure.
  
• Dental emergency: provides cover for if you need to pay for dental care from a dental emergency.
  
• Personal liability cover: cover in the event that you are liable for damages due to damage to someone else’s property or body.
  
• Passport cover: pays for any costs incurred as a result of having to get a new passport.
  
• Cash cover: covers you for a certain amount of lost cash.
  
• Natural catastrophe cover: this covers you for things such as flight cancellations due to volcanic ash. This is not covered by default as it is a “act of god” as they call it. This is something I always purchase!
  
• Sports: provides coverage for injuries or accidents during adventurous activities often excluded by regular health insurance such as skiing or climbing.
  
• Duration of trip: check the policy to make sure that it covers you for the trip length you are wanting to take. Some are limited to a small amount of days and others let you pick more days.
  
• Pre-existing medical conditions: if you have pre-existing medical conditions, you must declare these conditions when you buy your travel insurance. This can does cost extra, but some insurers will let you declare, but choose not to cover the conditions, in order to save money. But every insurer is different.
  Check out my article specifically about pre-existing medical condition travel insurance.