When you are spending hell of money on your holiday or business trip, you should consider spending some extra cash on useful insurances.
Today’s insurance companies offer coverage for pretty much everything, so that is why you should do some research in order to insure what is most likely to get wrong while travelling. Speaking of this, it might be a good idea to insure your plane or transport ticket in case something messes up with the weather, your arrival, etc.
Travel Insurances
To begin with, let us clear up what travel insurance is generally regarded as. The service usually includes protection against unforeseen sickness, injury, job loss, baggage loss, etc. Unfortunately, many people believe that the travel insurance includes coverage of voluntary changes and cancellations. Well, it doesn’t. The travel insurance, however, is directly transported to a new reservation in cases when the flight or travelling schedule is changed or cancelled by the carrier company. So keep in mind that if you personally cancel or decide to change your flight, the travel insurance cannot cover your expenses.
Baggage Insurance
Another crucial thing for a pleasant journey is making sure that our luggage is safely transported. Due to the often occurring mishandling and losses of luggage during international movement, and mainly flights, many companies are offering insurance of baggage that cover delayed, stolen or lost baggage. The baggage insurance could be extended to valuables like personal and travel documents and personal money. These types of services usually offer cover for the loss or theft of cash, travellers cheques, as well as the loss, theft or damage of important documents such as passports, travel tickets and visas.
Other useful types of travel insurances
Travel companies nowadays offer interesting insurances that do not directly affect your flight or transportation, but are related to your stay at a certain country. The various insurance plans offer cover for medical expense coverage, trip interruptions, emergency travel services and more
Health Insurance
These are definitely things worth considering, especially if you are travelling to places where your health could be jeopardized. Health expenses coverage is definitely a very useful travel insurance, notwithstanding your trip destination and duration, as trouble could happen anytime, anywhere. Many travel insurances also include repatriation in case something goes seriously wrong. That is a service that shouldn’t be overlook because at the end of the day you want to go home, don’t you.
A curious tidbit of information for European citizens that move within the EU countries is that there is a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) that is issued in all member states for free and that ensures the provision of necessary health care. An additional travel health insurance, however, provides a more comprehensive cover of the health expenses than the EHIC.
Customized Travel Insurance
In our times of plenty when insurance companies are fiercely competing for the customers’ money, competition has resulted in some genuinely interesting, handy and customized travel insurance. There are insurances that cover annual multi trips and include in their policies EU Annual Multi-Trip Travel Insurance, EU Single Trip Travel Insurance, EU Longstay Travel Insurance and even EU Wintersport Travel Insurance. Companies offer you to activate an insurance even while you are already travelling. Oftentimes the travel insurances have family packages that include kids for free and that allow the conditions of the insurance to be used by family members even when they travel separately.
Special Sports and Activities Insurance
When you are planning to spend your holiday doing a particular activity like golfing, paragliding, horse-back riding, etc., you might also want to make a special insurance that covers injuries or accidents that could take place while doing this sport/activity. There are plenty of companies that offer adventure sports and activities insurances so check the market out, find one that suits you and go for it. In this way you will at least know that if something happens while you are doing your passion, you will be reimbursed, if this could be a consolation. Moreover, insurance companies nowadays allow you to customize your trip coverage according to your needs. You might want for instance to cut your flight cancellation insurance and to have only a golf accident insurance, and luckily the companies are flexible enough to let you do that.
Car Rental Insurances
It is useful to know that countries have different types of insurance policies regarding rented cars. The USA for instance requires car rental companies to cover minimal liability. This state law however excludes California, where in case of an accident the driver takes the whole responsibility. Though in the USA most car rental companies are obliged to cover minimal liabilities, oftentimes they add up the insurance to the customers’ hire fee. When renting a car, people are usually offered a variety of added up to the initial rental fee insurances and damage weavers that could cover things as loss of the vehicle, personal accidents, loss or damage of personal belongings.
For cars hired in Europe, Africa, Australia, Asia and most of the Middle and Far East, Theft and Third Party Liability are usually part of the car rental price. The most often purchased insurance, related to hired cars, motorcycles and even vans, however, is the Excess Reimbursement Insurance. This insurance could apply to hires anywhere in the world and could include undercarriage, windows and tyres. And a useful insurance it is, because the rule of the thumb is that if your car is damaged during your rental period, you would be held liable for the excess damages, regardless of whether you were responsible for them.
Other travel insurances
Other things that we may consider insuring when travelling are our beloved pets. There are some companies that offer pet insurances not only to pets that accompany us while travelling, but also to pets that we leave at home during our trips. Some pet insurances go as far as reimbursement in cases of delay of coming home due to poor weather, sickness, transport cancellation, etc.
Summary
Notwithstanding where are you heading to and what you are about to do on your long- or short-term trip, you should consider making your journey, your possessions and your health as safe as possible. Insurances could at least calm you that you have taken all necessary precautions for a seamless journey.
Last modified: 26.03.2018, edited by: Nils