Do You Really Need Travel Insurance?

Travel insurance is a policy that covers you in the event of any travel mishaps. Travel insurance is not standardized, but can vary from company to company. Most travel policies include coverage on possessions, luggage, your health (sickness and pharmacy needs), as well as emergency travel plans.

Traveler insurance may seem like a needless expenses—that is until you are actually faced with a nightmarish scenario. What if your valuable luggage was lost? What if you lost your medication in the bags you carry and need pharmaceutical drugs for your wellbeing?

What if you became deathly ill and have to see a doctor? What if for medical reasons or military reasons you have to be transported out of the country? Even if you recover from all of these problematic scenarios you might well have a stroke upon reading the bill! An insurance policy for travelers protects from all of these worries. Recently the number of travelers’ insurance policies has increased in America, over 30% since September 11th, 2001. Over 70% of travelers going on a cruise buy insurance.

Another reason to order a travel policy would be for trip cancellation. In some cases, your flight will be cancelled and there won’t be much you can do about it. In other cases, you might be the one reporting ill, and may want to cancel your trip within a short amount of time, too soon to get a refund. If your wallet or passport is stolen then a travel policy can help you get money and a substitute passport for the duration of your trip. (Note: not having a valid passport may be grounds to deny you reentry into your own country.)

Furthermore, if you discover that your upcoming trip will be marred by terrorist activity or nationalistic dispute, then you will need insurance. Your provider will not cancel the trip out of concern for your safety, nor refund you money. They will just assume you abandoned your ticket.

You will also need insurance if your provider goes out of business. (Yes it’s happened before.) The last thing you want is to be stuck in another country or worse yet, in an airport somewhere with no way to get home! Lastly, you will benefit from insurance if a natural disaster forces you to evacuate your hotel. These are all scenarios in which traveling insurance would be very beneficial.