Do you need travel insurance for summer vacation?

Many travelers are asking themselves because of the holiday season around the corner. Do I need travel insurance for my summer trip?

Stefany di manno ceccato already knows the answer. But she found a difficult way. A friend on vacation in Mexico suffered serious injuries after breaking his head on a hotel nightstand.

“He had to fly to California for treatment, but he cost $75,000,” she says.

Travel insurance could have covered all his expenses.

Setkato says that now she is always buying travel insurance for herself. And as a travel advisor, she also recommends it to her clients.

But what does travel insurance cover this summer? And what does it cover? Do you absolutely need to know about purchasing travel insurance? And how can you tell if you need it?

Travel insurance can suit your vacation needs

“If you're traveling more than 100 miles from your home, you should consider purchasing a travel insurance plan,” said Will Nihan, CEO of TravelEx Insurance Services.

He points out that there are more options this summer than ever before. TravelEx recently released a full suite of new travel protection plans, introducing new coverage, benefits and upgrades requested by travelers and travel advisors. The idea of ​​fitting coverage around travelers is not the opposite, but to gain traction in the travel insurance business. And it's just in time.

“Think about everything that could be wrong,” says Andre D'Selkamp, ​​CEO of German Travel Insurance website insurance. “Travel insurance can make all the difference between being stressed out after enjoying your trip.”

All of these bring us to the biggest mistakes summer travelers make. They don't buy travel insurance and rely on less coverage from their credit cards.

“It can lead to significant losses if you run into travel disruptions that prevent you from traveling in the summer, such as illness, extreme weather, or delayed travel carriers.”

What does travel insurance usually cover?

Travel insurance typically covers cancellations, trip interruptions, trip delays and medical costs.

“Many other coverage is available, but travelers usually want to protect their travel investments by covering healthcare costs in case something happens,” explains John Rose, chief risk and security officer at Altour.

Related – The type of coverage that is often overlooked is emergency assistance, he says. For example, if you realize you don't have the medicine you need, you need someone to help you replace it right away. Or, if your trip is interrupted and you need to reach your final destination, who will help you?

Rose says travel advisors can help, but travel insurance can fill the gap.

What is travel insurance?

But if you're protecting your travel, travel insurance is not a magic bullet.

“It doesn't cover hurricane-like interruptions that were already predicted to affect destinations,” says Joe Cronin, CEO of International Citizen Insurance.

It is possible to cover existing conditions under certain circumstances, but if you try to get hurricane coverage when the storm is already surrounding its destination, it wishes you good luck.

The closest to a magic bullet is the “cancel for some reason” policy. This is more expensive than regular policy, but will refund at least some of the prepaid, non-refundable costs regardless of the reason for the cancellation. ”

Jason Block, CEO of Worldvia Travel Group, a collection of US travel companies, explains the process. Travel insurance can cover existing medical conditions through what is known as an existing condition exemption if it meets certain requirements.

You usually need to purchase insurance within 14-30 days of your initial travel deposit. You need to guarantee 100% of your non-refundable travel expenses for prepaid, and you need to be able to travel medically when you buy your policy,” he says.

Travel insurance can also include activity restrictions, such as exclusion of extreme sports.

“It's terrible to discover that your illness or injury is not protected because you've participated in a restricted activity,” says Harding Bush, Associate Director of Security Operations at Global Rescue.

How to Understand Travel Insurance

One of the biggest problems with travel insurance is that people read the fine print and don't understand what's covered.

Mitch Glass was traveling to Mexico with his pregnant wife. I discovered how his travel insurance defines “existing” terms.

His wife got sick on the second day of the trip and spent five nights in the hospital.

“After all, she had hemorrhagic dengue, which is a potentially fatal infection that was bitten by a mosquito,” he says. “I had travel insurance, but our claim was rejected because there was a 7-10 day incubation period before the dengue symptoms appeared. So the insurance company said he must have been bitten by a mosquito before he left the house.”

Travel coach Glass says it's an absurd way to define existing conditions.

“If you buy travel insurance, trust that if you get sick abroad, it's covered. However, this line of reasoning can assume you're going on a weekly trip and never covers these types of illnesses that have an incubation period,” he says.

How to decide on travel insurance this summer

Travel insurance can cover a lot, but not many others, but there is one main reason to get it this summer.

“Most domestic health insurance doesn't cover you overseas, and Universal Healthcare is not aimed at travelers,” explains Jeremy Marchland, president of Seven Corners Travel Insurance. “So if you get sick, get injured or need emergency medical evacuation, you need travel insurance to pay for the treatment.”

Marchland says anything can happen when you travel this summer. It can be as common as the flu, or as life-threatening as a car accident. Health systems in other countries usually require you to pay for treatment before you leave you.

“You don't want to be in a medical emergency, you can't afford it, you can't take care of it and you can't go home,” he says.

How do you know if you need travel insurance this summer?

All trips are different. For example, a weekend visit to meet your relatives this summer may not be something you should guarantee. But the Tanzanian safari is definitely there.

“Before determining coverage, you need to assess travel complexity, costs and potential risks,” advises Raymond York, a travel protection spokesman for Red Point.

It passes through all types of coverage.

Cancellation or suspension of trip: Prepaid, non-refundable costs refunds if plans change due to compensated reasons. Medical Emergency: Compensation for unexpected medical expenses or evacuation needs while traveling. Lost or Delayed Baggage: Coverage for essential items in case of delayed, damaged or lost luggage. Travel Delay: Refunds for additional costs caused by significant delays.

Ask yourself: What coverage do you need? And what are the exclusions?

“To determine whether travel insurance is required, consider factors such as international destinations, expensive prepaid activities, and potential risks such as extreme weather and illness,” York adds.

Common mistakes include overlooking policy exclusions, underestimating your coverage needs, or purchasing insurance that is too slow to book a booking process.

Don't wait long to buy travel insurance

One more thing. Timing is important if you are thinking about getting insurance.

“As analysing the decisions of thousands of customers, I've noticed that summer travelers often get the wrong way to wait until the very end to buy insurance,” said Eamonn Turley, CEO of Multi Quote Time, a UK-based travel insurance website. “Ideally, when booking a trip, if you buy it ideally, you'll be eligible for pre-trip cancellations and get the most value from your policy.”

In other words, this is the ideal time to think about travel insurance. Before booking a trip. Run all the scenarios and consider the best coverage for your summer trip. You're happy that you've done.