What is travel insurance?
When you travel away from your home town or country, you take on a number of risks — both financial and personal — that you do not face in your everyday life. Travel insurance gives you a way to reduce or eliminate the potential costs of these risks.
Risks for travelers
- Loss or delay of baggage
- Urgent need to return home, requiring costly ticket change
- Theft of money or travel documents
- Weather and other delays not compensated by airlines
- Airline bankruptcies
- Rental car damage and personal accident liability
- Overseas funeral costs
Few if any of these costs will be covered by your ordinary health and homeowner's insurance. Even if some of them are, the restrictions are likely to be severe and the recovery process time-consuming.
Travel insurance to the rescue
Travel insurance policies are designed specifically to cover the unique risks that travelers experience. As a result, the staff are much more likely to be helpful in these situations, both in terms of offering immediate advice and assistance, and in making sure you are compensated for any covered problems that you have experienced.
But is it worth the money?
The answer to this question is different for every traveler. In general, the less flexible you are about dealing with problems that come up, the better value travel insurance will be for you.
For example, if you're unemployed and you are traveling to visit relatives who are happy to have you stay a little longer, then getting reimbursed for a hotel room in the event of a flight delay is probably not worth very much to you.
On the other hand, if you are on a quick trip to an expensive destination, and you absolutely need to be back home on a certain day, then the benefits provided by travel insurance can be very valuable.
» Read more: What is and is not covered?