When planning a trip, are you always looking for information about the destination, flights and the most convenient accommodation for you? Thinking about the problems that may arise both before and during the trip, insurers offer various types of travel insurance in order to assist the traveler in dealing with them and defray the expenses involved in solving them. Have you ever considered purchasing one? Do you really know how these types of policies can benefit you?
These are the reasons to take out travel insurance
Travel insurance helps you with unforeseen events during the trip, but also before you leave. Health problems, with luggage, causes that prevent you from making the trip … In short, there are many reasons for acquiring this type of policy.
Protection 24 hours a day, 365 days a year
Yes. Travel insurance is the best companion during your stay away from home. Contacting the insurance company’s 24-hour Assistance service will help you resolve incidents related to your trip in the best way, knowing how to act and what documentation to gather to enjoy the coverage of your policy. The most common problems travelers use travel insurance for are the need for health care, trip cancellation, flight delay or cancellation, and lost luggage.
Receive quality medical care
Getting sick and receiving fast and quality healthcare is the biggest concern when we travel outside of our country. Wherever you are, travel insurance guarantees quality medical assistance, and always without adding additional costs. Whether due to a cold or an injury due to an accident, you will be treated in the best medical centers around the world, including diagnostic tests.
What if you don’t understand what the doctor or pharmacist is telling you? The insurance company will make an interpreter available to you. Do you need medicines not available at the destination? The insurance will send them to you as soon as possible. If you need an ambulance to go to the doctor, the company will also bear these expenses, even if your health deteriorates and you have to go home.
Save money
The cost of travel insurance varies depending on the type of trip you are going to make, but it does not represent a large outlay compared to the total price of the trip. If you have any incident during your getaway and you have insurance, you will save the expenses involved in remedying such problem, as long as it is covered by your policy. For example, in the case of medical care, there are countries where a simple visit to the doctor for a minor illness can cost more than the insurance itself.
More incidents you can save against. If your flight is delayed and you are forced to change your plans or you lose any of the services you had booked (hotel nights, excursions, shuttle …), insurance will cover the expenses of your plan B or will reimburse you for the cost of those services not enjoyed. What’s more, if you require it, the insurer advances you money so you can continue the trip.
Save time
As we mentioned, the insurance solves your doubts and facilitates the different procedures of the trip, especially in the event of unforeseen events and incidents, such as, for example, that the airline loses our luggage and delays in delivering it to us.
Before such problems with luggage, airlines usually take an average of 42 hours to get the luggage to the traveler, more than enough time to spoil the trip. For this reason, insurance includes coverage so that you can buy essential items to continue your trip (clothes, toilets, medicines …).
It is true that in these cases passengers are entitled to receive compensation from the airline, but with insurance you can save a lot of time. According to DKinsurance data, insurers usually reimburse compensation for delay or loss of luggage in 15 days, a shorter period of time than the airlines would take, which also require more procedures. In fact, almost half of insurer claims are resolved in 2 weeks.
Cancel your trip up to one day before you leave
Being proactive when planning your vacations reduces the possibilities to foresee changes or situations that, finally, prevent you from traveling: work, health, bureaucratic reasons , etc. Travel insurance with cancellation coverage will give you the peace of mind to organize them, knowing that, in the event of a major unforeseen surprise; you can cancel your trip up to one day before its start without losing the money invested.
You will also recover expenses if, once at the destination, we have to interrupt the trip and return home in a rush. Then, the insurance takes care of the return trip and the refund for the days that you have not enjoyed.
Inform you about your trip
The insurance company will always be available to answer any questions or doubts you have during your trip or even before and after: from informing you about how to obtain your visa to indicating the center to go to if you get sick, canceling your cards in case of theft or , if you leave an object forgotten abroad, send it back to you once.
being able to go home early
Are you forced to rush home due to illness or accident during your trip? If, as we have pointed out, travel insurance pays you for medical expenses around the world, it also covers search and rescue costs in the event of an accident during adventure sports or repatriation in medical transport. Keep in mind that these guarantees are not included by the North America Health Card or many health insurances.
Travel insurance covers other expenses derived from the health care that you may receive, such as, for example, the travel of a relative to accompany you if you remain hospitalized.
There is no single travel insurance. It adapts to you.
Check with the insurer to purchase the most appropriate travelling Canadians insurance for your vacation. We understand that you do not need the same coverage if you go on a cruise as if you go on a getaway to the beach or go to practice extreme sports. In choosing the best policy, the destination (s) and the length of your trip also come into play.
For this reason, you can opt for annual travel insurance, if you are one of those who make more than two trips a year; sports insurance, if among your plans in the destination is the practice of skiing, surfing, trekking or other activities in nature; If you’re going on Erasmus, protect yourself with student insurance ; And if you never travel alone , ideally you should also be accompanied by family insurance or group travel insurance .
Health insurance or credit card insurance is not enough
Do you already have private health insurance or accounts with travel assistance coverage on your credit card? Specific travel insurance offers you many more advantages and guarantees compared to the previous two:
Regarding health insurance:
- Coverage: Medical insurance will only cover you in situations related to healthcare abroad, while travel insurance will cover others such as repatriation or problems related to luggage, documentation, transportation, accommodation or even cancellation of the travel.
- Price: Medical insurance is usually contracted from year to year, but if your intention is to be covered only during the time that your trips last, it will be more profitable for you to contract travel insurance that covers only this period, without having to pay a whole year a policy that you are not going to enjoy.
- Healthcare abroad: By contacting the insurer directly through the 24-hour helpline, you will know which medical center to go to and will have medical expenses covered immediately, without having to wait for future reimbursements. This is especially important in the case of countries like the US, where the medical care can reach very high levels.
Regarding the insurance included in credit cards:
- Scope of action: They only cover trips outside of Canada that have been paid for with that card. Instead, travel insurance covers both domestic and international travel.
- Medical assistance: Travel insurance includes higher medical expense limits, reaching up to 2.5 million Euros. In addition, they also include hiring an interpreter in case of hospitalization.
- Baggage: Faced with these incidents, the economic amounts covered by travel insurance are higher.
- Problems with the means of transport: The economic compensation of travel insurance is also higher and, in addition, they include guarantees against the loss of links due to accidents. These are accidents during a trip: from home to the airport in your own vehicle or in the transfer to the hotel once at the destination.
- Civil Liability: Travel insurance also helps you in situations related to damage to third parties, anticipating legal defense expenses or legal bonds abroad.
- Cancellation: The possibility of canceling the trip before its start or interrupting it is not included in all travel insurance credit cards. If they do, they contemplate a much smaller list of causes for cancellation.
- Customer service: Few travel assistance insurance included in bank cards guarantees a free information service without interruption.
Because there are countries where it is mandatory
It is no longer that, as the Foreign Ministry warns, insurance is recommended, but that it is mandatory. And there are countries that require travel insurance to enter their territory. Its requires all visitors to have a travel policy with extensive coverage of medical expenses and repatriation. When issuing the tourist visa for North York, you must also have travel insurance that covers health care and repatriation. But there are more destinations to which it is mandatory to go with travel insurance.