What is Travel Insurance and Why You Need One

Traveling is one of the most beautiful and enticing things in the world because it allows us to meet other cultures, people, customs, food, architecture, and many other wonderful things. But just like anything else, it comes with certain risks.

What if something happens to you, for instance, you get sick? Or what if your luggage gets lost? These are the occurrences that can ruin your trip, however, if you want something that's going to help you deal with these uncertainties then it would be advisable to obtain travel insurance.

What does it represent? Namely, it is a comprehensive insurance policy that covers both financial and medical emergencies. This is the most basic definition, however, if you want to learn more about it, then just keep reading.

Key Reasons Why You Need To Have Travel Insurance

Most People Cannot Afford To Lose Their Vacation Investment

For example, let's say you pay $5,000 for an unforgettable luxury cruise around the Mediterranean. You are thrilled about this journey, however, the day before it, you find out that one of your family members has ended up in the hospital and there's no one to be there for them except for you.

No matter how empathetic the cruise line might be, there's no way you'll get your money back. How come? Well, that's because, in most instances, there are no refunds if you cancel within two weeks of departure. 

So not only will you not be able to travel, but you will also not get your cash back. And that’s one of the reasons why getting a travel insurance plan is a must. With it, you will be able to cancel your trip and receive reimbursement for prepaid trip expenses.

Just bear in mind that this refers to covered reasons, such as serious injury or the illness of the insured individual, travel companion, or family member. Besides these, covered reasons include the death of an insured traveler and natural disaster that renders the destination as well.

Coverage For Flight Accidents & Accidental Death

The policyholder’s family members are going to be compensated in case a serious injury, or God forbid, death has happened that was caused by an incident during travel. Now, if you already have life insurance, then accidental death coverage is not needed.

However, the benefits offered by the travel insurance policy may be extra to people provided by the life insurance policy, enabling the dependents to get extra cash. Keep in mind that this type of coverage applies only when it’s employed for accidents that have occurred on aircraft.

Additionally, there are some limitations as to how much cash can go back into the account after receiving notification that somebody has passed away because of these circumstances. For example, RM60,000 per person (along with any current healthcare benefits) which sounds like a great deal!

It Covers Against Risks Of Travel

Travel insurance covers various risks that can happen during your trip, like personal belongings cover, loss of passport, loss of checked-in luggage, and many other things. Having these sorts of risks covered is of huge importance because they add an extra layer of protection against different financial losses. 

If by any chance your flight gets canceled for any reason, having travel insurance is going to give you certain compensation. Without it, these expenses would simply blow your budget. By reimbursing these non-refundable costs, travel insurance safeguards your finances.

Offers Assistance

If by any chance you need some assistance on your trip, you can always contact an insurance company. What’s great about these companies is the fact that they are available to their users at any given moment. 

That's why you should opt for travel insurance because you'll always have some sort of help while traveling. And that's particularly important when you're traveling overseas. Namely, this tool is going to help you bridge any geographical restrictions or language barriers, meaning that you will always be covered no matter what happens to you.

Furthermore, they can tell you the steps you can take to file a claim and hunt down hospitals that will welcome people covered under their policies as long as those people have bought it before traveling or going through the healthcare system of another country without obtaining proper coverage first.

Now, that’s something that a vast majority of people are not familiar with until something bad happens to them. If you want to be one hundred percent covered while traveling, then it would be advisable to acquire travel insurance that covers all sorts of risks.

Why is this so important? Well, that’s because this type of comprehensive coverage is going to keep anything negative from occurring and is going to protect you against any event with an extensive list in its terms. This involves accidents too! 

The U.S. Department Of State Recommends It As Well!

What do you think a person should do when they experience an emergency abroad? In these instances, many people usually contact the local U.S. embassy for help and they get disappointed.

But why? Well, that's because the embassy unfortunately isn't omnipotent and cannot help them at any given moment. Even their powers come with certain limitations. For instance, they can help you call a family member or friend in the United States, replace a lost or stolen passport, connect you with various resources, or talk to the local police, however, they are not capable of paying for your medical treatments and costs, offer emergency transportation (only maybe if a catastrophe happens) or any other financial losses that strike you while traveling.

That's precisely one of the reasons the State Department recommends people who live in the USA to obtain travel insurance, particularly the one that involves emergency medical transportation benefits, emergency medical benefits, and coverage for different unplanned costs, such as stolen/lost luggage, trip cancellation, etc.

After enumerating all these facts, we can't think of one reason why you wouldn't buy travel insurance. At the end of the day, that's something that's going to provide you with peace of mind which is necessary whenever you're traveling abroad.