Travel insurance

If you're going to travel, it is very important to protect yourself against financial loss and that's why you need to get yourself insured.

Not all countries have a free health service, which means that when you fall ill abroad and you have to go the doctor or hospital, this will cost you a lot of money. Besides medical expenses there are also other problems which can occur, like for example losing your luggage or your flight gets cancelled. To make sure you are going to be okay during your journey, it is a good idea to take out an insurance policy.

It is always better to buy your travel insurance directly from an insurance company or agent. It is also possible to buy it from for example a cruise line, airline or touroperator, but the risk is, that when they go out of business, you will probably not be covered anymore. Also keep in mind before buying a travel insurance, to review your own health and homeowner's policies, because sometimes they already cover expenses incurred while traveling.

Your travel insurance policy should cover:

1. medical expenses
2. personal liability
3. cancellation and curtailment
4. loss of baggage and theft.

The 2 most important on your policy cover are the medical expenses to cover the cost of any doctor or hospital treatment you might need and personal liability, which will cover you when something happens to anyone else, like for example any damage or injury you have caused them.

It is also very important to be able to pay out enough money if you're injured or if you die while abroad. The amount of insurance for each of these categories always differs a lot from policy to policy, generally the cheaper the policy, the lower the cover. Some insurance policies offer extra services, such as replacement vehicles, house-watching and so on. It might also be a good idea to select an insurance policy which use an international helpline, especially if you are going to a non-english spoken country.

When you plan on driving abroad, it is good to check with your car insurer about just how much protection your existing policy provides. You will probably need a green card, which is proof in Europe that you are insured. You should also consider an international roadside assistance policy.

A travel insurance policy will not cover you when driving abroad. If necessary you will have to arrange extra cover through your existing car insurer.

If you are traveling quite often, like 2 trips a year or more, it might be a better idea to arrange an annual travel insurance contract rather than cover yourself for each trip. Generally an annual insurance will allow unlimited trips as long as none of them exceeds 90 days. But always check what is covered and what is not, as some of the contracts will not insure you for example for winter sports. For some trips with higher risks you need to get a more dedicated policy.

Statistically, you are more likely to have an accident skiing, or indulging in some other dangerous sport, than you are sitting on a beach reading a book. This is why most travel insurance policies exclude these trips. For these trips you should make sure that extra costs are also covered, like for example for mountain rescue costs and the cost of prepaid expenses such as ski pass and skis.

Credit cardholders paying for holidays or air tickets with their credit card may get free insurance. Standard cards protection may be limited but many gold cards provide comprehensive travel insurance.

If your household insurance policy is arranged on an 'all-risks' basis, it means your possessions are also insured outside the home.

Are you traveling on your own or with your family or as part of a group? If you are buying insurance for more than one person, a joint policy is probably a lot cheaper than taking separate policies. The kind of cover you will be looking for will depend on how much cover you already have.

Your possessions may already be covered through an all risks clause on your home insurance policy and your actual traveling costs may be covered by insurance through your credit card (assuming you used it to purchase the holiday tickets). When you buy travel insurance be sure to find out details of coverage.

Some things while on holiday will not be covered by any travel insurance policy. Examples include detention or confiscation of belongings by Customs or any other government officials and also nobody will cover you against the risk of radioactive contamination. Though the risk of encountering these problems are very low, so you do not need to worry! However, there are also things that happen more often and which are also not covered, like for example losses as a a result of exchange rate movements or against HIV infection or AIDS.

When traveling abroad you should always keep a few things in mind. You need to take your passport and tickets, together with any visas or entry permits and, where necessary, vaccination certificates. You should also have a copy of your travel insurance policy with you. If you're taking your own car abroad or are likely to be hiring a vehicle you should also have an International Drivers License and your motor insurance certificate green card. If you are taking your own car you should also have a copy of your car registration document.