From full-time world travellers to people taking short breaks, do you need travel insurance, or can you avoid it and hope for the best?
Some people have the attitude that nothing will happen to them. They think that if they don’t partake in extreme activities on vacation and are careful, they’ll be OK and that ‘it won’t happen to them’.
We’ve been travelling for over twenty years and used several different companies. Believe us, it takes time to find out who offers the best policy for your money. It’s also worth noting that not all travel insurance companies are good when it comes down to actually paying out a claim.
We’ve learned that the cheapest travel insurance policy isn’t the best. You may have found a travel insurance policy that seems too good to be true – chances are, it probably is. With these cheap companies, you’ll find that once you need to make a claim, you won’t receive a cent back from them. They’ll send you an email highlighting the small print and hidden clauses to get out of paying for anything. Yes, the insurance world is incredibly frustrating.
Perhaps you’re with most people who believe that travel insurance only covers theft of your belongings, compensation for flight delays and medical care. Nope! There are so many other things that your travel insurance will cover you for.
You might be in an accident or seriously injured in a city or country where good hospital care isn’t available. Some countries don’t have the infrastructure, the right medical equipment to treat you or the skilled medical professionals to help you. If you need surgery or emergency medical assistance, your travel insurance company will fly you to your home country for the required hospital treatment you need.
Need to cancel your holiday for reasons out of your control? You might get very ill, or a family emergency may suddenly occur. If this happens, your travel insurance will cover the cancellation cost and start your trip again. This can be during your travels or before your travels begin.
Any situation can happen where you may have to cancel your trip. Your journey was delayed due to a natural disaster, a strike or civil unrest in a country? You’re halfway through your holiday and find out your sister back home has been in a serious accident. You break your arm playing football a few days before your Snowboarding Winter vacation? Don’t stress about the cancellation fees stacking up; you can claim these back with travel insurance – that’s what it’s for.
Think about it this way: after spending all your hard-earned cash on your vacation, could you afford to buy an emergency flight home worth several thousand dollars?
Additional expenses incurred are covered if you become ill during your trip and can’t leave your accommodation or get to the airport. Things include the extra costs for accommodation, travel expenses due to delaying your travel plans and a cash allowance if you are hospitalised.
If you’ve accidentally stepped on your new Macbook and smashed the screen, the right travel insurance company will cover the cost of getting it repaired or reimburse you the money to purchase a new one if required.
For unexpected incidents, you might be held financially responsible for damages you may have caused to another person or their property.
It’s happened to us on a few occasions. It’s annoying and inconvenient, yet airlines lose bags every day. A good travel insurance company will give you an allocated amount of money to buy emergency supplies such as toiletries, new clothes, shoes and a new bag.
If you’re injured when you’re abroad, your travel insurance will pay for your medical bills. You will be surprised by just how quickly these fees can add up. We know of travellers who have racked up enormous 6-figure medical bills whilst travelling, and because they had a good travel insurance policy, they were all taken care of. What a relief!
We’re the kind of travellers that like to hire a car if the destination calls for it. It bothers us when the car rental insurance per day costs more than the actual car rental cost! Most of the time, if you don’t buy the insurance, your excess may be between $4000 to $6000.
A good travel insurance company will cover the excess if you’re involved in an accident, so you won’t need to pay that additional car rental insurance fee per day. A big saving right there that you can spend on other activities.
We recommend the two following travel insurance companies. And we wrote this comprehensive article about their services if you want to learn more!
Heymondo is a travel insurance company that we recommend. Easy, fast, and customisable travel insurance. Personalise your insurance for your type of trip and budget.
As frequent travellers, we use their Long Stay Insurance – perfect for medical coverage and other essentials. Get a 5% discount here.
SafetyWing Travel Insurance is a fantastic option. This travel insurance is created by travellers, for travellers. These guys offer Travel Medical Insurance that covers people from all over the world outside their home country.
This insurance is perfect for remote workers and digital nomads.
