11 January 2012

A Guide to Travel Insurance Coverage

Whether you are travelling for pleasure or business, or just to visit a friend or relative, it is recommended that you purchase travel insurance before you leave. Many unexpected things can happen while you are travelling, ranging from loss of belongings to accidents, and some of them can result in serious financial loss. Travel insurance is very affordable, and it can provide protection against losses that are incurred due to certain misfortunes that happen during travel. It can cover almost any kind of travel-related losses you can think of. Different travellers have different insurance needs, and you have to get a travel policy that provides adequate coverage for your trip.
Here is a list of the many different types of coverage that are offered by travel insurance providers:

Trip Cancellation – If you are compelled to cancel your trip because of an emergency, trip cancellation coverage will ensure that you will not lose your travel investment. However, this coverage is only effective if you cancel your trip because of an acceptable reason, which can be illness, loss of travel documents, and others.
Trip Interruption – Trip interruption covers losses that result from early termination of trip. It is applicable if your trip is interrupted because of a mandatory evacuation, ill parent, and other reasons.
Medical Expenses – Medical expenses coverage provides compensation for medical costs that are incurred during travel. Types of medical costs that are covered include physician’s fee, medication, x-ray, surgery, and others. Amount of coverage can range from thousands to hundreds of thousands of pounds, depending on the policy you purchase.
Evacuation and Repatriation – If you are seriously ill or injured while you are travelling, you will need emergency transportation service to bring you to a medical facility. Evacuation coverage will cover the expenses for hiring this type of transportation. Repatriation coverage, on the other hand, will reimburse you for expenses that are incurred for sending you back to the UK.
Loss of Baggage – In the event that you lose your baggage during travel, you can use your loss of baggage coverage to get compensation. This coverage is applicable whether your bags are lost during air travel, or they are stolen or damaged in accidents.
Loss of Personal Belongings – This type of coverage will give you reimbursement of personal belongings that are lost or stolen while you are travelling. It covers loss of cash, traveller’s cheques, travel documents, and other personal items. Usually, valuable items such as jewellery and expensive electronic products and sports equipment are excluded.

The types of travel insurance coverage mentioned above are usually offered in standard travel policies, and they should be able to meet the needs of ordinary travellers. If you have additional insurance needs, you can take a look at the many optional extras that are available. These include options where you can be screened online to add pre-existing medical conditions to your travel insurance policy. Other coverage can include emergency dental treatment, death and dismemberment cover, missed connection and travel delay cover, travel company default coverage otherwise known as end supplier failure which generally covers scheduled airline failure too.
Most policies will already include many sports and activities but most will charge an extra premium for ski insurance, golf cover and other higher risk activities.

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