Why travel insurance is a must for every traveler

For most travelers overseas travel is a wonderful experience. Unfortunately, every day travelers across the globe are involved in human tragedies involving death, injury or hospitalization with bills that can run into the thousands of dollars.

In cases where victims are not covered by travel insurance, such personal tragedies are further compounded by a long-term financial burden. Hospitalization, medical evacuations, or even the return of the deceased's remains to their home countries, can be very expensive. The cost of medical evacuations from the United States regularly range from $75,000 to $95,000 and sometimes up to $300,000. Daily hospitalization costs in Southeast Asia regularly exceed $800; return of remains from Europe in excess of $10,000.

Travelers who are not covered by insurance are personally liable for covering incurred medical and associated costs. This can result in families having to take out additional bonds or sell off assets, to bring loved ones back to their home countries for treatment and repatriation. Despite these stark statistics, it is not our intention to discourage intrepid travelers from exploring the globe, which in almost all cases is a very positive experience. Only 0.6% of travelers going overseas encounter difficulty each year.

That is why WORLD TRAVEL INFORMATION’S key message to all travelers is to ensure that they do all that is necessary to help reduce the likelihood of becoming one of the unlucky statistics. With accidents or illness often unavoidable, proper travel insurance is very important in this context. Of course, the all-too-common occurrence of theft and loss of personal belongings is also something all travelers should insure against.

In many instances travel insurance is compulsory and is a condition of booking a trip with some tour companies. You are strongly recommended to take out cancellation insurance at time of booking which will cover cancellation penalties in certain circumstances (note: such insurance will not cover a change of mind). When selecting a travel insurance policy we suggest that at a minimum, you are covered for medical expenses including emergency repatriation. We strongly recommend that the policy also covers personal liability, cancellation, curtailment and loss of luggage and personal effects.

If you have credit card insurance we require proof of purchase of the trip (a receipt of credit card statement) with a credit card in your name. Contact your bank for details of their participating insurer, the level of coverage and emergency contact telephone number. Some credit card insurance policies will require a ‘top-up’ to ensure that you have enough cover.

Please ensure you have your policy number and emergency telephone number for your insurance company.

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