In this article we are going to talk about holiday insurances in general, and go on to holiday health insurances, holiday car insurances and holiday cancellation insurances. This might sound like a boring topic but bear with me. When you are preparing for your holidays, a travel insurance is something you definitely need to think about before traveling. Like they say, better safe than sorry!
Why take a holiday insurance?
Many people either forget to take a travel insurance, find them too expensive or think that they will not need one. « What could happen to me? » To say it short: a lot. You might need medical attention or there can be an accident. Your luggage might get stolen. Something might break. Anything can happen just in a blink of an eye even in places you would never want anything bad to take place (like on a honeymoon cruise), and without an insurance you can end up in a big trouble and the trip can go from bliss to disaster.
Comparing the insurances can be time consuming, but take a moment to do it. When choosing the insurance, make sure to consider at least the following:
- The validity of the insurance. Some credit cards come with an insurance, but many of them only cover a certain time period, like 45 days. Check with your credit card provider. Make sure your whole holiday time is covered.
- The coverage: can you get all the medical attention you need? A flight home if needed? Is your hobby covered? See if you need something like a winter sports insurance, if that’s what you are planning to do.
- The value of your luggage. If you have an expensive camera, an ipod, a laptop…. The best lightweight luggage can be quite expensive just by itself. You might want to think about taking an extra insurance for your valuables.
- Possibly the countries you are planning to visit. Will your insurance be accepted in those countries? Check with the consulates if you are uncertain. For example Russia has a list of insurance companies they accept and you will be required to provide proof for being insured during your trip when you apply for a visa.
So, be prepared. This is not the right place to save money. Take the essential holiday insurances! They will both make your trip safer and let you enjoy your world trip without worries. Our favorite travel insurance provider is World Nomads. Get a free World Nomads quote by filling in the boxes below! It only takes a couple of seconds.
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Holiday health insurances
When you travel outside your home country, your regular health insurance might not cover you. If this is the case, you need a holiday health insurance. It is for covering medical expenses, which means things like emergency medical treatment or surgery, returning you home from your holiday destination, paying for a flight, stretcher and a doctor, paying for your accommodation and travel expenses if the medical condition stops you from returning home at the appointed time etc. We all hope that you will not need these services, but if you do, you can end up with a hefty bill if you don’t have a holiday medical insurance.
Renting a car? Consider taking a holiday car insurance
The same goes with car rentals. Your own homeowners insurance or car insurance are the best options, but if it doesn’t cover rental cars, think about getting a holiday car insurance. The rental price will be higher, but you probably know how much it can cost to fix even minor car problems, not to mention bigger hassles like crashes, fire or stolen or vandalized car. Do some calculating when deciding on extra insurances offered by rental companies: they offer several different insurance plans with different deductibles (the amount of money you have to pay before the insurance company starts to pay). The higher the price, the smaller the amount you need to pay if something happens, so you can save money by taking a bigger deductible, if you can afford it. Depending on the length of the rental period, you might actually save money by sticking to cheaper options.
Here’s an example:
Regular insurance: 250 dollars deductible.
Extra insurance, 0 dollars deductible, 16 dollars / day .. 16 x 16 = 256 dollars
If you are renting the car for more than 16 days, it is cheaper not to take the insurance with the most coverage, because the deductible you’ll possibly have to pay is smaller than the price of the extra insurance. Be sure to read the rental agreement thoroughly, the conditions vary between different companies. It might literally pay to read the small print when comparing holiday insurances.
Holiday cancellation insurance
A holiday cancellation insurance becomes useful if you have to cut your holiday short or cancel it completely because of an accident or an illness, death, compulsory redundancy or travel cancellations due to industrial action, like a strike. The insurance covers the costs the traveler would otherwise lose. This gets especially useful if you have to pay for your trip or accommodation beforehand. These payments are often not refundable, so the insurance might help you to get your money back.
Many standard travel insurances offer holiday cancellation insurance as a standard feature, but if that is not the case, you can consider purchasing it as a stand-alone protection. Airlines offer their own insurances for getting a refund if you have to cancel your flight at the last minute.
Out of these three holiday insurances explained here the cancellation insurance is the least important one, but you might still want to go for it if you cannot really afford to lose the money you paid for your holiday.
–>Click here to continue reading about holiday insurances and get yourself a free travel insurance quote!
Written by astrid
Topics: Travel Preparation