Three Important Types of Travel Insurance Coverage
Are you aware of the conditions and limits of your travel insurance plan?
Better yet, how much do you know about your coverage?
In a nutshell, your travel insurance coverage may include any of the following: medical treatment and/or evacuation, trip cancellation, trip interruptions and phone support.
Travel insurance comes with several types of coverage but these are three of the most important:
1. Trip Cancellation Coverage
Most travellers express worry about this type of coverage.
Planning a trip is an expensive investment. If you paid such expenses in advance, there's so much at stake for you when something goes wrong.
What most travellers don't understand is that trip cancellation insurance only reimburses pre-paid expenses that would not be refunded should your trip get cancelled prior to departure.
Read the contents of your policy to know what reasons are covered by your cancellation plan. Here are the usual covered reasons:
- Sudden unemployment or work-related concerns (not all providers offer cover this reason so ask before making a purchase)
- Hurricane disrupts your flight schedule or damages vacation area
- Sickness or injury; emergency at home
- Destination subjected to a terrorist attack
- Provider's bankruptcy
This list isn't ubiquitous but most travel insurance companies provide coverage for such reasons.
Trip interruption insurance offers a similar type of coverage but only during your trip – not before departing. Covered reasons are more or less the same.
Should there be an emergency that demands your presence back home, the expenses sustained for the unused part of your trip will be reimbursed. Extra expenditure incurred before your return flight will also be covered.
2. Overseas Medical Emergency Coverage
Many travellers don't pay attention to the medical risks that await them abroad.
Most of them are under the belief their existing health care insurance will cover them for any and all medical emergencies. When they're vacationing within their country's borders, full coverage is more than possible. Outside Canada, however, there's no guarantee.
Medicare hardly covers medical emergencies abroad.
Would you sleep soundly knowing a family member is in danger of receiving poor medical care on foreign shores?
Riding a cruise ship operated by a different nationality also prevents you from being covered.
Travel medical insurance provides coverage for accidents and medical and dental care whilst travelling abroad.
Though you may have overseas emergency care coverage, your existing health insurance provider will likely refuse to pay for your evacuation and repatriation expenses.
3. Emergency Evacuation Coverage
Airlift and medically supported return flight expenses are covered under emergency evacuation. The great thing about this coverage is that you can choose to receive treatment from your preferred hospital.
Travellers try to opt out of this coverage citing budget reasons. Truth be told, evacuation costs can drain your savings. $50,000 doesn't grow on trees after all. Adding an emergency evacuation coverage to your travel medical insurance plan ensures better protection.
Other types of travel insurance coverage include lost luggage and 24/7 international phone support. The former covers any losses incurred through a lost luggage. The latter is a service offered by most travel insurance providers for the benefit of clients requiring medical assistance in various parts of the globe.
Medipac Assist is the official contact center of Medipac Travel Insurance, operated by a dedicated team of medical professionals who can help you with any of the following concerns:
- Identify nearby hospitals with adequate facilities
- Facilitate your medical evacuation back home
- Supervise your medical transport from one hospital to another
- Make prescription changes in case of a medical emergency
- Ease your communication burdens (especially when hospitalized in a non-English speaking country)