To be sincere, there are hundreds of annoying circumstances that could short live your fun time and cause you to cancel your trip, and return home early. The most common cause being sickness, but not entirely limited to it; thus bringing us to the question, is travel insurance important?
For those who find it comfortable to travel without it, often like to say things like “it really doesn’t matter if I lose my bags, I like to travel light with the stuff I can afford to replace”. Try and ask them “what if you fall sick?” they will quickly dispute you with a “Medical bills in South East Asia and Africa are pretty cheap”. It is unashamedly true that medical bills in South East Asia and Africa are unbelievably cheap, but what about the other thousands of emergencies and evacuations that you are vulnerable to. To just paint the picture of how bad things can get, am sure you’ve all heard of emergency evacuations costing more than USD$100, 000.
For this reason alone, travel insurance is not only important, but also profoundly worth it.
It is understandable that most people don’t understand how travel insurance work and why precisely they need it. For the good of everyone, we are going break it in 5 parts so that everybody understand why it is a travel essential.
The 5 Integral Parts of Travel Insurance
In simplicity, travel insurance is basically a legal contract created by a lawyer intended to be signed by individuals planning to travel. The contract usually contains 5 major parts as discussed below:
1. Medical Emergencies and Evacuation – One part that all travel insurance contracts usually contain is well described policies regarding to how they will cater for your bills should you fall ill while traveling or be at any risk of anything thus in need of an urgent evacuation.
2. Trip Cancellation – Though not included in all insurance covers, this basically covers you for costs, should you find it difficult to travel for reasons beyond your control.
3. Baggage and Personal belongings – Things that we don’t anticipate often happen. You are expected to take reasonable care of your belonging, but should you lose it under unclear circumstances, you are entitled for a claim. When filling out the form, one is required to specify the valuable items they will be traveling with; remember to specify if you will be traveling with your laptop, phone, camera, and such.
4. Personal Liability – This policy is not universal, but for world nomads insurers who offer
it, they can cover you should you cause any damage to yourself or others by accident.
5. Returning Home Early and Resuming your Trip – It is crucial that you understand the contract expires the minute you arrive home. It is therefore recommended that you stick to schedule so as to avoid getting burned.
With all the explanations done in this article, it is fair enough to say that indeed travel insurance is important, and not just important, also worth it; you never know what may become of your trip.