Traveling? Pack You Toothbrush and the Right Amount of Travel Insurance

It is not just about insuring that your luggage arrives at your destination. It may not be pleasant to think about, especially while you are all excited and about to be whisked off on that long awaited exotic holiday, but the truth is anything can happen when you are away, and you need to consider carrying the right amount and right kinds of travel insurance.

Lets talk about health insurance first, since after all that is what these pages are all about. Many people are under the mistaken impression that if you have health insurance it travels with you. This is certainly not the case. Check your policy or with your health insurance agent to be clear on what the limitations are once you are out of the country, you are likely to be unpleasantly surprised. Of course if you do not have health insurance at all and you are planning an extended trip, or one that will entail a high degree of risk. Such as Scuba Diving or Rock Climbing; it is imperative that you purchase Travel Health Insurance. There are various types of low-cost travel health insurance available, and they can be quickly compared online. However, travel insurance is not the exact same thing as a domestic policy, and there are certain things particular to health issues that may occur on foreign soil that you need to be conscious of. Any travel health insurance policy you are looking at should contain the following:

• Pre-existing condition waiver- if you know you are traveling with a heart condition or diabetes for instance that could cause a health incident outside of the states, make sure you are covered

• Emergency Medical Evacuation – this is one of the most critical aspects of travel health insurance, which is most often overlooked. Even if your domestic policy offers you some coverage out of the country, it likely does not have an evacuation clause. Emergency medical evacuation either home or to another facility can be tens of thousands of dollars.

• Accidental death or dismemberment

• Return of remains – again not a pleasant thought but if you should lose a loved one overseas, without this coverage it can be tremendously expensive to have them returned home for burial. Similarly there should be a clause for return of dependent children; again should the unthinkable occur while traveling. Now beyond health insurance there are other insurances that encompass “Travel Insurance”, and these are the protections you should have to ensure, or rather insure, that you have a good trip.

• Lost Luggage Insurance

• Car Insurance – again check your auto policy, if you plan on driving when out of the country you may or may not have auto coverage, and the worst time to find that out is when you have had an accident in rental car on foreign soil. You also may want to obtain an International Drivers License, which can be done at the AAA website.

• Trip Cancellation/Delay Insurance Many providers of Travel Insurance such as insurancebudget.com offer what are known as Travel Insurance Packs that offer all of these coverages at one low price.

Bon Voyage!