You Don’t Need To Be A Celebrity to Benefit from Travel Insurance
International travel insurance often can provide crucial medical care for catastrophic accidents and illnesses when traveling outside of the country. Travel insurance can also help defray costs of cancelled or delayed trips. Read more to learn how travel insurance can protect you.
What Does Travel Insurance Cover?
- Trip cancellations or delays.
- Missed connections.
- Lost or delayed baggage.
- Getting hurt or sick while traveling abroad.
- Lost or stolen passports, travel documents, and other personal belongings
Ashley Judd credits disaster insurance that saved her life during a catastrophic accident in the Congo in February 2021. Her stumble over a fallen tree caused a badly broken leg in the Congolese jungle. The “Double Jeopardy” star was left with a shattered tibia on the forest floor for five hours before help finally arrived. After 55 hours, she was airlifted to a hospital in South Africa for surgery.
“I’m in an ICU trauma unit in beautiful South Africa, which has taken me in from the Congo, a country I deeply love which is not, unfortunately, equipped to deal with massive catastrophic injuries like I have had,” Judd shared, “And the difference between a Congolese person and me is disaster insurance that allowed me 55 hours after my accident to get to an operating table in South Africa.”
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Two Congolese men carry an injured Judd to safety in a makeshift hammock. (Credit: Ashley Judd/Instagram)
Travel insurance provides coverage for trip delays, interruptions, and cancellations, medical expenses, emergency medical evacuation, lost baggage, and COVID-19. Depending on the policy type and coverage you choose, travel insurance companies vary in costs from $60 per trip to $350 annually. Emergency medical expense limits can vary from $50,000 to upwards of $500,000. Comprehensive international travel insurance can provide coverage before, during, and after your trip.
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What does travel insurance commonly cover?
Trip cancellations or delays
If you find yourself beyond the refundable period of your trip under the guidelines of certain hotels, resorts, and airlines, travel insurance can help. Additionally, if you need a temporary hotel due to sickness, natural disasters, or inclement weather, insurance can reimburse you for such expenses.
Missed connections
In recent years, flight delays have become commonplace. Anything from overworked pilots to staffing issues to mechanical problems plague the airline industry. One delay of your flight can potentially mean missed connections. If your flight is delayed may more than 3 hours, travel insurance can reimburse your fees associated with rescheduling your next flight. You can make it to your destination without running through the airport to your gate.
Lost or delayed baggage
When your baggage doesn’t make it to your destination it can cost time, money, and effort to replace your personal belongings. Travel insurance can help reimburse you for expenses related to your lost luggage and also reduce the number of angry calls to your airline.
Getting hurt or sick while traveling abroad
When traveling abroad, your health insurance typically does not provide coverage internationally. Paying for medical care can turn into a financial and logistical nightmare after an accident. Developing countries can also lack access to painkillers, medications, and adequate health care services and physicians. Insurance will provide you with excess medical expense coverage, and some premier insurers even offer in-house teams of medical experts that can help ensure that your medical care meets your needs and expectations.
Lost or stolen passports, travel documents, and other personal belongings
Thefts are a global problem. Unfamiliar places can also mean confusing customs when dealing with police departments, currency exchanges, and government authorities. Our premier insurance partners provide travel assistance services which simplify the process to replace lost documents, locate translation services, refer qualified medical and legal professionals, and provide solutions for identity protection, and more.
Golfing packages, mountain climbing, parasailing coverage, and more
While not covered under most standard travel insurance policies, you can purchase upgrades which can help cover the adventurous side of your vacations. Many extreme sports have a great potential for injuries and accidents that can leave you paying for these medical expenses out of pocket. Travel insurance upgrades for these activities can include adventure sports and other higher risk activities like bungee jumping, river rafting, and scuba driving. Upgrades like this can satisfy your high-risk adventures with more conservative protection.
Travel insurance options are a small investment that can provide a significant value, especially when considering the time saved and convenience of the services. It is important to work with a licensed insurance advisor specializing in travel coverage that can help determine the right plan for you. If you are interested in learning more about travel insurance for upcoming trips, please contact our team at Sterling Coverage. Our advisors provide guidance to determine the right insurance for your particular wanderlust.
