How to choose de best travel insurance?
Travel insurance is one of the essential items in planning any trip. There is always a lot of doubt whether a travel insurance is worth it and the answer is yes. Traveling means being away from home and from your support network. In this situation, having travel insurance ensures assistance and guidance in the event of adversity. Therefore, it is important to be confident in deciding the best insurance for your trip.
Choosing the best travel insurance means understanding the type of insurance you need, assessing the coverage offered by reliable insurance companies, and hiring the most cost-effective policy.
Step 1 – Understand Your Travel Profile and Possible Risks
Understanding your Travel Profile and Risks are the most important steps in avoiding two common errors when buying an insurance: choose a more comprehensive policy than necessary (and consequently more expensive) or buy a policy that does not cover all your needs.
Types of questions you should answer in this step:
- Does your destination require compulsory insurance? What is the minimum coverage?
- What type of trip are you planning (family, nature, sports, exchange, luxury, etc.)?
- What are the risks of the main planned activities? Does it include adventure sports?
- Is the destination far from urban centers?
- How long is the trip? Do I need long term insurance?
Important: Travel insurance is not health insurance. Travel Insurance is for emergencies and usually does not cover pre-existing illnesses.
Step 2 – Quote different Insurances and Evaluate its Coverages
Each travel insurance plan is different, this includes differences in coverage and compensation amounts. In general, it all covers medical care and accidental death. The most complete coverages include travel cancellation, lost and delayed luggage, theft/damage to property, evacuation, return travel for a family member, legal assistance, etc. Always read the details.
It is also important to understand if there is any minimum insurance deductibles. It is also important to evaluate the procedure for assistance, for example, in some cases you will be referred to an accredited network while in others you may be attended at the preferred location and reimbursed later.
Tip: Don’t forget to evaluate the exclusion list. It is very important to evaluate the items not covered by the insurance!
Step 3 – Hire the most cost-effective insurance
Before purchasing your travel insurance, make sure all information is correct, especially the destination and the travel dates. After the purchase, be sure to save the policy in a cloud service (Google Drive, Dropbox, Evernote, etc.) and check the emergency procedures and contact numbers.
Tip: Some insurances must be acquired before the trip. Stay tuned!
What is the best travel insurance?
We really like World Nomads for the possibility of annual coverage and policy flexibility (you can even buy it during your trip). Besides being one of the few that includes adventure sports at a good cost.