Travel Insurance Policy Guide - What Is and IS NOT Covered By Most Travel Insurance Policies?

(Note - The above is for Travel Insurance if you live in the United States. If you live in the UK then click here instead to get our travel insurance pick for UK residents.)

You should always make sure that you have travel insurance if you are thinking of traveling abroad. Just think what you would do if your luggage or your currency was lost or stolen, or if you had a slight accident and found yourself landed with a thousand dollar medical bill. Hopefully none of this will happen, and for the most part it doesn’t but there are people out there who have ended up in a lot of debt due to an unforeseen incident and the fact that they had no, or insufficient, travel insurance.

If you are going on a package holiday with insurance included then you should check just what you are covered for – you don’t want to find at the end of your holiday that there is insufficient insurance to cover whatever mishap has occurred. It is far better to know in advance then you can purchase additional cover if you should need it. Even so, most ‘comprehensive’ insurance policies will not cover you for everything. So what should you expect from a good general policy?

Most policies cover you for luggage and travelers checks that are lost or stolen, the amount you get will depend on the premium that you can afford to pay, and what the excess is i.e. companies may not pay the first $100 of any claim, which means that you will have to pay that. You should also be covered for medical attention if you are ill, dental treatment for pain relief and emergency hospital treatment. Not all policies will pay for repatriation due to medical reasons so you would need to check that out.

Find out whether you are covered for cancellation fees as most travel agents will not refund the cost if you have to cancel your holiday after a certain date – if the policy does not allow for this then you may want to get extra cover.

Companies will not pay for medical treatment for an existing condition and if you have not been truthful about this when you took out the insurance then you could be liable for fraud. Most policies do not cover you for accidents and damage caused if you are driving while abroad neither will they cover accidents related to water sports or boat trips. You should always read the small print on your travel insurance so that you know exactly what is and is not covered. Company representatives don’t always remember to tell you these things. If you are going skiing or on an adventure holiday then you will need extra cover for the risks associated with these things – particularly with skiing as you may need an air rescue team. Going scuba diving? Then before you go you need to check out which companies can offer cover for that. You may not come to any harm but it is better to be safe than sorry.