The Hidden Costs of Neglecting Travel Insurance

Many travellers, especially those that go abroad only very rarely, fail to appreciate what even a simple single trip travel insurance policy can do for them—until something happens and they end up in a very place place indeed. The fact of the matter is that in this day and age, failing to get proper protection can be an extremely costly mistake.

The following are real-world scenarios you must take into consideration before hopping on a plane, train or automobile.

High Medical Bills

Those who skip purchasing single trip travel insurance protection for that one holiday just to save a few dollars run the risk of incurring thousands of dollars in unexpected medical expenses - depending on the country of destination. For instance, if you’re going to the USA completely uninsured and, somehow, you end up injured in the state of California, you will then be at the mercy of the USA’s healthcare system. And if there’s anything we know about the American healthcare system, it’s this: it's incredibly expensive. Moreover, say you’re a British backpacker trying to scale a mountain in Nepal and you end up injured, you will need an airlift to bring you to the nearest modern medical facility. You would definitely need proper coverage for that. The bottom line: not getting a policy before you leave and trying to save a few pennies could cost you a fistful of dollars.

Treatment Delay

Of course, while we speak of high treatment costs for those who failed to get good single trip travel insurance coverage, there’s the other hidden cost of not being properly insured: delays in medical treatment. Certain emergency situations require urgent care—the hours, minutes or seconds it takes before you get medical attention can spell the difference between life and death, between an injury that can still be healed and physical damage that turns out to be irreversible. With proper protection, there will be no hesitation and delay, especially if you have chosen to sign up with a decent, reputable provider.

Paying for Cancelled Trips

One important—although often overlooked—feature of even the most basic single trip travel insurance (caveat: you must still peruse the fine print, though) is providing protection against cancelled trips. Let’s say you have booked a flight to Peru and you have paid a couple of thousand pounds for the trip and made all the necessary preparations. You’re quite ready—until the news that a recent spate of civil disturbances has made trips to the country very risky, thus forcing the airlines and your travel agency to cancel or suspend indefinitely all inbound travel to the country. What happens to the money you’ve already paid? Nothing—that would be cash down the drain. But not if you had the presence of mind to get properly insured; the provider would refund you much of the amount (the percentage of which depends on the fine print of the terms of your policy).

Patrick Chong is the Managing Director of Insuremore. We provide low cost travel insurance and offer a range of policies including single trip travel insurance, annual, multi-trip and family cover. For all your travel cover needs, Insuremore can help you in the quickest and most cost-efficient way.

Writer and Online Marketing Manager in London.