5 Really Bad Times NOT to Have Family Travel Insurance

Ever notice how travel agencies often throw family travel insurance into their tour packages – or how it is treated as a given when planning for a holiday? You can always cut out the insurance if you want to, thanks to your rights as a consumer. What’s the worst that could happen anyway? Well try these for starters!

All your precious luggage is lost in transit

What better way to experience a vacation in a foreign land than by finding you have absolutely nothing with you except the clothes on your back! Sarcasm aside, baggage coverage is pretty standard when it comes to family travel insurance. This basically means that your provider will reimburse the declared items you bring with you on your trip. Just remember that there is usually a limit per item, so don’t expect lost four/five-digit jewellery to be replaced any time soon.

A crisis forces someone to back out of the trip

A boss throwing a hissy fit over a project, a major client suddenly demanding attention, a freak accident leading to a disabling injury, someone close dying or falling seriously ill – these are just a handful of crises that can force you to cancel your long-awaited holiday. The costs of cancelling can be quite astronomic, especially when you booked premium accommodations months ahead of time, which is why many policies have cancellation coverage. Just make sure to read the fine print, though, as some providers are very strict when it comes to what reasons are and are not considered acceptable for cancellation. You ate something you really should not have

Seriously, you do not want to be stuffing yourself with exotic street food and various pickled or fermented goodies if you don’t have medical coverage in a foreign land. Family travel insurance typically covers this for everyone in your group, but you need to know which clinics or hospitals your provider is affiliated with. Check into an unaffiliated hospital and you will most likely end up footing the medical bill yourself – especially in a non-emergency situation where you or someone in your party have a choice of where to go.

Your ticker acts up after a little too much excitement

Pre-existing conditions are problematic enough when it comes to ordinary insurance in your home country. Having that condition treated in a foreign country doubles the complexity of the whole thing – at least if you aren’t covered by a family travel insurance plan. Just make sure that you are clear about your condition when first signing up so you can pay an extra premium for added coverage, otherwise you won’t be covered during your travels.

Breaking your leg in a sporting activity in the middle of nowhere

What’s worse than getting into an accident? Getting into an accident in a remote region where conventional medical aid is scarce. What’s even worse than that? Finding out your medical coverage won’t pay out because you engaged in risky activity without consulting your provider! In the latter case, you will need to pay a little extra to be covered in case of injury due to engaging in risky physical activities. In the former case, you will need to add emergency evacuation coverage to your policy package if you plan on visiting the more remote parts of the world.

Keep all these points in mind the next time you consider not purchasing a policy, and you may find that paying a little extra for expanded protection is much more useful than it first appears!

Patrick Chong is the Managing Director of Insuremore. We provide low cost travel insurance and offer a range of policies including family travel insurance, annual, multi-trip and single-trip insurance. 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.