Travel insurance covers you in a number of cases. There are certain things that are generally included in all types of travel insurance and other things that aren’t.
Your trip cancellation coverage is the main type of insurance and is generally used when you have purchased expensive plane tickets and accommodation. This will cover your costs if your flights or hotel reservation are cancelled for a variety of reasons. Delays and cancellations are the most common but others include illness, death and weather cancellations. More obscure reasons for cancellation include jury duty and terrorism threats.
You can also get medical cover as part of your travel insurance which is very useful when travelling to some of the less well developed countries, or those where health care is not nationalised, such as the United States of America. Policies vary with respect to health cover from insurer to insurer and it is therefore very advisable that you read your policy thoroughly before paying for insurance.
These are the bare essentials that many people choose to have as part of their insurance. However, depending on the nature of the trip, there may be some other types of insurance that are necessary. Tickets for special events or sporting holidays are good examples of this and golf enthusiasts or football fans will often take out such a policy.
If you are planning on any kind of activity on your holiday that may result in injury then you need to ensure this is covered. Adventure sports are often a good example of such an activity and even hiking off the beaten track could require extra cover.
If you are planning on a longer stay, more than 90 days, you will need special cover for this too as this is not generally covered. If you are over 60 then you need to make similar considerations.
The bare essentials of travel insurance are cancellation and health. These can come as separate packages so you must read you policy carefully and work out exactly what you need cover for and be extra certain to avoid paying for what you don’t need cover for.
