Travel Insurance
Travel insurance is an insurance product for covering unforeseen losses incurred while travelling, either internationally or domestically. Basic policies generally only cover emergency medical expenses while overseas, while comprehensive policies typically include coverage for trip cancellation, lost luggage, flight delays, public liability, and other expenses.
Benefits
In the event of minor injury or illness overseas, medical benefits offer coverage for visits to general practitioners, medicine, ambulance fees, and limited dentistry benefits. In the event of hospitalisation, most travel insurance policies include emergency assistance services, which can offer guarantees of payment to hospitals for treatment, liaise treating doctors, and organise transfers between hospitals or medical evacuations back to the insured person’s country of origin.[5] More comprehensive policies include an emergency companion cover, so that a family member can remain with the insured person while in hospital.
In the event of death overseas, medical benefit sections typically include cover for repatriation of remains to insured person’s the country of origin, or a funeral overseas.
Comprehensive travel insurance policies include cover for any cancellation fees or lost deposits relating to cancellation of the insured’s person’s trip for a range of unforeseen and unexpected circumstances. These include illness or injury, natural disasters and bad weather,[6] strikes and riots,[7] hijacking, and family emergencies.[8] Depending on the policy, it may also include cancellation due to jury service, being made redundant from full-time employment, having annual leave revoked for those in the armed forces or emergency services, and prohibition of or advisory against travel by a government to a particular destination.
Many policies include benefits for alternative transport, accommodation, and meal expenses if the transport provider is delayed by a certain period, provided any layover times met the criteria in the policy.[9] Policies may also include a benefit to purchase essential items like clothing and toiletries in the event baggage is delayed by an airline.
Luggage benefits cover for loss, damage or theft of personal effects during one’s journey, including passports and other travel documents. It may also include limited benefits for theft of cash.[10]
This covers legal liability as a result of a claim made against the covered party for bodily injuries or damage to property of other persons.
