Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection has released the results of its 2019 Survey of Travel Insurance. The results show that more and more people intend to purchase travel insurance in the upcoming year than in previous years. With the holiday season quickly approaching and children off of school that means holiday travel for many. Let’s look at what “travel insurance” really is and what should a travel consider when purchasing.
Travel insurance can mean different things in a context of a trip and coverages can be vastly different. Some insurance plans will cover when a trip is cancelled for any reason, others require a covered event. Some polices will cover only a cancelled trip while others will cover a trip cut short by illness or emergency. So most importantly read the policy that you are thinking of purchasing. It is important to understand what is covered.
Questions to ask when purchasing travel insurance:
- Does the policy cover cancellation for any reason?
- Does the policy cover costs to return home early because of an emergency?
- Does the policy provide coverage for medical emergencies while on the trip?
- Does the policy cover lost/delayed luggage?
- Does the policy cover a delayed or cancelled flight or missed connection?
Other considerations when purchasing travel insurance include:
- Who is writing the policy?
- Does the policy force arbitration?
- If you are forced to make a claim what does that process entail?
- If you choose to file a lawsuit over your claim what venue/law applies to the dispute?
Travel insurance can often be purchased as an afterthought with the click of a button while booking travel online, but it is important to remember that it is still a contract that gives the purchaser certain rights. Hopefully, everyone will have a very easy travels with no need to make an insurance claim of any kind.
