When Do You Need to Buy Travel Insurance?

Travel insurance is intended to cover any losses you incur while traveling.  If you lose your baggage, get sick or wind up in a foreign jail, travel insurance may pay for the expenses you incur.  If you have to cancel a trip, travel insurance may reimburse your forfeiture fees.

On the other hand, you don’t always need travel insurance.  If you have the right type of automobile insurance, you won’t need travel insurance to cover a rental car.  If you don’t have any baggage, you don’t need travel insurance to cover lost luggage.  There are situations where travel insurance is unnecessary, and situations when it is a really good idea.

Frequent Travelers
The more often you travel, the more likely it is that something will happen that will cost you some money.  If you travel more than a couple of times a year, especially if you travel by air, travel insurance is probably a good idea.

If all of your travel is domestic, you probably don’t need additional health coverage or auto rental insurance.  You may benefit from taking out an annual travel policy that covers trip cancellation, lost luggage and similar costs.

International Travelers
Trip insurance is a must for international travel.  In addition to trip cancellation and lost luggage coverage, you probably need medical trip insurance. 

It’s also a good idea to get legal insurance and personal liability coverage. When you are traveling internationally, you are subject to the laws of the land, which may be much different from what you are used to.  It’s wise to learn as much as you can about your destination country, including their laws and legal system.  It’s also wise to purchase insurance in case you need legal help while you are there.

Other types of trip insurance that you may want to purchase for international travel include disaster insurance, evacuation/repatriation insurance and oversees funeral insurance.  Check with your travel agent to see of other types of trip insurance are required or suggested.

Extreme Sports Vacations
You may want to purchase trip insurance for specific types of vacations.  Many travel insurers offer trip insurance for backpacking, skiing, sailing or other types of adventure vacations.  These policies typically cover medical expenses and losses that are likely to occur with that particular activity.

The bottom line is that travel insurance is intended to cover potential losses.  To decide whether you need it and what kind/how much travel insurance you need, consider what you could lose and what situations you could face.  Then buy insurance that covers those situations.