Travel Insurance: How to Choose the Right One for You

When traveling across the country or even out of the country, it is important to keep your luggage and family safe. Travel insurance is a great way to keep the people you love and any special belongings in check. Read below how to choose the right insurance for you and get your trip started today!

What Is Travel Insurance?

Travel insurance provides financial protection for unexpected events while traveling. There are three kinds: Single trip, annual travel, and group travel.

● Single Trip Travel Insurance Policies: Just one trip, up to 10 people, for a short amount of time

● Annual Travel Insurance Policies: Many short trips throughout the year, up to 10 people

● Group Travel Insurance Policies: 10 or more people for a single trip and normally includes cancellations, medical concerns, travel delays, and luggage.

Checklist for Choosing Insurance

How many people are going?

If you are traveling with family or friends, you can choose different family packages. These include single-parent family coverage, couple travel insurance, family holiday insurance, and couple and child coverage.

Read carefully as the family policy may not include stepchildren or children who do not live with the policyholder.

Which type of trip – single or annual?

As stated above, it is important to know how long you will be gone, who is traveling, and your budget to get the perfect insurance.

Is your destination or special requests covered?

Different insurers from different regions include different countries in their worldwide policies. Make sure your destination is covered before working with any other special requests. Also, if you plan to rent a car or bike during your vacation, make sure your travel insurance covers it.

Do you have a pre-existing medical condition?

If you suffer from chronic health issues, like asthma or mental health concerns, you need to be extra careful when purchasing travel insurance, as some policies do not cover pre-existing medical conditions. Some insurance providers require you to declare any pre-existing conditions when filling out the insurance form, and you will need to pay an extra fee for coverage.

Common Coverages

Travel medical insurance

These plans provide health insurance while you are away from home. Although in some ways these policies work like traditional health plans, generally you cannot use travel health insurance for routine medical events. You may need to buy a special travel policy designed for adventure or competitive sports.

Baggage and personal belongings

This coverage reimburses you for personal belongings that get lost, stolen, or damaged during the trip. Some plans also reimburse you for extra expenses if you experience a baggage delay for more than a certain period of time.

Accidental death and dismemberment insurance

This coverage pays a lump sum to your beneficiary, such as a family member, if you die in an accident while on the trip. Accidental death and dismemberment insurance policies also pay a part of the sum to you if you lose a hand, foot, limb, eyesight, speech, or hearing. Some plans apply only to accidental death in a plane.

Learn More About Traveling and Health Insurance

At BASS Primary Care, we know that traveling is a luxury we are all missing. But it is important to remember to stay safe when touring the world. Give us a call today at (925) 962-9120 to learn more about how to be healthy when traveling and making sure you are covered.

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