Why You Need Family Travel Insurance
While most vacations go as planned, something can always go wrong, whether it’s a child’s illness, an accident or a parent’s work-related emergency. It is important to ask yourself ‘what if,’ to consider the alternatives, and to protect your family and your wallet against any number of possible mishaps that can occur,” says Ed Walker, US Travel Insurance Association president. He adds that many companies offer family travel insurance that includes children at no additional cost. Before purchasing a plan, you should check with your existing health insurance carrier, travel booking site and credit card company to see what travel benefits are included in your current plan, if any. Then you’ll know where the gaps in your coverage lie.
Generally, when you book a vacation, your airfare, hotel, sightseeing tours, rental cars and attraction tickets are “non-refundable.” So if you or anyone in your family falls ill or loses their job, or if your home is damaged by fire or a death in the family prevents you from traveling as planned, then you lose all your deposit money! One of the most common reasons why people buy travel insurance is for trip cancellation protection. With trip insurance, you’ll get your money back should you need to cancel for any reason prior to your travel date.
Over the years, the number of bags lost, damaged or stolen has increased significantly. No family travel insurance would be complete without giving you peace of mind regarding your personal belongings. When you buy travel insurance, you get between $500 and $2,000 coverage for the lost items. Many policies also have clauses for delayed luggage, which may leave you stranded without clothing, toothbrushes, contact solution, a hairbrush, deodorant and other essentials. You will be reimbursed by your travel insurance company for the replacement items while you wait.
Even with all these great benefits, some travelers may still be wondering if they should buy family travel insurance or not. As a general rule, if you are not prepared to lose the full amount of your deposit, then you should invest in a trip insurance policy. It also depends upon how much peace of mind is worth to you. Particularly when children are involved, most parents want the most comprehensive coverage they can get. Since plans are so flexible, you will likely find something for under $100 that meets your family’s basic needs.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 24th, 2009 at 4:52 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.