According to a survey by travel insurer Squaremouth, about 24 percent more people will be insuring their international travels, spending about $140 per trip for the insurance.

What is travel insurance? It’s protection from the unexpected that could arise when traveling – things that your health insurance may not cover. For example, your health insurance may not pay for a simple wrist sprain, which could cause you to pay for any medical attention out of pocket. However, not all travel insurance plans are the same, and you need to know what the different types are.

Most importantly, if you plan on traveling, you need to have travel insurance.

There are two categories in which stand-alone travel insurance falls into:

  • Named perils policies
  • Cancel for any reason policies

Most people who consider getting such insurance will look at the named perils policies, but it’s better to consider the cancel for any reason policies. While it does cost much more than the named perils policies, it’s worth the money. It covers you in the event of the unexpected. You are covered no matter what the issue is – be it a mental health problem, civil disturbance, etc.

According to VisitorsCoverage.com CEO Rajeev Shrivastava, people who buy this insurance coverage recoup up to 75 percent of their prepaid expenses.

The kind of travel insurance one should buy depends on their needs. Annual policies are ideal for people who are constantly traveling. However, for people who don’t travel as often, they may just want to buy the coverage for that particular trip.

Still, you need to look at the policy of each travel insurance to see what they cover. You don’t want to get caught in a situation where you have it but cannot use it. You also want to look at the medical coverage amounts – is it sufficient enough to pay for medical costs in case it’s needed?

Your insurance doesn’t have to just entail medical coverage, but also auto coverage. While the coverage may already apply to your credit card or own vehicle coverage, you may want to purchase a stand-alone vehicle rental policy to cover your bases.

Should You Get Travel Insurance?

There are three key ways to know if you need travel insurance:

  • You’re spending at least $5,000 on your trip.
  • You’re going on a cruise of package tour with a company hesitant to refund you for a trip missed
  • You have Medicare coverage and will be traveling outside the U.S.

This World Brief was written by contributor Susan Powell exclusively for World Footprints.

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