What are the benefits to purchasing travel insurance when travelling abroad?
Travel insurance can cover us from loss before we’ve even boarded a plane (such as in the case of unexpected trip cancellations), or cover personal liability while travelling (such as damaging a rental car or somebody’s property), and it can also cover your personal items (such as delayed or lost baggage), and the loss or theft of your identification, credit cards, passports, and other belongings.
The worst – and often most preventable – kind of outcome would be to find ourselves stranded, hopeless and in possible danger while on foreign soil.
One of the most important benefits to travel insurance, and one that is seldom thought about, is the cover for emergency medical assistance, personal accidents and emergency transportation or evacuation while abroad.
We’re talking about the health and safety of ourselves and our loved ones.
Most medical aids will cover members travelling abroad. There are, however, limitations to this cover, and in these instances we find the true value – if not necessity – in purchasing travel insurance.
An example:
South African residents who would like to travel to Europe on a Schengen visa may find that their medical aid cover is insufficient in meeting the Schengen visa criteria. In order to be granted this visa, the traveller has to have minimum medical aid coverage of EUR 30,000 (almost half a million rand) and the cover should not only be valid throughout the entire Schengen area (26 countries), but also extend to covering any expenses related to repatriation to South Africa for medical / health / emergency treatment, or death.
The benefits of your medical aid may also not cover the entire period (often limited to 90 days), or may not cover persons over the age of 70 at all, who are often deemed too high a risk. Seniors, then, would need to apply for additional senior cover.
Here is something else to think about:
With fluctuating exchange rates (not always in favour of the South African rand), the cost of medical care in some countries can be astronomical, and as tourists, we may not be entitled to the free healthcare offered by certain governments to their citizens.
What happens if we fall ill, or injure ourselves? What happens if we are assaulted, or find ourselves caught up in an act of terrorism? What happens when a natural disaster strikes? Or, at worst, what happens if we die? These are questions worth asking ourselves, to which travel insurance or vacation plans hold many of the answers.
An example of this would be cancellation and curtailment cover, which covers you in the event of you having to cut your trip short by returning home early, for various specific reasons (which could include medical), and reimburses you for, example, unused travel or accommodation services you may have already booked and paid for.
It makes perfect sense that we, as travellers, should spend a little bit more on these types of insurance. Travel insurance is relatively affordable and easy to apply for. The benefits, as mentioned above, far outweigh the costs or effort required.
So, what are the benefits then, as online travel portals or travel agencies, to offering these types of covers to travellers?
This overwhelming need for protection against factors out of our control (particularly when far from home) is greater than ever. While the thought of purchasing travel insurance many have raised many an eyebrow in the past, the modern traveller is far more aware of the risks awaiting them on foreign shores, and far more likely to account for insurance in the overall cost of travel.
Only two main factors contribute to travellers electing not to purchase adequate travel insurance:
- Travel insurance is seen as expensive, or;
- Travellers just don’t understand the full benefits of this cover, or erroneously believe themselves to be adequately covered by existing policies while abroad.
With the right product, at affordable rates it requires little to no exertion on our part to make these vital insurance products available to the public. Through something as simple as an API or White Label website, online travel portals and travel agencies can support their clients by adding these types of insurances to their booking process, thereby offering additional value to the client and adding ancillary revenue to their business in these times of economic sluggishness.
Safety. Security. Peace of mind.
When the client knows what they’re buying, and why, travel insurance becomes a product that definitely sells itself.
Leave Comment