Travel insurance

Travel insurance is insurance that is intended to cover medical expenses, trip cancellation, lost luggage, flight accident and other losses incurred while traveling, either internationally or within one's own country.

Travel insurance can usually be arranged at the time of the booking of a trip to cover exactly the duration of that trip, or a "multi-trip" policy can cover an unlimited number of trips within a set time frame. Some policies offer lower and higher medical-expense options; the higher ones are chiefly for countries that have high medical costs, such as the United States.

The most common risks that are covered by travel insurance plans are:

Medical expense coverage can be per-occurrence or maximum-limit.

Some travel policies will also provide cover for additional costs, although these vary widely between providers.

In addition, often separate insurance can be purchased for specific costs such as:

Travel insurance can also provide helpful services, often 24 hours a day, 7 days a week that can include concierge services and emergency travel assistance. Pre-existing medical conditions must be declared prior to the trip start date. In case you ignore this requirement and fall ill during your trip abroad, you may find that you are not covered. The European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) entitles to treatment in state-run hospitals in EU countries and Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland but it is not a substitute for travel insurance.

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