Top Events that Trigger Travel Insurance
Jun 12, 2018 | by Aon
Travel insurance and protection typically addresses three categories of travel concerns including: protection for your financial investment, protection for your health, protection for your belongings.
In 2016, Americans spent nearly $2.8 billion on all types of travel protection, up 19 percent from 2014 according to the 2014 – 2016 Travel Protection Market Study conducted for the U.S. Travel Insurance Association (USTiA). Those coverage and protection benefits include annual products and per trip travel protection with benefits ranging from trip cancellation and interruption to lost luggage, emergency medical evacuation and various other benefits and programs from USTiA member companies.
Fact is, protecting their investment and health are the most important and the most commonly used by travelers. Just how far they are traveling, how long they are staying and the overall cost of the trip factor into a traveler’s decision to purchase travel insurance.
“The more complex the trip, the higher the likelihood a traveler will invest in travel protection,” said Beth Godlin, Aon Affinity Travel Practice. “We find that travelers headed to exotic, international destinations or planning their trips far in advance to be more likely to purchase some kind of insurance.”
The experts at Aon Affinity Travel Practice also have three key considerations for travelers to keep in mind when determining whether travel protection is the right fit:
- Check cancellation penalties and evaluate what may be lost if required to cancel suddenly and at the last minute.
- Consider accessibility to high quality health care and whether existing medical coverage will be in effect in the destination(s). Emergency medical services in remote locations can often exceed $100,000.
- Think about the time between booking and paying for the trip and actually taking it. The more time in between, the more opportunity for something to force a change in plans. In this case, the cost for travel insurance might outweigh the potential penalties for having to cancel down the line.
Often an overlooked investment until the unexpected happens, travel protection offers insurance and other benefits and services designed to give travelers peace of mind and financial reimbursement against the risks of travel. The cost of travel insurance depends upon on the product, the trip, even the traveler’s age. But on average, travel protection products will cost about 5 - 7 percent of the trip cost. Depending on the factors at play, it’s often worth adding a few additional dollars to the budget to protect against the unexpected.
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