All About Family Travel Insurance

If you travel then you need family travel insurance. How do you chose the right one for all of you, what are the main things to consider, is it worth it… we answer the questions, so all you need to do is go buy it and never ever travel without it.

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Travel insurance is the bare necessity

You might be worried about forgetting to pack tens of things, you deem important, but you should actually remember to bring along these three: documents, money and travel insurance. You would be OK, if you left everything else at home.

Maybe I find it so important, because we live in such a small country, that I could sleepwalk and cross the border.

Seriously though unless your trip is literally around the block you too should always get yourself some travel insurance.

It covers more than your health

You never got sick or you’ve already traveled far and everything always turned out great. Good for you. Just do the Math though. Bringing the kids along, adding additional people to the mix increases chances that perhaps things might not go as planned. Even if you all stay healthy, there is no guarantee that you won’t lose your credit card, a flight might be delayed or your luggage stolen…

Trust me: If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong.

So, why don’t you get good insurance and let someone else handle the mess. If you are traveling with kids, you have enough on your plate as it is.

Spend your money elsewhere

Getting sick abroad means medical expenses, translation money. Possibly (certainly) a lot of it. Even if you have it, wouldn’t it be better to use if for something else. Yes, travel insurance isn’t free, but it is way cheaper than any kind of surgery.

Personally I’d rather pay money for insurance than for dinner. I don’t gain extra weight, saves me time in the gym and I can actually fit in my swimsuit once I get on my trip.

I don’t need to worry about things going bad, because with travel insurance I feel like I am traveling with a serious trust fund.

Annual works best

You could try to cover just the duration of your trip: insurance companies usually offer insurance for a few days (such as 3, 7, 14, or for duration of your trip) or annual insurance. If you are just going on one to two international trips a year, maybe you don’t need annual coverage. But remember every time you cross the border you might need it. For us it’s just easier and cheaper to get the annual coverage and then not even think about until next year.

If you only travel in European Union and are from the European Union then you can also use the free European Health Insurance card which gives you access to medically necessary, state-provided health care during a temporary stay in any of the 28 EU countries, Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

But it does not cover any private health care or costs such as a return flight to your home country or lost/stolen property. And often you have to pay for medical bills yourself and then get reimbursed back home.

What else to look for

How much is the coverage limit on your medical expenses and all the other common risks that are covered by travel insurance plans. Pick the one you think will best suit your needs. I don’t mean pick the most expensive one, if you don’t need it. But make sure you have the following:

  • medical expenses coverage
  • 24/7 assistance
  • most of the countries of the world covered
  • lost luggage, personal items coverage
  • includes personal accident coverage
  • liability coverage.

Read the small print 

Have you ever read the small print? You should. I didn’t know how many things could go wrong until I read it. Those aren’t covered: preexisting medical conditions, sports with the element of risk, etc. To avoid any confusion and to know exactly what you are paying for, familiarize yourself with small print.

And happy travels – hope you never get to use travel insurance.

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