Here are some quick questions and answers that might help you to understand the role of annual travel insurance.
What is this type of cover for? In insurance, broadly speaking, it is possible to obtain economies of scale just as in many other sectors of the economy.
To put it another way, it is sometimes more cost-effective to buy something in bulk than to buy lots of the same things individually.
As the name suggests, annual travel insurance exists to provide you with cover for a given period of time, irrespective of how many trips abroad you make during the period.
That might make a lot more economic sense than buying lots of one-trip policies every time you travel.
Are these policies completely unlimited in terms of destinations and the number of journeys? It is always difficult to give a definitive across the board answer to this type of question, as individual policies might differ significantly in the cover provided.
Some may offer unlimited numbers of trips and with few, if any, destination exclusions.
Others may only allow so many trips within the specified period and have rather more restrictive global coverage.
The only way to be sure is to look at the detail of an individual annual insurance policy and decide if it is suitable for your needs.
Will the policy cover all costs I might incur? That might be unlikely to be the case.
Just about any policy of any type will contain terms and conditions that you will be expected to comply with.
They might also include certain things that the policy may not cover.
Once again, you will need to read the individual policy detail to be sure of exactly what risks are covered and those that are not.
Remember that in the case of insurance, if a policy does not explicitly state that it covers a given situation, you should assume that it does not rather than to the contrary.
What protection does it provide? Typically such policies provide cover for health-related crises when abroad and also financial protection against the consequences of certain other forms of misfortune.
That might include things such as compensation for lost or stolen baggage, the loss or theft of certain of your personal belongings, compensation for travel delays and so on.
Do I really need health protection abroad? Ultimately, only you can decide that, but it might be advisable to give it very serious consideration indeed.
If you are travelling outside the European Union you may find that you are personally responsible for the cost of any medical treatment you might require.
In some countries, such as the United States among others, medical bills for serious ailments can easily run into millions of dollars.
Even if you are travelling within the European Union and are covered by reciprocal health arrangements, remember that they may not be entirely free.
They only provide free cover to the extent that is available to local residents in the country concerned.
If they have to pay for certain forms of treatment, you will have to also.
Relying on good luck in health terms when you are travelling abroad might be a rather risky thing to do.
Given the typically modest cost of annual travel insurance it might make sense to think about providing yourself with appropriate peace of mind - just in case your luck doesn't hold.
What is this type of cover for? In insurance, broadly speaking, it is possible to obtain economies of scale just as in many other sectors of the economy.
To put it another way, it is sometimes more cost-effective to buy something in bulk than to buy lots of the same things individually.
As the name suggests, annual travel insurance exists to provide you with cover for a given period of time, irrespective of how many trips abroad you make during the period.
That might make a lot more economic sense than buying lots of one-trip policies every time you travel.
Are these policies completely unlimited in terms of destinations and the number of journeys? It is always difficult to give a definitive across the board answer to this type of question, as individual policies might differ significantly in the cover provided.
Some may offer unlimited numbers of trips and with few, if any, destination exclusions.
Others may only allow so many trips within the specified period and have rather more restrictive global coverage.
The only way to be sure is to look at the detail of an individual annual insurance policy and decide if it is suitable for your needs.
Will the policy cover all costs I might incur? That might be unlikely to be the case.
Just about any policy of any type will contain terms and conditions that you will be expected to comply with.
They might also include certain things that the policy may not cover.
Once again, you will need to read the individual policy detail to be sure of exactly what risks are covered and those that are not.
Remember that in the case of insurance, if a policy does not explicitly state that it covers a given situation, you should assume that it does not rather than to the contrary.
What protection does it provide? Typically such policies provide cover for health-related crises when abroad and also financial protection against the consequences of certain other forms of misfortune.
That might include things such as compensation for lost or stolen baggage, the loss or theft of certain of your personal belongings, compensation for travel delays and so on.
Do I really need health protection abroad? Ultimately, only you can decide that, but it might be advisable to give it very serious consideration indeed.
If you are travelling outside the European Union you may find that you are personally responsible for the cost of any medical treatment you might require.
In some countries, such as the United States among others, medical bills for serious ailments can easily run into millions of dollars.
Even if you are travelling within the European Union and are covered by reciprocal health arrangements, remember that they may not be entirely free.
They only provide free cover to the extent that is available to local residents in the country concerned.
If they have to pay for certain forms of treatment, you will have to also.
Relying on good luck in health terms when you are travelling abroad might be a rather risky thing to do.
Given the typically modest cost of annual travel insurance it might make sense to think about providing yourself with appropriate peace of mind - just in case your luck doesn't hold.
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