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Most people would agree that if you're a
healthy young person gong to London for a week, you probably don't need
travel insurance. For longer trips to less standard destinations and for
older travelers, the issue becomes more complex. Here's what can be said
with some certainty:
Insurance you don't need:
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Flight
accident insurance. Plainly, you don't need this --
unless you're felling very, very unlucky. This coverage has been
sold in airports for decades to gullible, nervous fliers, and it
normally insures against death or major injury during one round
trip by air. Commercial flights are among the safest forms of
transportation, making the odds astronomical against collecting
on your policy. The insurance is so valueless that Travel Guard
actually gives a $25,000 policy free to anyone who calls (800)
437-6142. The company then asks if you want to increase that
coverage, up to $500,000 for $27. Save your money. Or put it into
a conventional, long-term life-insurance policy, which covers
you against disaster all the time.
Coverage
offered by a cruise or tour operator. There's a
simple problem with this arrangement: If that cruise or tour
company suddenly declares bankruptcy after you pay but before
your trip is finished, you have no recourse. A policy from a
reliable, independent travel-insurance company should include a
financial-default clause that protects you if fiscal problems at
an airline, cruise or tour operator cause "a complete
cessation of services." Look for that clause. |
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Insurance you
might not need:
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Trip
medical coverage. Insurance against medical costs
while on a trip often is redundant for people with solid health
policies, even if they're traveling outside the country. Ask
your health-insurance provider specifically what is and what
isn't covered under your policy, then check the same with your
credit-card companies. A few credit cards provide emergency
medical benefits that include evacuation. Evacuation can be a
major financial issue. Americans often assume that if they get
into serious medical trouble overseas, the nearest U.S. embassy
will send in a chopper. They're wrong. "The government will
not pay to evacuate a citizen. But in terms of facilitating the
evacuation... we try to assist as much as possible,"
explains a representative of the U.S. State Departments Bureau
of Consular Affairs. Medical evacuation insurance can be very
expensive. Should you find that your health plan and credit
cards give no evacuation coverage, consider your age and general
health, as well as the kind of travel you're doing. If you're in
your 30s and are going on a shopping spree in Milan, you don't
need evacuation insurance. If you are going trekking in Nepal,
you might.
Theft
or loss of belongings. Comprehensive travel insurance
usually includes protection against loss, theft or damage of
baggage and other possessions. But again, some
insurance-industry experts say this coverage merely duplicates
what many people already have through their homeowner or renter
policies. That's a debatable point. Homeowner's insurance for
losses during travel usually covers your belongings up to 10
percent of the insured amount of your home's contents. You still
must pay your home's contents. You still must pay the
deductible, however -- usually $500 to $2,000. That means if
your new $500 camera slips into the Pacific during a cruise, you
can't recover the loss unless you have travel insurance, which
has no deductible. |
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Insurance you
probably do need:
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Cancellation,
delay or interruption. Perhaps one of the best
reasons to buy travel insurance is to protect yourself from
these circumstances. Many good travel-insurance companies will
reimburse the cost if you must cancel or interrupt your trip
because you or a family member is injured or ill, for example.
Other covered reasons include bad weather, a labor strike or a
disaster to your home. you usually are covered for such
aggravations as missing your cruise ship because a flight was
delayed, something that happens all the time because of the
airlines' increasing inability to maintain their schedules.
Whether you need travel insurance for these purposes will depend
on the type of trip you're taking. If you are going on a cruise,
a ski vacation or perhaps a bike tour of Europe - something you
have to pre-pay and where you could lose the money - then
insurance seems worthwhile. If you are simply buying a
refundable airline ticket or going to a hotel where you
can cancel without penalty, then obviously you don't need
insurance. |
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Arthur Frommer -
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(408) 262-2304