What is overseas travel insurance?
Overseas travel insurance provides customers with an insurance policy when they travel abroad which will protect them financially from the many things that can go wrong while you are on holiday. Overseas travel insurance provides customers with an insurance policy which will protect them from any medical bills they incur while abroad, should they get injured or fall ill. Overseas travel insurance will also provide customers with insurance should their flights be severely delayed or cancelled, and can provide compensation to customers who lose time on their holiday as a result.
Another benefit of overseas travel insurance is the fact it will insure your accommodation, and pay for alternate accommodation if the insurance you have booked is closed, double booked or cancelled for any reason. Overseas travel insurance will also insure your belongings, providing you with cover against loss and theft for your luggage while you travel and for your belongings when you are away.
Why do I need overseas travel insurance?
There are many reasons to take out overseas travel insurance, with medical bills cover being the most obvious. Whilst in the UK we are used to the NHS, a free health service to residents of the UK, as soon as we go overseas, the NHS no longer covers us, and we enter the minefield of foreign health services. Whilst some countries, particularly in Europe may offer a relatively good service, further afield things are not the same, in many countries charge everyone for any health care they receive, even residents.
Residents in those countries will have health insurance to pay for such bills, and you will have your overseas travel insurance policy. To put the costs in some context, a doctor’s appointment resulting in stitches can cost as much as £100, while an operation on a broken bone can cost as much as £10,000 including treatment.
Customers without overseas travel insurance find that the biggest problems come with serious accidents and illnesses, and a week spent in intensive care could cost as much as £100,000, with the country not letting you leave until your medical bills are paid in full. For those without overseas travel insurance, those costs could be unaffordable, and families have had to put together life savings, and carry out fundraising, just to get you home.