Travel insurance is definitely something that you need. Many travelers have good luck and manage to get away with it but one day your luck may run out. I think traveling with a family is terribly risky without travel insurance and not worth it.
When you are in the travel industry and are dealing with hundreds of travelers a year then you hear a lot of stories, some of them are heartbreaking and you think why didn’t listen to us and take a simple policy out that would have protected your investment. This has become even more topical with the breakout of the coronavirus. Those who were fortunate enough to put the right policy in place were covered, those who didn’t lost a lot of money this year.
Even before the virus we were urging travelers to take out insurance, things happen and most people are not in a position to lose the money they have already invested. We wouldn’t be doing our job properly if we left you unprotected and an incident occurred leaving you out of pocket. It is important to consider that if a friend pulls out, a family member gets sick abroad or before you go and you have to cancel the trip, or you get stuck abroad; or you have to come back early. There are just too many permutations. Insurance is not as expensive as you think and its important that you have peace of mind when you are traveling.
There are many types pf travel insurance plans that include coverage for trip delay, trip cancellation, trip interruption, emergency medical, emergency evacuation or repatriation, baggage loss, baggage delay and others.
What is the best family insurance policy?
Our recommendation has always been to spend a little more and invest in a CFAR policy (Cancel For Any Reason). This is really gives you the most peace of mind and flexibility. Its quite literally a ‘no questions asked’ policy. Before you travel you can turn around and just cancel the whole trip and a large percentage of your investment will be protected. This policy is the top of the range insurance policy, offering you and your family the maximum protection and needs to be purchased within 21 days of your initial investment, whether that is your flights, accommodation or something else. The initial deposit is the trigger for this policy.
For travelers who have pre-existing medical conditions this is a must and again within 21 days of the initial deposit is the all important date.
A General coverage policy is often felt to be sufficient for a family and while its not as flexible as the CFAR policy it gives travelers some piece of mind. A general coverage policy can be upgraded to a CFAR policy under certain conditions and can be purchased at any point before departure; although again someone with a pre-existing medical condition has to be aware of the 21 days of the initial deposit clause. Polices are available that suit your needs (trip cancellation and interruption, trip delay, missed connections, Baggage & Persona effects coverage and baggage delay) and you can pay for more or less coverage of the above components.
Both policies can be topped up as additional expenditure is added to your trip.