Get the best travel insurance for you.

You may not want to think about the best travel insurance. Almost everyone dislikes insurance companies and purchasing insurance. Sometimes one can run into a bad situation and would be really happy to have coverage.

I know that trips can be cancelled and sometimes you will get your money back from the carrier, but I have known airlines and travel companies to go bankrupt.

Also a disaster can occur at your destination and leave you stranded.

Also, many people run into theft or medical situations when traveling.

My sister had a situation; she became extremely ill from eating unpasteurized cheese. She could barley move, let alone travel home at the time of her flight, luckily she was able to change the date for the return trip forward a week.

Another time a couple we met had a problem when he became dehydrated and collapsed. He had to be hospitalized. His girlfriend thought he had Canadian health insurance coverage. New residents can get this after three months. He never sent in the papers nor did he purchase travel medical and so she had to put the whole cost on her credit card.

If these events happened in a country like the U.S they may not have been able to cover it.

I sprained my fibula once and I have fallen a few times luckily nothing serious but I have known people that have broken bones or got into car accidents.

We never want to think something like this could happen to us but these things happen every day.

How do we determine what we need and what we don’t need?

Here are my tips on how to get your best travel insurance:

Check your home insurance. If you have home owners insurance you may be covered for loss or theft. If it is an expensive item you may need a rider. Also don’t forget that most home insurance has a deductible.

I get theft and loss of luggage insurance because even though I have riders on some of my possessions and my homeowners insurance covers loss and theft I have a $500.00 deductible. That will work if I have a major loss out of my house but not for the smaller amount that could be lost or stolen from my travel items, as I don‘t travel with real expensive jewellery or anything like that. The frequency of luggage going missing is increasing all the time.

You may have some travel insurance with one of your credit cards. Some cards must be used for the purchase of the trip but not all of them. Check out exactly what they cover. Some of them just help you out with the problems of claims and reporting. It may not be the best travel insurance some credit cards are better than others.
What about your countries medical care. Do they cover you when out of the country? Sometimes you are only covered if you are not out of the country too long like 3 months for instance. Sometimes they will only cover you up to what it would cost in your home country. If you are somewhere like the U.S. Costs are extremely high you may be left with quite a bill over and above your countries allowable.

I have Canadian medical plus extra medical insurance from my husband’s employer so at this time I don’t get medical.

Work insurance sometimes covers you for extra medical when you are out of the country. Read your plan carefully. I know people that have had illness when travelling with the same company that I have and they said they were great to deal with. So I feel pretty confident that I would be covered so I don’t get extra medical. Maybe you are already covered also but check it out carefully before you decide that you don’t need it.
Do you already have life insurance; maybe your policy covers you when you travel. I don’t need life as I have a life insurance policy and a will.
Ask friends or a trusted travel agent what type of coverage and company they use.
I recommend cancellation. Even if you go with a carrier that will reimburse if they cancel, what if it is you and not them cancelling because of illness or some other unforeseen problem or the carrier goes bankrupt. This is really important if you have any preconditions that could flare up.
Get the right insurance if you have a health issue even if it is expensive they won't pay if you don't disclose this and something happens.
What about accommodation insurance I usually get this because I plan my own trips and sometimes I rent a private apartment, but it is a good idea no matter what kind of accomedations you have.
This is probably the number one tip I can give you to make sure that you purchase the best travel insurance. Pick a company that will give you a few days to look over the policy before you are locked into it as polices can be hard to understand.

These tips should help you to decide what your individual needs are so that you can purchase the best travel insurance.

I am not an insurance expert so I recommend Insuremytrip.com as it is a great place to check out the best travel insurance and travel insurance companies.