Travelling amid a pandemic or even a global crisis can be scary. The uncertainty and tension may force most people to cancel their trips. But what of vital travel? How do you ensure you remain covered for the uncertainties? And with the global coronavirus pandemic, the uncertainty can be felt all over the globe. From travel restrictions, lockdowns not forgetting health concerns, you may be forced to cancel travel plans to a given location if it’s inaccessible. And if the travel is necessary, then you might need additional insurance coverage.
Why do you need additional insurance when travelling during coronavirus?
The risk of coronavirus infection
With the risk of infection with the coronavirus virus still high, you do not want to take chances with your health. And with international travel, the risk of infection even becomes more than you would expect. As such, you should consider additional insurance coverage to help you navigate issues that may occur in the course of your travel.
Shaky airlines services
The navigation industry is among the major economic sectors that have been hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic. And even if the airlines are doing all they can to offer the best services, the pandemic does not make it any better. With the foreseeable confusion at the airports, you risk losing your luggage, delays, flight cancellations, all that can leave you feeling confused and lost, especially if you are in a new location. This necessitates further the need for additional travel insurance coverage.
You might be caught up in a lockdown
To prevent the spread of the coronavirus, state and local authorities may be mandated to issue a lockdown without much notice. Picture this: You are leaving your travel destination in the next two days. However, an announcement comes in mandating that the whole place is now under lockdown due to rising COVID-19 cases. As such, you cannot travel back home. Travel insurance can help you to cater for additional expenses that you had not anticipated in your travel plans.
What additional insurance do you need in the wake of COVID-19?
1. COVID-19 travel insurance
When travelling during a pandemic, insurance becomes a need and not a luxury. However, you must ensure that your travel insurance provider covers the coronavirus pandemic. In the instance that you become sick and you cannot travel, your insurance provider should cater for interruption benefits and cater for your coronavirus medical needs.
Even if you have a COVID-19 travel insurance coverage, your safety and that of others remain a priority. As such, if a close friend or family member tests positive before travel and you are concerned that you caught the virus, the best option would be to cancel the trip. This not only prevents you from health uncertainties but also protects other travellers.
COVID-19 travel insurance coverage differs with various insurance providers. Before settling with one insurance provider, you must read the policy in detail. This helps you with details of what you should expect if you need insurance coverage while on transit and how to seek help.
2. Medical emergency evacuation insurance coverage
This coverage provides transport assistance if you will need an emergency evacuation to the nearest health facility while on travel. Always ensure you detail what is covered and what is not. For instance, some insurance providers cover medical evacuations to nearby facilities if you were to fall ill. However, most do not cover for evacuations back home. If you want additional medical emergency evacuation coverage such as air medical transport, consider taking an insurance plan that caters for that. This plan may offer transport to a medical facility of your choice, even one that is close to home.
3. Destination insurance
Many countries are mandating COVID-19 medical coverage as a travel prerequisite. Others carry out mandatory tests and quarantine, all of which can be costly. As such, if planning to travel to any destination, it would be imperative to know the regulations in the destination.
This necessitates the need for the COVID-19 medical insurance as specified for the travel destination. While some locations specify the required coverage plan and even state the amount that should be covered, others have a general COVID-19 insurance requirement.
4. Travel medical insurance
Even amid the coronavirus pandemic, other health risks still linger. For instance, accidents still occur not forgetting other health issues. When looking for a health travel insurance cover, ensure you also get travel medical insurance. This will cover you for unexpected health expenses that you may incur when abroad. While your regular health insurance may not cover you when abroad, ensuring you get the recommended travel medical insurance will put you at ease, even when those uncertain medical emergencies occur. However, always confirm with your local health insurer about global health benefits.
You do not want to be caught in a situation where your insurance coverage is cancelled because you omitted essential details.
As such, always ensure:
You detail all your medical conditions to your insurance provider
Even omitting seemingly small details could make your plan null and void. And with COVID-19 insurance cover, people with serious medical conditions are more at risk of contracting the virus. However, this does not mean that healthy and young persons should ignore the additional coronavirus insurance coverage.
Match the cost of the trip to the cancellation cover
The pandemic has brought about many uncertainties. Your trip could get cancelled hours before your departure due to issues such as lockdowns, travel restrictions and even to ensure airline safety is maintained. This is why you need a travel cancellation insurance cover. However, matching the cost of your trip to the cancellation coverage may force you to undertake a more expensive cover. However, better be safe than sorry.
Always be clear about what your insurance covers
There is no worse place to be caught in an emergency like abroad. Worse if you are a solo traveller or on a solo business trip. And just when you need your cover, you realize it does not cover for a specific situation or it covers way less than you had anticipated. To avoid such a scenario and have peace of mind in your excursions, always confirm with your insurance provider what is covered. A common mistake that most travellers make in the wake of COVID-19 is assuming that your health insurance provider covers for COVID-19.
