FinanceSpectrum.com Discusses Perks and Drawbacks to Travel Insurance

Chicago, IL (PRWEB) July 17, 2013

FinanceSpectrum.com financial advice column today issued their observations regarding which travelers and which types of trips would most benefit from having travel insurance, and advised readers to do their own due diligence since the considerations and needs are different for every person and for each trip.

The Chicago Tribune published an article this week by Gregory Karp, in which he explored the pros and cons of travel insurance. Karp reported that the key reason a person or family should be wanting to purchase travel insurance is to protect themselves from a financial disaster. Karp stated that an example of a financial disaster that might occur while on a trip is getting injured while hiking the Alps, and needing to be airlifted off of the mountain in a foreign country. The tab for that sort of emergency could easily cost somebody $45,000, which in Karp’s mind defines a financial disaster. Adversely, he pointed out that if somebody’s trip gets cancelled at the last minute, it’s not so much a disaster as an annoyance.

FinanceSpectrum.com believes that there is a time and place for travel insurance, so while some may benefit greatly from it, others might simply be wasting their money. They stated that it can come down to expectations. FinanceSpectrum.com is quoted as saying, “If you as a traveler are expecting to get reimbursed 100% if your trip gets cancelled at the last minute, well, you might be sorely disappointed if you find out the insurance you bought didn’t cover the reason for the cancellation. There are all types of nuances with travel insurance, including cost, coverage, and other things such as reason for cancellation of the trip. There’s no cookie-cutter answer to whether or not you need travel insurance; it all depends on age, health, destination, degree of risk on the trip, cost of trip, and whether its refundable. It’s really the responsibility of each traveler to do their due diligence to find whether it’s worth it, for them.”

In the above-mentioned article, Karp stated that the three types of coverage with travel insurance are covering a trip that gets cancelled, interrupted, or delayed; providing concierge service; and coverage if a traveler gets sick or injured. Karp reported that medical expenses and evacuation are quite important when traveling abroad if health insurance doesn’t cover somebody’s overseas travel. Karp stated that Medicare, notably, without supplemental coverage does not cover the insured person outside of the U.S.

FinanceSpectrum.com recommended that seniors who have Medicare should consider travel insurance with this fact in mind, if they’re going to be traveling abroad. Since seniors as a demographic are more prone to poor health, travel insurance for the purpose of being medically covered abroad might be wise. The travel insurance which could be purchased is comparable to no exam insurance, since the travel insurance agency would not perform a health check on the person applying for it beforehand. Therefore, FinanceSpectrum.com stated that anybody could be covered; there are no caveats based on pre-existing conditions. Seniors would not need to worry whether or not they’d qualify.

The above-mentioned Tribune article stated that the rule of thumb, as given by experts and which FinanceSpectrum.com supports, is to consider travel insurance if the trip will take place abroad or overseas, or if a good amount of a domestic trip is nonrefundable.

About FinanceSpectrum.com:
FinanceSpectrum.com is an online financial advice column known for its top-notch advice and recommendations to middle-aged, middle-class readers on all sorts of financial topics. FinanceSpectrum.com covers subjects such as how to keep a monthly budget, how to start and build a nest egg, how to boost one’s credit, how to save for retirement, and much more.

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