Travel Insurance - Why Every Traveller Needs One?
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We travel multiple times a year, so we have continuous travel medical insurance even though no one necessarily requires it. Our travel medical insurance is always valid whenever we exit Finland. In this article, we describe why it is crucial to have insurance even if you are visiting only your neighbouring country. Read this article and learn what you should know about travel insurance.
Covered in the Article
What is Travel Medical Insurance?
Travel medical insurance is a way to limit your unexpected health-related expenses. When an accident or illness happens on a journey, it usually comes with costs. These unexpected costs arising from needed treatments and related costs can be so high that you probably can't easily afford to pay them from your pocket. This is when travel medical insurance becomes so important to have one. It will help you cover the extra costs of sudden illness or accidents while travelling abroad. Even though most trips are incident-free, travel medical insurance is a way to prepare for the worst, providing you peace of mind throughout your journey.
Travel medical insurance covers unexpected health-care costs and sometimes an insurance holder's belongings to a certain amount. The exact terms vary between the insurance plans, so it is important to understand the real coverage of certain travel insurance before purchasing one.
Short-term Trips
Most leisure travellers have short-term trips lasting only a few days to weeks. How often you travel abroad in a year decides which travel insurance type is the best for you. If you make a trip only once a year, it may be wise to have fixed-term insurance covering only that certain trip period. On the other hand, having continuous travel medical insurance is the best option if you travel multiple times a year if you travel multiple times a year. Continuous travel medical insurance is always valid whenever you are travelling, and there is no need to renew the plan every time before every single journey. For example, we always have continuous travel medical insurance valid outside Finland.
Nomad Life
Nomad life is a special case of travelling. You are not just travelling anymore but living abroad in different destinations. Since remote working is becoming hugely common worldwide, more and more people live nomadically. Your "trip" may last for years in a foreign country, and you need travel medical insurance that is always valid.
Many usual travel medical insurances have a limit for the maximum duration of the journey, but some insurances are also suitable for nomads. SafetyWing's Nomad Insurance is a perfect example. Regardless of which kind of traveller you are, it covers both short-term trips and nomadic travel journeys.
Understanding Insurance Terms
You should never buy any insurance abruptly without first understanding fully what the insurance covers. Especially pay attention to the following things when purchasing travel medical insurance:
Coverage
Good travel medical insurance covers costs related to accidents and unexpected medical conditions such as sudden illness. The upper limit must be high enough to cover even the most expensive treatments. Pay attention to whether the consequences of natural disasters are covered and whether the insurance covers an ambulance flight back to your residence.
Less critical things to be covered are your belongings and delays during your travel period. It is a common fact that most travellers nowadays travel with expensive phones, laptops and drones. What if any of these valuable devices get stolen?. With this in mind, it is, therefore, a wise decision to have travel insurance that also covers your belongings.
Limitations
Insurances always come with limitations. Typically, travel medical insurance has geographical restrictions. Insurance is not valid in certain areas of the world. Pre-existing health conditions are usually excluded. Accidents caused by taking alcohol, drugs or other similar behaviours are probably excluded.
When buying travel medical insurance, read the terms carefully to understand what is covered.
Excess
Sometimes, insurance's compensation amounts include an excess part. This is part of the costs you must pay yourself in the case of an incident. For example, think of a situation where your medical incident costs are 5,000 euros and the excess is 50 euros. Your part of the cost will be 50 euros, and the insurance company will pay the rest of the bill.
Excess may be charged from every incident or once on the insurance term. Refer to the terms of your insurance plan.
Excess is a way to limit incidents. When a small part of the traveller's costs is to be shouldered, the travel insurance holder will be more careful while travelling, technically minimizing the chance of untoward incidents. This factor will lead to a lower insurance price.
Why You Should Never Travel Without Medical Insurance
With the information already presented, it is becoming obvious why you should never travel without valid travel medical insurance. You probably can't afford a serious health issue. Depending on your destination country, hospital treatments can cost more than 100,000 euros and an ambulance flight back home 50,000 euros. Most likely, you won't even get treatment if you do not have valid medical insurance. So, it can be a matter of life and death.
It is also mandatory to have travel medical insurance to enter certain countries. Because travel insurance costs less than 100 euros per month, there is no need to consider whether to buy one. You must select the best travel medical insurance with the most suitable coverage according to your needs.
Our Incidents During Journeys
Our trips are covered by continuous travel medical insurance. We have been lucky not to have serious issues up to this time, but small incidents did happen because we travel a lot. For example, we experienced serious water damage in Bali and got broken. The event was caused by the bad lighting near a water pool in the hotel's restaurant. We also had flu-like symptoms during our journeys in Cape Verde. It is always wise to have doctor's checkups, even if you have basic symptoms abroad, like diarrhoea or flu-like symptoms, to confirm you don't have any serious conditions. For instance, you might think you have a common cold presenting a fever as the initial symptom. Still, it'd be even more serious, say malaria or dengue fever, if our destination has this disease being endemic. With travel medical insurance, costs related to your medical treatment stay low.
Travel medical insurance gives us peace of mind.
Where to Buy Travel Insurance?
Countless insurance companies sell well-covering travel medical insurance. Every country has its own local insurance companies, but there are also global travel medical insurance providers which target nomads and frequent travellers.
SafetyWing
SafetyWing is our favourite global travel medical insurance provider. It is a travel medical insurance created by nomads for nomads. You can purchase a policy even if your trip has started and pause and resume coverage flexibly. You’re covered in 185 countries and don’t need to inform them about your itinerary in advance.
Even though nomads created the insurance, it is also suitable for infrequent travellers. If you travel only once or a few times a year, you can buy fixed-term plans to cover your travel dates.
In our opinion, SafetyWing has a few pros that make it suitable for travellers and nomads. The insurance is inexpensive compared to other similar products. Still, it covers the most important parts of your journey. Because the people behind SafetyWing are nomads, they know what kind of protections nomads and travellers need. SafetyWing no longer has an excess so that they will reimburse all eligible expenses.
SafetyWing also has some drawbacks. It is primarily suited for individuals with proficient English skills, and as a digital product, it lacks physical offices for claim processing. However, given the familiarity of digital nomads and travellers with online services, SafetyWing remains well-suited for the majority of active travellers
We recommend reading reviews of SafetyWing on TrustPilot and Product Hunt. Check out also an interesting vlog how SafetyWing covered costs caused by Measles and Pneumonia.
European Health Insurance Card vs Travel Medical Insurance
EU citizens who travel only in the EU area may apply for a free European Health Insurance Card. It guarantees health care in the EU area in the same terms as locals would get.
The European Health Insurance Card is practical but insufficient. It does not cover belongings, ambulance flights, delays, etc. In addition, you need real travel medical insurance like SafetyWing to get the gaps covered.
Common Questions
- Is travel medical insurance necessary for travelling abroad?
- Yes, it is vital. If the worst happens while travelling abroad, you can't afford medical treatment costs yourself.
- Is having a European Health Insurance Card enough in the EU area?
- Unfortunately, no. Even though the European Health Insurance Card is nice, it does not cover everything. It would be best to protect your belongings by purchasing travel insurance.
- How do I know what my travel medical insurance covers?
- The only way to know is to read its terms carefully. Pay attention to the restrictions.
- Where to buy travel medical insurance?
- Why not get an instant quotation from SafetyWing? It is a travel medical insurance made by nomads for nomads.
Bottom Line
Holiday trips may cost you a lot of money. Travel medical insurance is just a small extra cost that gives you peace of mind while travelling abroad. The majority of the trips go perfectly fine, but you must be prepared for any unexpected events, too.
The most important is coverage for health-related issues like sudden illness and accidents. Secondly, you should protect your belongings and protect yourself from extra costs caused by possible delays during your travel period. As smart travellers, we always have valid, well-covering travel insurance, which gives us peace of mind!
We hope you find this travel medical insurance information helpful. What are your tips for other travellers? Please share them in the comment section!
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