Travel Insurance

It's a tedious necessity when you are traveling overseas - travel insurance covers such things as a delayed or canceled trip, death or illness, lost baggage, and emergency medical assistance. You can obtain travel insurance through your cruise line, travel agent, airline or tour company - but always check that you actually need it. Most credit cards include some kind of basic travel or trip cancellation insurance.

It can be difficult determining how much insurance you need. Apart from your actual destination and the length of your trip, there are policies aimed at families, groups and so-called multi trip insurance. Family plans provide coverage for families traveling together and are often less expensive - family may include extended family such as grandparents, cousins and various in-laws.

There are also different levels of coverage when it comes to travel insurance - primary coverage and secondary coverage. If you take out primary coverage, the insurance company will pay up before any other insurance that you may have takes effect; if you have secondary insurance they will only pay when you have collected from any other options available to you.

If you travel overseas frequently during the year - whether on business or vacation - it may be easier and less expensive to take out what the travel industry calls multi-trip travel insurance. In addition to being less expensive, this type of insurance cuts down on time-consuming paperwork and forms - you generally have to supply the information only once.

Multi trip plans usually cover all trips that take place within a calendar year, or a year from the date that the policy began. There may be a maximum number of trips that are covered; there may also be a maximum length of stay allowed on each trip - this could be anything from a few days to a few months. Make sure that your policy includes such things as trip cancellation, lost or delayed luggage and medical evacuation.

The cost of your travel insurance may be higher if you participate in dangerous and risky sports - diving, skiing, mountaineering and kayaking for example. And if you travel to certain destinations that are considered unsafe by the US Department of State - Iran, Pakistan and Haiti, for example - you will pay more for travel insurance.

Take some time to find the right travel insurance policy for you - but at the same time, don't pay more than you need to.