Travel insurance provides coverage for yourself or your family against injury or death and loss of personal property while you are traveling. The travel can be for business or pleasure but travel insurance is always restricted to certain dates and locations based on a predetermined itinerary. You only need travel insurance if you are traveling to a place that your normal medical insurance coverage is not valid.

Travel insurance covers the cost of medical expenses such as hospital stays, medical treatment, ambulance rides. Travel insurance will also pay to replace lost, stolen or damages personal items. The travel insurance policy will usually have a cash deductible that you will be expected to pay when you receive treatment

Most insurance companies that provide travel insurance coverage break the policies down into three classifications:

Single trip travel insurance provides coverage for a single excursion and for a fixed time frame. It is sometimes possible to have flexible start and end dates for the trip, but the duration of the coverage will seldom fluctuate. The maximum duration for single trip travel insurance is usually 30 days.

Long stay travel insurance has the same basic coverage as single trip travel insurance, but will normally cover a maximum stay of 90 days.

Annual travel insurance is a mix of single trip and long stay coverage and will cover multiple trips (or even unlimited trips) with a duration of 31 – 60 days for an entire year. Check with your current home owners and medical insurance carriers to see if you will require travel insurance for your next trip.