How Travel Insurance Rates Are Set
Planning your next international adventure? You’re going to want travel insurance.
If you need medical attention when you’re abroad, the cost of health care could literally bankrupt you if you pay out of pocket. Travel insurance can prevent that. While some people see travel insurance as an easily avoidable expense that they don’t need, the truth is bad things happen to everyone and often when it’s least expected. Trip coverage is a relatively inexpensive way to avoid total disaster in the event of an inconvenience.
Like all insurance policies, travel insurance rates depend on your specific circumstances. Here are the basics of what companies look at to determine how much it’ll cost you:
Destination
Medical care and costs vary drastically in cost. depending on where you are in the world. This means your destination may be one of the biggest influences on the cost of your travel insurance rates.
Travel advisories
Travel advisories are issued when a government formally recognizes serious potential risks to traveller’s health. It could be due to war, terrorism, high rates of violent crime, or even a rampant disease or infection like the current spread of the Zika virus. These advisories increase the risk that something could happen to you, and that the insurer will have to pay out. As a result, the premiums go up.
Amount of coverage
Basic travel insurance policies typically include emergency medical coverage and that’s what most people are concerned about when it comes to travel insurance. But that’s not all there is. The more coverage you decide to opt for, the higher your premium. You might find it worth it to get an all-inclusive plan that will cover replacement for damaged, lost or delayed baggage, trip cancellation, and flight and travel accident coverage for maximum peace of mind should your trip not go as planned. Just be sure that the travel insurance rates you pay are worth the cost.
Health conditions
If you have a preexisting health condition, insurance companies are going to consider you a bigger risk for needing medical attention while you’re abroad. Unfortunately, that means higher
premiums.
Age
Older people are more likely to have health conditions, so once you reach your golden years you will probably see your travel insurance rates start to rise even if you’ve had great health your whole life.
Number of travellers
Insuring a single person is much cheaper than insuring five people. Even though the premium for groups and families is higher than for one person, it’s often better value for the money because you can get coverage than what may come with standard insurance for one person. Also, if you are travelling as a group who has agreed to split the cost, the option is actually cheaper per person when compared to everyone getting his or her own policy.
Type of Trip
You can buy insurance for a single trip, or you can purchase a multi-trip travel insurance plan. If you know you’re going to be leaving the country several times throughout the year, a multi-trip plan can save you a little bit of money per trip.
Understanding how travel insurance rates are set can give you a better idea of what to expect when preparing for your next trip – and ensure that you get the right coverage without breaking the bank.