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Travel Insurance

The key salesperson for your firm has an important client meeting and the flight, hotel, and other necessary travel plans have been made – more than $3,000 worth of plans that is. But something has happened and the trip must be cancelled; then what? Are you simply out $3,000 or can you count on business class tickets being refundable? Can you be certain that travel “waivers” offered by travel agencies will protect your company’s investment? The unfortunate answer is a resounding “No!” While you can hope for the best, you can’t be assured of the best outcome when it comes to refund promises and waivers. They are, unfortunately, quite poorly regulated and are typically applicable in only very narrow sets of circumstances.

Purchasing travel insurance is a way to manage the risk of changing expensive business travel plans. You can also add other coverages to a policy to provide the traveling employee with security.

Travel insurance can be purchased on a per trip basis or can be bought to cover all trips made by employees during a certain period of time, typically one year. These policies are designed for the businesses that send employees overseas frequently, particularly to rugged, less developed areas.

There are essentially five categories of travel insurance:

1. Emergency Medical Evacuation: This will provide the traveler with enough money to cover the cost of evacuation or transport to a medical facility if needed.
2. Travel Medical and Major Medical: Travel Medical insurance will cover the traveler for medical care needed during short-term trips. If necessary, this insurance will help the traveler find a doctor or hospital and assist with any language barrier as well. Major Medical provides coverage for longer-term travels.
3. Trip Cancellation: This will cover the expenses incurred when a trip is canceled. This coverage should be as broad as possible, expanding to cover cancellations for “any reason” if possible.
4. Accidental Death-Flight Accident: This travel insurance provides benefits to beneficiaries of the traveler should he or she die on the trip as the result of an accident or plane crash. This is quite similar to life insurance.
5. Luggage and Personal Belongings Coverage: Coverage is provided in the event that the traveler’s luggage or personal belongings are stolen, lost, or damaged during his or her trip. Always be sure electronics are included in this coverage as laptops and other equipment can be quite costly to replace.