best travel insurance | why do you need travel insurance?

best travel insurance | why do you need travel insurance?

Hey guys!!! My friend has recently been in hospital, not once but twice due to his lovely kidney stones and we thought now would be the perfect time to do an insurance Blog for you. So, we will be discussing what to look for when you're booking travel insurance and the reason why you should have travel insurance. As well as comparing a few of the companies that we've looked at in the past. Please bear in mind that some of these are English companies, so you may have to look at other companies in your own countries. But hopefully, this blog will still be useful to you.

Firstly why do you need travel insurance? It is just stupid I know so many people who do it but I 'm sorry guys I cannot agree with you that it's a good idea. Without being completely morbid about this. If something happens to your family it's gonna have to pick up all the pieces if you don't have travel insurance. So, please! Please! Please. If not for yourself get insurance what everyone else that's going to have to be left behind if something really bad does happen.

For example, the first time My Friend went backpacking on his own. He didn’t have insurance and he was constantly worrying about having to go to the hospital. Not being able to afford it, not wanting to do anything too dangerous. So, please don’t follow in his footsteps dangerous. Okay, there are a few things you need to keep in mind when booking travel insurance.

1. Countries covered by insurance: 

Many insurance companies will not cover countries that are listed, as risky or dangerous on the Foreign Commonwealth Office website. So, make sure you check that before you go.

2. The Excess:

I will always choose to travel with zero excess if I have the option. A policy can seem cheap to start with but once you start to add on excess fees of 75 or a hundred or two hundred dollars every time you have to make a claim. It doesn't seem so cheap.

3. Activities:

make sure you check what activities will be covered by your insurance. From bungee-jumping to animal sanctuary work. You want to make sure all of the things you plan to do on your trip are going to be covered. Most companies offer a wide range of different activity packages obviously the more risky the activity. The more expensive the package but it's good to know there are options out there. 

4. Check the detailed cover limits:

you want to see how much you will get if you need to claim for luggage, for medical expenses, for lost or damaged items. Make sure you know what your cupboard for.

5. Any necessary extras must be covered:

For example, gadget cover isn't normally included in travel insurance standard policies. So, make sure you get the gadget insurance you get any kind of extra cover that you need, for your policy and for your trip. The last thing you want to do is get stranded without your camera without your phone without your laptop and not being able to afford to replace it.

6. Book your insurance before:

Book your insurance before you leave your home country. This may sound really obvious to you but some people maybe decide only halfway through a trip that they really should have got insurance. It is so much easier to book insurance with a company before you leave your home country. Because many insurance companies will not cover you once you have left and started your trip. 

7. Check the length of your trip:

Many travel insurance companies will not offer cover for more than twelve months on a trip. We would suggest looking out for the phrase backpacker insurance or long term travel insurance to find one that will cover you for longer. So, all of the quotes I’m about to tell you are for a six-month period.

They are for worldwide cover excluding the US in Canada and also if they had an option for a zero access policy or for gadget insurance I made sure I took it. So, our number one recommendation and the company that we actually have our insurance with is alpha travel insurance. We use them on our previous trip to Asia.

My friend got really ill ended up in a little clinic being hooked up to an IV on the middle of some island in the middle of nowhere. And I was panicking so much about the cost of it and whether the insurance was gonna cover us or not. Because we didn't have time to really think we just had to take him to the hospital. I called up out of insurance panicking. Because you know I knew we only had a limited budget and they were so reassuring and they were so nice about it. And, they assured me everything was gonna be fine. I filled out all the paperwork which is really easy to do and they would funded me the full amount.

No questions asked they were absolutely amazing and just for that experience alone I would always recommend that people would go with them. Not only were they the cheapest company but the actual value on that policy was so much better than any of the other companies we were looking at. Our quote is for the Alpha zero policy which is a zero excess policy. As well as, having gadget cover so altogether this came to 306 pounds for both of us for six months. One of the things I always look at when booking travel insurance is the emergency medical cover. Alpha is very generous they offer up to ten million pounds in medical expenses. They were by far the cheapest hope that we had at 306 pounds.

Second, up is INSUREANDGO now they also offer a zero excess policy and gadget cover which is very important to me. But, their medical cover is a lot lower considering the price is higher than alpha. They offer up to five million pounds in medical and this quote was for their backpacker Brahmas policy and that comes in at three hundred and sixty-five pounds. Again man is also with the edge cover and zero access policy. 

Next up is truetraveller insurance. Now this company is great because they do actually offer insurance once you have already left the country. However, we thought that the quote was quite pricey when you consider that the medical cover was so low and it did not include gadget cover. Our quote is for the true value policy which comes in at three hundred and seventy-five pounds. This has no excess which is fantastic but they don't have a gadget extension.

Last up is World Nomads these guys will cover you if you have already left the country but it comes at a price. I and my Friend use them the first time he visited Asia but they're really expensive so, it took a huge chunk out of his travel funds. And, also there is no excess free option on the policies which makes it even more expensive when it comes to actually claim. They offer up to five million pounds in medical expenses and our quotas for their standard policy, not including gadget cover or an access waiver and that came to four hundred and eighty-eight pounds which is quite expensive.

Obviously, everybody's needs are different with regards to travel insurance. But for us traveling long term wanting all our gadgets to be insured and not to have to worry about excess. Alpha seems like not only the cheapest option but the best option for us, plus we had a really nice experience when we had to clean with them last time so we know that we can trust them and we can’t recommend them highly enough.

I really hope this blog is useful for you guys and I wish you all the best luck in planning your trip. If anyone has other travel insurance companies that they would recommend. Please, leave it in the comments below give this blog a share and don't forget to subscribe.