Travel insurance
Planning a world trip
By Jaimy de Vries
Insurance of any kind is never a fun subject to research and think about, but unfortunately it’s a necessity. Like vaccinations, this is quite a divisive subject, and there is definitely not one correct answer to this question. There is a lot of information on the internet and this can be very confusing. Many people never bother with travel insurance, and other people would never travel without it. Most of this has to do with your own personal situation, who you’re traveling with, comfort level, and risk-taking ability.
Most backpackers (like me) are on a budget, so they must decide which policies are worth the money and how much risk they are willing to take. Some only get a policy that has emergency medical service for worst case scenarios. Some want to add trip protection in case of any unforeseen problems with things like flights and lost luggage. Travel has risks, and everyone has their own opinions on how much risk they are willing to take. It’s important to educate yourself before making your decision and look into all your options, no matter if you’re going on a one week backpacking trip or a multi-year round the world adventure.
Is International Travel Insurance Worth It?
Yes, it is! Sure visiting a doctor and getting your meds in for example Mexico is not expensive (costs around €15,- – €40,-) and depending on your health situation, maybe you won’t need to visit a doctor and then you want to take the risk to pay those costs. But the main reason to get a travel insurance is for more serious accidents and events that can happen abroad – especially when you’re in the middle of nowhere. A good travel insurance policy will cover you for emergency evacuation and flights to a hospital that’s able to handle your medical condition. There’s accidental death benefits, crisis response, political evacuation, natural disasters and much more. Many policies cost around €2 – €4 per day. If you can afford a long-term trip, why not an insurance?
Different types of travel insurance
Depending on the duration of your trip – your goal of traveling – if you work or not, there are different types of travel insurance. You have insurance types for one short holiday (Dutch: kortlopend), for a period of time in the year (Dutch: doorlopend: 60-180 days), long-term travel for a year, or globetrotters insurance for people who want to travel for more than two years. When you go on a world trip a lot of travel insurance types are simple not suitable for you – and therefore they don’t offer coverage for your trip. Be sure to do your research or call an insurance company to make sure your insurance suits your travel plans.
Travel insurance vs. Trip protection
There are two main aspects to “travel insurance.”, namely travel insurance and trip protection. Trip protection had to do with insuring your belongings while on the road, and insuring tickets or tours you’ve already paid for in case they get canceled and/or the operator goes out of business. The question is if this type of insurance is really worth the costs. Hopefully you aren’t bringing expensive stuff with you that can financially devastate you if they were lost or stolen. And if your € 300 backpack goes missing, the process of getting reimbursed for it can be a major headache. If you use mainly reputable airlines and agencies, you minimize the risk of having your trip yanked out from under you with no refund. And if you pay with credit cards in the first place you usually have a good system to get a refund.
Travel health insurance
But the travel health insurance part can be a tricky part. Even if you have great health insurance at home, you may not be covered abroad. Granted, most health care in less developed countries is going to be much, much cheaper than it would be in the Netherlands for example, but if something really bad happens, it could ruin you financially.
So I did some research how I need to cover my health care costs. This wasn’t so easy, because there are a lot of laws and rules here in the Netherlands whether you need to keep your health-care insurance or not. So you cannot determine this yourself. If you travel long-term or work aboard, if you’re a a registered citizen at the municipal or not you need to determine if you need to keep your health insurance. In the Netherlands there is the law you need to have a basic health insurance, if not you can get a fine. There is an organization called ‘De Sociale Verzekeringsbank (SVB)’ in the Netherlands that determine if you need to keep your health insurance or not. This can take some time.
I hoped that I’m not obligated to keep my health insurance in the Netherlands. That’s because health care insurance in the Netherlands is very expensive and with a good travel insurance I have a good health care coverage. Health care insurance is around 130 euro each month and I need to have a travel insurance beside that as well. This will cost me approximately 150-180 euro each month. While a good travel insurance with health care coverage will cost me approximately 43 euro each month. That saves me a lot of money!
What Does International Travel Insurance Cover?
Most people purchase cheap travel insurance (without knowing exactly what’s covered), or end up not purchasing any due to how difficult it can be to understand insurance policies…why do they make them so confusing?!
You really want to make sure you read the fine print of your travel insurance policy. All policies are different and while you may be covered for something with one company, you might not be with the next. It also depends on the actual type of policy you decide to purchase. Different companies cover different things, so make sure you read your policy to ensure you’re insured for all your needs.
In general, you should be looking for a travel insurance policy that covers the following: ?
- Emergency evacuation
- Hospital room and board
- Intensive Care
- Local ambulance
- Adventure activities – ensure that you’re covered for exactly what you plan to do. Some policies have exclusions to depths you can scuba dive, and altitudes you can trek, for example.
- Outpatient care (physiotherapy, chiropractor, etc.)
- Emergency dental care
- Crisis response – ransom, kidnapping, etc.
- Terrorism
- Natural disasters
- Accidental death benefits
- Return of your remains
Some international travel insurance providers cover trip protection, things that aren’t medical related, such as:
- Lost luggage
- Trip interruption
- Trip cancellation
- Rental car damage protection
- Stolen baggage
My insurance
I decided to take the JoHo special ISIS insurance. This is an insurance focused on: backpackers, world travelers and adventure activities . They offer coverage for long-term travel, even if you want to travel for more than two years (a lot of insurance companies only cover for two years or less). And they offer coverage if you work, study or volunteer aboard. The Special ISIS is known for providing a lot of winter, underwater and adrenaline sports. For example, diving, skydiving, bungee jumping, rafting, surfing and skiing are all insured as standard. And they offer all-in health insurance coverage. Because I can’t stay insured for health care costs in the Netherlands it was necessary to have a good insurance for my health care costs aboard. Special ISIS offer this.
I got coverage for: health care, SOS & repatriation, liability (also during internship and volunteer work!), baggage, for dangerous sports, accidents, legal assistance and return to the Netherlands in case of illness of a family member. And all that for just 41 euro each month.
Travel Insurance Checklist
To help you out making a good and well informed decision, I made a checklist for you.
- Start your research early and learn the differences between travel insurance and trip protection
- Call your home insurance company to see if they cover anything that happens abroad
- Look for the right type of insurance.
- Keep notes about what policies cover which activities
- Make a list of the (extreme sport) activiteites you want to pursuit on your trip and make notes which insurance will cover them.
- Find out if your health insurance back home covers your healthcare costs. If not: get an health-care all-in insurance.
- Prioritize what’s most important to you-expensive gear and extreme sports being covered being a few things to think about
- Start thinking about what type of gear you will be bringing-expensive gear means you may also want trip protection
- Consider emergency evacuation insurance in case of emergency or serious injury
- Look into policies that cover shipping remains home in case of death
- Make sure your insurance cover you while visiting your home-country or when you come back.
- Check if they over coverage in time of a pandemic (in my case there was the COVID-19 pandemic)
Special thanks to Bootsnall.com for all the guidelines and information on how to plan a round-the-world trip!