There are two major classes of travel insurance:
international travel insurance, covering travel outside your country of residence. This is an essential part of international trips because many healthcare arrangements won't apply in other countries (except EU nationals seeking medical attention in other EU states) and you either need insurance or to be able to pay all medical bills out of pocket; and
domestic travel insurance, covering travel inside your country of residence. These policies are generally cheaper than international policies because they usually don't include medical coverage--in your own country, you presumably have other arrangements. They focus on compensating you for purely travel-related problems like cancellations and closures. They are also much less essential and you can consider their worth on a trip-by-trip basis.
Flight insurance, sold at some airports, is simply a very overpriced form of accidental death coverage policy valid only for the duration of your flight. Don't waste your money; even casino gambling and lotteries have better odds than this.
You should also hesitate to opt for cruise insurance. Temptingly modest in cost, many such policies cover few risks at very modest levels (rarely medical care or Medevac), only during your cruise and for activities/tours sold by the ship. In reality, you'll likely have many risks before, during and after your cruise that won't be covered, e.g., troubles before the trip starts, flying to/from embarkation-debarkation port(s).
AGE IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTORS AFFECTING INSURANCE PRICE
TRIP CANCELLATION & INTERRUPTION
This type of insurance can be used whether you're on an organized tour or cruise, or traveling independently (in which case, only the prepaid expenses — such as your flight and any nonrefundable hotel reservations — are covered). Note the difference:
Trip cancellation is when you don't go on your trip at all.
Trip interruption is when you begin a journey but have to cut it short; in this case, you'll be reimbursed only for the portion of the trip that you didn't complete. In other words, if you or your travel partner accidentally breaks a leg a few days before your trip, you can both bail out (if you both have this insurance) without losing all the money you paid for the trip. Or, if you're on a tour and have an accident on your first day, you'll be reimbursed for the portion of the tour you weren't able to use.
It's expensive to cancel or interrupt any prepaid kind of travel, and for a fraction of the trip cost, you can alleviate the risk of losing money if something unforeseen gets in the way. The rugged, healthy, unattached, and gung-ho traveler will probably forgo trip-cancellation or interruption coverage. But if you're paying out a lot of up-front money for an organized tour (which is expensive to cancel), if you have questionable health, or if you have a loved one at home in poor health, it's probably a good idea to get this coverage.
Some insurers won't cover certain airlines or tour operators. Many are obvious — such as companies under bankruptcy protection — but others can be surprising (including major airlines). Make sure your carrier is covered.
It's smart to buy your insurance policy within a week of the date you make the first payment on your trip. Policies purchased later than a designated cutoff date — generally 7 to 21 days, as determined by the insurance company — are less likely to cover tour company or air carrier bankruptcies, pre-existing medical conditions (yours or those of family members at home), or terrorist incidents. Mental-health concerns are generally not covered.
Visitor Health Insurance
Visitor health insurance is a form of travel medical insurance and offers health coverage for relatives or parents visiting, or for travel protection to visit any country for any reason, business or personal. This type of private health coverage for visitors is purchased as a short term health plan that provides medical coverage beyond national borders, and only for the duration of travel or stay outside home country. These visitor health insurance plans also provide medical evacuation and repatriation benefits as part of the covered features.
Visitor health insurance is not currently mandatory for all foreign nationals who are temporary visitors to USA, but travelers from certain nations visiting the European Schengen states, UAE, etc. are currently required to provide proof of coverage to qualify for a visitor visa.
Visitors to the United States are typically not eligible to purchase health insurance coverage like citizens and permanent residents. Only immigrants, who are not temporary visitors to USA, are eligible to purchase coverage in the new American government run healthcare exchange marketplace.
Accidental death, injury or disablement benefit
In the event of an accidental death, this insurance will pay benefits in addition to any life insurance but only up to a set amount total regardless of any other insurance held by same insurer, held by the client. This is called double indemnity coverage and is often available even when accidental death insurance is merely an add-on to a regular life insurance plan. Some of the covered accidents include traffic accidents, exposure, homicide, falls, heavy equipment accidents, and drowning. Accidental deaths are the fifth leading cause of death in the U.S. as well as in Canada.
Accidental death insurance is not an investment vehicle and thus clients are paying only for sustained protection. Insurance premiums are expected to rise in time. Most policies have to be renewed periodically (with revised terms), although the client's consent with renewal is often implicitly assumed.
Every insurer maintains a list of events and circumstances that void the insured's entitlement to his or her accidental death benefit. Death by illness, suicide, non-commercial radiation, war injury,[1] and natural causes are generally not covered by AD&D. Similarly, death while under the influence of any non-prescribed drugs or alcohol is most likely exempt from coverage. Overdose with toxic or poisonous substances and injury of an athlete during a professional sporting event may void the right to claim too.
Some insurance carriers will tailor their clients' coverage to include some of the above risks, but every such extension will be accompanied by increased premiums.
Due to these restrictions, the process of claiming the benefit may be relatively lengthy; the deceased client may have to undergo autopsy and the accident may have to be officially investigated before a claim is approved by the insurer.
Disablement Benefit
The Disablement Benefit is compensation paid to an insured person for the loss of physical or mental faculties including disfigurement, whether or not it is accompanied by loss of faculties, caused by an accident on the job.
Such an accident on the job must arise out of or in the course of your employment, or through a prescribed industrial disease caused by the nature of your job. This Benefit is paid whether you return to your job or not.
The Disablement Benefit consists of two categories:
The Disablement Pension — This benefit is paid until the disability ceases.
The Disablement Grant — This grant is paid as one lump-sum payment.
Oversea funeral expenses
An insurance policy may cover expenses incurred by your estate related to your own death while traveling, such as the cost of arranging a local funeral and burial or cremation, or the cost of transporting your remains home. Having medical expenses covered by insurance is also very valuable to your next of kin in the event of your death as otherwise that person may be liable and your children and dependents may have their inheritance greatly reduced or canceled.
There may additionally be a lump sum benefit to your next of kin, although seldom anything like the amount of money that a life insurance policy might pay.