Your Travel Insurance Guide
Travel Insurance to the United States
If you’re intending to travel to the USA you should be aware that your normal travel insurance may not provide you with adequate cover. Lots of people take travel insurance, which they believe will adequately provide cover for themselves and their families for all the holidays they will take, no matter where in the world their intended destination may be – but that isn’t always the case.
If you are intending to travel to the USA you should seriously consider taking out travel insurance specifically for that trip, or at check with your current insurance company that you current insurance policy provides you with adequate cover for your trip to the US.
Medical Bills
The reason you may need to think about one-off cover is the astronomical medical bills that can occur if something goes wrong and you, or a member of your family need medical treatment. Medical bills in the USA can easily cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, especially if you are unfortunate enough to have an accident that requires any type of surgery or an accident that means you may need to be hospitalised for a period of time.
It’s prudent to take out a policy that will cover you for around £2 million of medical expenses if you visit the USA. This may seem like an excessive amount, but that should be enough to cover all treatment and provide the cost of a flight back home if needed.
Annual Policies
It’s also worth considering taking out an annual insurance policy if you are making a trip to the US. An annual policy can usually work out cheaper than a single trip policy when visiting the US, as an annual policy is worked out on the demographics of the journey (roughly one long haul and one short haul week away).This means US travellers taking out an annual policy are being partly subsidized by other travellers who are visiting less costly medical liable destinations.
When looking for your insurance cover try and find one that provides a 24 hour helpline, as the time difference may mean you need to speak to someone urgently in the middle of the night in the UK.
Cancellation Cover
You should also take out a policy that covers cancellation and delays and make sure that it covers the cost of your planned trip. There’s nothing worse than missing out on a dream trip for reasons that are beyond your control and yet still having to pay for it in full.
