Neglecting to buy insurance before you travel to a foreign country is a major mistake. It doesn’t matter if you’re planning a quick, uneventful business trip, an extended vacation, or a long-term residency to study or work in another country. There are risks inherent in daily life and those risks can be compounded by traveling. That means you need to have insurance to help you deal with the financial and administrative problems that can arise should the worst happen.
The most important type of insurance to obtain is visitor medical insurance . This is what you need to make sure you can pay for any medical treatment you need if you are injured or stricken ill in a foreign country. You’ll want to make sure that any policy you purchase covers any existing medical conditions and prescriptions as well as providing for treatment should you be injured or contract another illness.
Another type of insurance to consider purchasing is travel insurance. This provides you with options should you experience travel delays. It also helps you replace lost passports and other documents and should cover lost baggage claims. Look for a policy that provides cash advances or other resources to provide immediate relief in case of an emergency.
There are some policies that combine travel and health insurance into one policy. There are also policies or riders for liability, disability or death and for things like hijacking or terrorist attacks.