Travel insurance: otherwise known as the little box at the bottom of a booking page that you usually check to opt out of. When you’re traveling, particularly for business, you probably think there’s no way you’d have to cancel your trip – after all, business trips aren’t typically optional. We know that business trip cancellation coverage is certainly available, but we also know that it comes at a cost. So the question is, do you really need it? To help you decide, let’s take a look at how business travel insurance can be valuable.
The truth is that emergencies of all kids can come up at any time. Your employees may get sick. Someone in their family may encounter an unexpected illness. Your in-office deliverables may change, necessitating a trip delay. If you procure business travel insurance when booking a trip, everything from missed connections to baggage loss and delays may still happen, but you can rest assured knowing you’ll be covered.
There are some other benefits too, ones that we often don’t think about seriously but maybe should. Given the current travel climate, it can be reassuring to know that business travel insurance may cover security evacuations, including transporting a traveler to the nearest place of safety, addressing a company’s duty of care. Additionally, business travel insurance often covers a set amount of medical expenses in the event an accident occurs. It may also cover the significant expense of a physician-directed evacuation, as well as things no one wants to think about: repatriation of remains and dismemberment.
Arguably the most compelling reason to book business travel insurance is to recoup the cost of non-reimbursable travel bookings when any unexpected events cause employees to cancel their business trips. This is an incredibly valuable benefit. However, just be sure to evaluate and identify your top needs, since some plans allow you to cancel for any reason, while others stipulate reimbursement is provided only when trips are cancelled for work-related reasons.
When it comes to selecting a business travel insurance plan, it’s important to understand some key things. Typically plans are tiered, and they may include additional services when purchased within a designated amount of time from the date of travel booking.
When choosing a plan, you should evaluate your options based on where you plan to travel, since not all plans cover the cost of international travel. Consider too the time of year that you will be traveling – if travel falls during the snowy winter months where there is often severe weather and airport closures or the months during hurricane season.
Whatever you decide, business travel insurance can either be purchased through a business travel agency or via a third party. In the case of the former, you can count on your agent to explain the pros and cons, so you — and your employees — won’t be left to sort it out yourselves. If you decide to go at it alone, be sure you do the research to ensure you’re getting your money’s worth and that you’ll really receive the support — not to mention reimbursement — if and when a cancellation occurs.
Have questions? AmTrav is here to help. Contact us here.
By: Jennifer O.