Why You Need Evacuation Insurance When You Travel

No one ever thinks they may need evacuation insurance when they travel on a vacation. Yet if you are seriously injured when traveling, getting home in an emergency can cost a fortune that Medicare and most U.S. health insurance plans don't cover.

While evacuations such as this are rare, circumstances can suddenly make evacuation a necessity that can bankrupt travelers. Case in point - read this story about a man who hunts throughout the world and was severely injured when his tree stand was hit by a falling tree and collapsed, breaking four vertebrae in his back:  http://www.travelinsure.com/who/atravelingnightmare.asp.

The total cost of his evacuation? $122,000. And he had no insurance. But he certainly advocates for it now.

The U.S. government will do its best to assist in getting citizens out of a foreign country if an event of this kind occurs, but they are not responsible for paying for it. Airlines more often than not don't have enough seats to accommodate a passenger on a gurney plus a medical attendant and medical equipment. Nor do they want the potential legal problems of transporting  seriously ill passengers.

Trying to arrange your own evacuation is also a difficult task. Language can be an obstacle and rules and regulations aboard are difficult to maneuver through.

If you've purchased travel insurance with emergency evacuation, the insurance companies have 24 hour travel assistance to negotiate the strange waters for you.

Our advice to clients asking if they need travel insurance is if you can afford to lose everything you have paid for your  trip if you are ill and can't travel before you are scheduled to leave and if you can afford to medivac yourself in the event you become seriously ill while traveling, then you don't need insurance.

How much does emergency evacuation cost? MedjetAssist estimates the cost of evacuating from Rochester MN to New York City at $16,000. From South Africa to Boston -  $125,000. Domestic emergency evacuation cost about $20,000 and international transports $75,000 and up.

If you still opt out of buying travel insurance you can purchase just an emergency evacuation plan, but keep in mind that type of policy covers only any emergency evacuation and nothing else.

Please call us at  516-608-0568 for more information.