As seasoned travelers, we’ve come to appreciate the beauty of spontaneity and the thrill of embarking on journeys to far-flung destinations. Yet, in the whirlwind of exploration, unforeseen circumstances can sometimes catch us off guard.
Whether it’s a sudden illness, lost luggage, or a flight disruption, the safety net of travel insurance can provide much-needed peace of mind.
But what happens when wanderlust takes over, and you find yourself on foreign soil without adequate coverage?
Can you get travel insurance when you’re already abroad? As an experienced traveller, I’m going to look into the intriguing world of travel insurance to unravel this perplexing question.
Can You Get Travel Insurance While Already Abroad?
To put it simply: yes you can. You can buy your travel insurance whenever you like, whether that is in the airport, in your hotel room or two weeks into your trip.
But of course, you can’t just book travel insurance while already abroad and then make a claim. There is usually a cooling off period, so if you are trying to buy travel insurance to claim your lost camera, or cover expensive medical treatment that you didn’t get covered, then oops… You might need to either swallow the loss on this occasion, or crowdfund that medical treatment!
But with that said, when it comes to choosing your travel insurance, lets take a look at some of the options.
What Insurance Policy Do I Need When Travelling?
The type of travel insurance you’ll need will depend on various factors, so there is no easy answer to this question. While standard city breaks, business travel and backpacking will suffice with common or garden off the shelf travel insurance, there are a lot of variables.
Are you going anywhere high risk, for example a war zone or somewhere that your government advises against travelling?
Or, are you planning to take part in any risky activities or high risk sports such as rock climbing, skiing or bungee jumping?
How long are you travelling for, and to where?
Do you have any expensive items you want to insure, such as your laptop, camera or a drone? Or even jewellery or expensive luggage?
And, do you have any pre-existing medical conditions that might cause problems if you need to get treated?
While you can customize your insurance quote, its best to bear in mind that many of these things will affect your policy quote.
None of these things will rule out travel insurance for you. But if you’re already travelling, and you are carrying a $1500 Macbook, a $1000 DSLR and a drone, and you need to climb mountains for your footage you might need to factor in a higher than expected premium. But it will be wise to just bite that bullet and pay up rather than risk losing thousands of dollars worth of stuff for the sake of $50.
Can You Get Travel Insurance if You Already Have a Medical Condition?
Many people often worry about travel due to pre-existing conditions and their travel insurance. But there are options to insure with companies that cover these pre-existing conditions.
Yes, you will pay more on the premium, depending what your condition is.
And you won’t be able to instantly claim for any flare ups or issues you might be experiencing. Again, many companies will have a cooling off period which might vary depending on the company.
One of the best travel insurance companies for people with pre-existing medical conditions is Just Travel Cover.
They actually offer cover for common and uncommon conditions, ranging from asthma, epilepsy and IBD to more serious conditions such as Cancer.
If you do have a pre-existing medical condition and you want to travel without worry of being covered by your travel insurance policy, we strongly recommend checking out Just Travel Cover.
Risking It: Can You Travel Without Travel Insurance?
There is no law that says you HAVE to get travel insurance. If you decide not to get travel insurance, then that is your choice. However… For some countries it might be a condition of entry, and for others, it might be a condition for long term stays or residency permits.
More importantly, can you cover your expenses if something does go wrong?
Lets be straight here. ANYTHING can happen. You could get hit by a wayward taxi, be in the wrong place at the wrong time for a natural disaster, or… Well… We could go on.
Basically for the princely sum of NOT THAT MUCH you can rest assured that you have insurance in case something does go wrong.
If you’re looking for a cheap insurance policy while you’re already travelling, check out Travel Supermarket who will run though all the cheapest options for you.
In Summary
Yes you can get travel insurance when already travelling. And yes, you should get travel insurance. It’s hard to get to the airport and fly home when you’re dead from something that could have been an easy fix if you had insurance.
We’ll leave that thought there…
