A Family Annual Travel Insurance Policy
An annual family travel insurance plan can be cheaper than package plans if you might leave the country more than once a year or if you might need to leave unexpectedly to go to a sick relative outside the country. The plans also can be useful for business people who travel for a living. Annual plans don't always cover as much as individual plans, though, so read the fine print.
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Who Needs It
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A family that is likely to travel outside the country for more than one trip should consider purchasing annual family travel insurance rather than individual insurance policies for each trip. This might include people who have family in other countries who they visit regularly, salesmen, air crew, international journalists and others who travel for business. If you have a sick relative outside the country and you don't know when you might need to visit, annual family travel insurance could be a good precaution.
What It Covers
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Since annual travel insurance exists partly to cover unexpected trips, it does not normally include cancellation insurance such as would come with many travel insurance policies to cover the cost of nonrefundable deposits. You can buy this with some agencies as a rider, but it is unlikely to cover as much of your lost costs as other kinds of policies. It might, however, cover trip interruption, as well as medical evacuation, emergency medical treatment and lost baggage, depending on the policy. You can often buy riders for things like rental car insurance.
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What It Costs
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Travel insurance normally costs an amount equal to 5 to 7 percent of the cost of the trip. Annual travel insurance covers more trips but is often less expensive because the insurer does not have to worry about trip cancellation costs. An average plan runs a few hundred dollars a year per traveler but the price can be impacted by age and health of the insured as well as who you buy the policy from, where you live and where you're traveling.
Who Sells It
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Several travel insurance companies sell annual policies as of 2011, including Travel Guard, Travelex, Seven Corners and Access America, according to the Travel Insurance Review website. The website Squaremouth enables you to compare annual policies from several different vendors before making your choice. (see Resources)
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References
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