Travel insurance in detail - TBO Versicherungsmakler GmbH

With the gradual easing and the decline in the incidence numbers, the desire to travel is increasing. Reason enough to deal with the subject of travel insurance. We explain which insurance options there are and what to look out for.

Reading time: 6 minutes

+++ Depending on the type and cost of the trip, there are different needs +++

+++ Annual policies are often more attractive than individual travel insurance +++

+++ Not every travel insurance is useful and necessary +++

If you book a trip, you should think about the necessary insurance coverage. Depending on where you are going and how high your travel costs are, different types of insurance are possible:

International travel health insurance

People with statutory health insurance who travel abroad have health insurance cover in some countries by the European Insurance Card. However, this protection is not complete. Often you have to make advance payments, receive only part of the costs incurred and have considerable bureaucratic effort. In addition, insurance cover practically never works outside of Europe.

Irrespective of this, there is only very seldom insurance cover for the sometimes very expensive return transport in the event of very serious accidents or illnesses. This can result in costs of € 10,000 to € 50,000 or more.

For this reason, people with statutory health insurance who travel abroad should always apply for a travel health insurance. This costs only around € 10 per year for individuals, families with children usually pay around € 30 for an annual policy. When you sign up, you should make sure that not only the medically necessary, but also the medically sensible return transport is covered. Otherwise the insurer has many options to refuse to cover the costs.

For privately insured persons, the need for travel health insurance abroad depends heavily on the tariff chosen. There is usually insurance coverage abroad through the private health insurance. However, it can make sense to buy a separate insurance anyway in order to save the deductible and premium reimbursement of the main contract.

Travel cancellation insurance

If a trip has to be canceled, this is often not only annoying, but also expensive. Many tour operators charge high cancellation costs or exclude a refund altogether. You can protect yourself against this with travel cancellation insurance. Incidentally, this applies not only to package tours, but also to flights, holiday homes or concert tickets, even within Germany. Due to this broad interpretation of the term “trip”, annual policies that cover all trips up to an agreed sum limit are usually worthwhile.

The insured events differ depending on the provider, but mostly include:

Unexpected illness of travelers
Dread disease of close relatives
Accidents
Unemployment
Heavy damages (e.g. fire damages in your home)

The price / performance ratio is comparatively good, especially with annual policies. A high-performance travel cancellation and termination insurance for a family with children up to € 4,000 travel price costs less than € 140 per year.

Trip interruption insurance

The travel cancellation insurance is always valid until the start of the journey. However, there is still a risk of having to return home due to illness or a serious incident. In this case, too, cancellation costs may apply or the unused travel price is completely lost. For this reason, travel cancellation insurance should always be supplemented with travel interruption insurance if possible. With many tariffs, this is even the case automatically.

Luggage insurance

With luggage insurance you can insure your luggage against various risks, in particular:

Theft or loss
Damages
Delayed arrival at the holiday destination

In individual cases, it can make sense to take out such insurance. In many cases, however, from our point of view, there is no need for various reasons:

Baggage insurance often has problematic restrictions, especially for valuables, cash or electronics.
If there is a high-performance home content insurance, the luggage is comprehensively protected as part of the so-called external insurance, e.g. in the event of theft on motor vehicles and in some cases even in the event of simple theft.
If the luggage is lost in the airline’s care, is damaged or if it arrives late at the holiday destination, you are entitled to lump-sum compensation by the European Air Passenger Rights Regulation.

We would be happy to check for you in specific individual cases whether it is actually worth tapplying for a luggage insurance.

Content insurance for mobile homes

A content insurance for mobile homes is a special form of luggage insurance. It insures the movable inventory of mobile homes against fire, burglary or natural hazards. They are often offered through the motor home insurer. In individual cases, the conclusion of a contract can also make sense, in many cases our examination showed that the insurance is not worthwhile. There are several reasons for this, including:

The built-in inventory is already insured by the partial insurance of the motorhome.
The external insurance of the household insurance often provides additional protection.
Bicycles are usually insured separately by the household insurance.
The camper content insurances usually put significant limits on electronics, cash and valuables. Exactly the things that are often stolen in practice.
In addition, time value clauses often apply, so that usually only a small part of the damage is compensated.
The annual contributions for camper content insurance are often not in a healthy proportion to the insured benefit.

Travel liability insurance

From our point of view, there is practically no reason for travelers living in Germany to buy a special travel liability insurance, since trips abroad are a compulsory part of private liability insurance, even for long stays abroad. Only for visitors from countries with less developed insurance systems can it make sense have such insurance if the domestic insurance cover is insufficient.

Travel accident insurance

The same applies to travel accident insurance, since private accident insurance applies to travel here as well. Whether foreign guests inevitably need accident insurance depends heavily on the individual case.

Annual or individual travel insurance?

Travel insurance can be taken out for a single trip as well as for all trips in a year. The individual travel insurance ends automatically at the end of the trip, the annual insurance, however, is extended from year to year if it is not canceled at least 3 months before the end of the insurance year.

If you travel several times a year, annual insurance is usually worthwhile. Depending on the travel price, annual policies can also be more attractive for individual travel. In this case, we will schedule the termination for you at the end of the contract and will contact you in good time to terminate the contract or extend it at your request.

How does Covid-19 affect travel insurance?

The corona crisis hit the travel industry unexpectedly. The insurance conditions that were valid at the beginning meant that, especially with cancellation insurance, there was usually no protection in the event of corona-related travel cancellations or interruptions.

In the meantime, however, many insurers have reacted and included various benefits relating to Covid-19 in the catalog of insured benefits. Cancellations due to quarantine are now largely covered. Even if a travel warning applies when the contract is signed, insurance coverage is becoming more and more common.

In travel health insurance, on the other hand, there was full insurance cover in practically all tariffs even during the height of the Corona crisis.

What is not insured with travel insurance?

As a general rule, travel insurance only insures unexpected benefits. Treatments abroad that were the actual reason for the trip are therefore not covered. Expected claims under the travel cancellation insurance also usually do not lead to a reimbursement. Seriously ill people should therefore not assume full insurance cover. In this case, it would make more sense to book trips with generous cancellation policies and instead avoid taking out insurance.

Don’t apply for travel insurance too late

Don’t wait too long to get travel insurance. Above all, travel cancellation insurance can usually be bought no later than one month before the start of the journey. Exceptions only apply to last minute bookings.

Regardless of this, it is particularly useful for travel cancellation insurance to apply for insurance cover on the day of booking the trip. If, for example, an illness leads to a necessary cancellation, you have insurance cover early on, usually without paying more for it.

Who are the right travel insurance providers?

There are numerous travel insurance providers on the German market. The most prominent are Allianz Travel, Hansemerkur Reiseversicherung, ERGO Reiseversicherung, Bayerische Travelprotect and special providers such as Care Concept, BDAE or MDT Travel.

We check on a value-neutral basis which provider is best for you, as all insurers have different focuses, strengths and weaknesses.

Offer for a travel insurance

We would be happy to provide you with the right offer for your travel insurance at short notice and also check whether an annual policy or individual travel insurance is more suitable. You can enter the necessary data in our form.