During a stay in France or abroad, taking out travel insurance allows you to leave with peace of mind. In the event of an incident, it makes it possible, depending on the contract taken out, on the one hand to be compensated for the costs incurred by damage suffered or caused and, on the other hand, to benefit from reimbursements for treatment, hospitalization or medical repatriation. What exactly does travel insurance cover and is it necessarily useful?
Insurance companies, banks, travel agencies that offer travel insurance do not necessarily offer the same guarantees. Nevertheless, these insurances cover in principle these major items:medical expenses, civil liability and assistance in the event of problems occurring during a trip.
Unlike in France, medical care is very often chargeable abroad and can even be very expensive, for example around 12,000 euros for a night spent in the emergency room in the United States. Good travel insurance must, on the one hand, ensure access to care equivalent to that which would be provided in the country of origin and, on the other hand, cover the costs incurred by this care.
Serious health problems cannot necessarily be treated in remote regions and require travel to appropriate healthcare structures in the country, or even repatriation to France. The travel insurance must provide assistance in the event of such medical transfers and the payment of costs. Very often, it also guarantees assistance and reimbursement of costs so that a loved one can go to the place of hospitalization and thus accompany the sick insured. Travel insurance also covers costs in the event of death in a foreign country or those due to disability following an accident.
Civil liability insurance is necessary for traveling abroad in the event of accidents that cause bodily injury or material damage to third parties. Travel insurance generally includes this civil insurance which makes it possible to cover the costs of repairing this damage which can prove to be very high if legal fees are incurred, for example. This insurance covers the insured and his family accompanying him during the trip.
Travel insurance generally covers the loss or theft of luggage. Be careful, however, to read your contract carefully to find out about the exclusions of compensation and any reimbursement ceilings. In the event of cancellation of the stay, the travel insurance includes a "cancellation" guarantee, but which can vary considerably from one contract to another, in particular with regard to the reasons for cancellation taken into account and the amounts reimbursed. .
To travel to France or to most European countries, taking out specific travel insurance is not necessarily necessary. Within the European Union, healthcare costs (the most common and often the most expensive) are covered by social security. On the other hand, travel insurance is very useful, even essential, when you go to a distant country that lacks good medical infrastructure and where health costs are very high.
The important thing is to be well informed about the travel insurance you want to take out. Indeed, some of its guarantees may already be covered by your car, house or bank card insurance. For example, the guarantee covering property lost or stolen during your trip is already included in your multi-risk home contract.
Civil liability insurance is compulsory in France as part of car insurance, it is not necessary to duplicate that offered by travel insurance. Your credit card also includes many insurances that can help you in the event of problems during a trip:death insurance, cancellation, civil liability, luggage, etc., and even more depending on the credit card held.
But these guarantees are only valid for 90 days abroad. For a trip that exceeds this duration, it is strongly recommended to take out travel insurance. In addition, the amounts of compensation offered with your credit card can be much lower than those of travel insurance.
In summary, whether or not you need to take out travel insurance depends on the country you are going to (Europe or not, region where health costs are high), the people you want to cover during your trip and above all the content of the contracts. insurance you already have (car, house, bank, etc.) which can quite compensate for travel insurance.
