It’s summer and even those who live where others go on holiday would like to go on holiday where others live. But not everywhere does the statutory health insurance cover the costs if you fall ill unexpectedly or suffer an accident or other injury.
As a rule, treatment costs are covered within Europe, but only up to the tariffs of your own country.
Outside the EU, including Norway and Switzerland, you need travel health insurance if you do not want to pay for treatment, hospitalisation or repatriation out of your own pocket.
When taking out travel insurance, you should make sure that both necessary and sensible repatriation in the event of illness is covered, so that you are brought back to your home country not only in an emergency, but also if you are unable to travel due to a foreseeable longer stay in hospital.
Not all travel insurance policies cover the full cost of private medical bills and will pay for costs incurred in the event of pandemics or other unusual events. Therefore, you should read the small print beforehand or explicitly ask your insurance advisor about it.
The price of travel insurance depends on various factors, such as the destination, duration, number of passengers, itinerary and also the price of the trip if cancellation and/or interruption are to be included.
For frequent travellers, it is worth taking out annual travel health insurance.
Cancellation insurance is particularly recommended for expensive trips, as cancellation costs shortly before the booked travel date can be very high. The insurance covers such costs if you have to cancel the trip due to serious personal reasons. These include illness, accident, pregnancy and death of close relatives. Some insurers even include loss of employment and serious damage to one’s home caused by fire, burglary or the like among the reasons eligible for reimbursement.
