The best way to relax and get away from the noise of everyday life is by taking a long road trip. It helps you connect with yourself, and makes you feel like you are living a life, and not just surviving it. If you are planning on taking a road trip, either in the US or abroad, you should consider getting a travel insurance policy. It can come in handy during your road trip, not just for your car, but for other things as well.
What’s travel insurance? How can it help you with your road trip? This article will look into every detail about travel insurance, what is included in it, and how it can prevent your road trip from turning into a disaster. Plus, what additional policies you might need while being on the roads? Let’s get started.
Rental Car Liability Cover
When on a road trip, if you are using your car, then your car insurance policies would be fine. But what if you are a rental car? Your rental car needs to be insured before you take it on the roads, and the car rental companies are ready to sell you different policies for that.
Liability coverage is the policy that covers the cost of medical treatments and car repairs/property repairs of the other driver involved in the accident that’s your fault. Since you’ll be driving the rental car, the car rental company needs you to have liability coverage. Not just the company, but liability coverage is mandatory in 48 states in the US.
Even if you visit other countries like Canada, Australia, or anywhere in Europe or Asia, having liability coverage (also called third-party insurance) is mandatory in almost every country.
Travel insurance does not have liability coverage included, so you’ll need to buy it either from the car rental company or other sellers. But there’s one place where travel insurance would help; collision damage waiver.
Rental Car Damage
Along with liability coverage, car rental companies also require you to buy a collision damage waiver policy. This policy can be claimed for the repairs of the rental car if you get in a car accident. This policy also covers damages due to other cars hitting your car or damages due to bad roads.
Travel insurance usually includes a collision damage waiver for rental cars. So if you have travel insurance, you won’t need to pay extra and get collision coverage. Some travel insurance policies also have comprehensive coverage for rental cars, but you need to ask the insurance company and look at the coverages included.
Baggage and Personal Items Coverage
Travel insurance is not just about rental cars, but it also covers your items and baggage. If you are taking a long trip, it is expected that you’ll be carrying some amount of luggage. It can be difficult to manage all the luggage the entire time, and there’s a slight risk that either your luggage would get damaged, or worse, stolen.
In case your personal belongings get lost or damaged during the road trip, travel insurance will cover that and reimburse you for it. Usually, airlines provide coverage for your luggage, but not if it gets damaged or stolen during a road trip. Your renter’s insurance policy can also cover your luggage when you’re out on a trip if you extend its coverage.
Trip Cancelation
Who knows what’s going to come in the future? Perhaps that road trip that you planned might get canceled because of weather, or some other reasons. So what happens if you already booked hotels or other places in advance? This is where travel insurance comes into play.
Travel insurance usually covers all the cancelation fees which include event cancelation, hotel bookings cancelation, etc. Even if the hotel or the event does not offer any refunds, your travel insurance will get you your money back. This makes your road trips financially safe.
Roadside Assistance
Travel insurance might not be enough when you are on a long road trip, especially if you are taking your car with you. When traveling with your car, it is important to have a very useful auto insurance add-on made just for long road trips; Roadside assistance.
Roadside assistance is an auto insurance add-on, meaning that it can be added to your existing car insurance policy. Roadside assistance adds more features to your policy that is meant to help you from the possible problems encountered during a road trip.
For example, roadside assistance offers on-road tire changing service, gas refilling (only once or twice during the policy period), etc. Imagine you are driving in the middle of nowhere and your car breaks down. Perhaps it’s a dead battery or some other issues with your car.
Roadside assistance will get you someone from the insurance company to come to you and help your car get started. It offers battery jump services if the battery is dead, or if the car cannot be fixed, it will be towed to the nearest mechanic shop. What’s even better? Roadside assistance does not cost too much.
You can find the best roadside assistance as well as auto insurance policy by looking for multiple companies and comparing all of them to find the best rates. Just remember to search for the auto insurance companies in your state. For example, if you are a resident of Texas, then look for Texas cheap car insurance companies with the best coverage options.
Traveling on the road can be fun, but not at all if your luggage gets stolen, your rental car gets damaged, or you get a flat tire and get stranded in the middle of nowhere. Just remember to get travel insurance and roadside assistance to ensure that your road trip stays pleasant and protected.
