Nobody likes to deal with the topic of "insurance" - especially when it comes to planning something great.
Especially for the topic "insurances", however, you should definitely take enough time to take care of everything. Here it is not only about taking out all the insurances for the trip, but also to go through your existing ones again and adjust them accordingly.
In the first article we go into which insurances you absolutely need. In the second we explain what you have to consider with existing insurances. The most important insurances for a world trip
What insurance do I need?
Please note one thing in advance. All the topics we write about here is written from the point of view of Austrians. It may be that things work a little differently in your country or maybe the same. In any case, we want to prepare some food for thought for you here.
Travel health insurance
Whether you're planning a short vacation at the beach, an internship abroad, or a year-long trip around the world, you'll always need travel health insurance. Without insurance coverage, it can quickly become very expensive.
There are social security agreements with many countries and theoretically you can get treated in these countries. But many doctors/hospitals do not accept the insurance card. Also, the health insurance only pays the lump sums specified in Austria. If the treatment abroad is more expensive, you have to pay the rest yourself. Depending on the service and country, this rest can quickly reach 100,000 (e.g. hospitalization in the USA). Return transport is never covered by the health insurance (but often no extra travel health insurance is necessary, as it is included in other offers such as ÖAMTC-Schutzbrief).
With travel health insurance are basically distinguish two types.
Travel health insurance for short-term trips are available from countless providers and are already to get little money. There are also no questions about their own health and physical condition. It should be noted here that these are only valid for a limited number of days within a certain period (usually a year) or only for a specific trip or country.
For long-term stays abroad, such as a trip around the world, the offer is very limited, especially in Austria. Depending on the insurance provider, different periods can be chosen here. The costs are strongly dependent on the age at the time of taking out the insurance and the actual destination. If, for example, the USA and Canada are to be included in the scope of insurance, the sum insured can double or triple. Provided that the duration of stay in the USA is known, it is possible to conclude two contracts with some insurance companies, for example. One contract with the two states and one without them. It is also sometimes possible (as long as no excessive benefits were received or one exceeds an age limit) to cancel the insurance after the stay in the USA and take out a new one for the rest of the world. In principle, you will be reimbursed for the days not used.
It should be noted that such insurances do not cover the home country (some only for a short stay at home). So if you have given up everything at home and want to come home for a longer stay during the trip, you will quickly find yourself without health insurance coverage.
At the time of our trip (early 2022), there were only two providers for us to choose from. The third provider Worldnomads had suspended its services for Austrians at the start of our trip.
Protrip (Dr. Walter) and Stay Travel (HanseMerkur über reiseversicherung-buchen.at/) were the two candidates for us. In the end, we chose Stay Travel Basic from HanseMerkur. The range of benefits and the reviews we found were very similar and we ended up choosing the cheaper price. The difference between Basic and Premium are mainly benefits for rehabilitation (important if there is no other insurance in the home country) and preventive examinations or benefits in case of pregnancy for women.
Liability insurance
A liability insurance is already at home the most important insurance and costs only a few euros per month. Imagine you accidentally break a window pane in a hotel because your luggage bangs against it, or cause an accident with a cyclist. In these cases, liability will cover the costs.
We have kept our liability insurance with Generali, because it covers property damage, personal injury and financial loss and that with a worldwide validity. Important for drone owners: should you have a drone and also fly with it, you are obliged to have a liability insurance for model aircraft. You should check whether your liability insurance also covers this risk and, if necessary, take out a separate drone insurance policy.
Motor vehicle insurance
When traveling around the world, the topic of car insurance is as simple as it is complicated. Basically, outside of the countries covered by the Austrian insurance, you have to buy a separate insurance for each country. For many countries you can/must do this at the border. For others, you can do it in advance online. However, one thing is generally true here: Even if you don't want to use your motor vehicle liability insurance in Austria ("no accident is better than one"), there is coverage of at least 5 million euros here. In other countries this is an astronomical sum. Here, the insurance often only covers damages up to a few thousand euros. This actually makes the insurance "pointless" - but it is usually required by law and it is also checked whether you have it or not. Unfortunately, this is also true for western countries like the USA (here we had an insurance with a breathtaking coverage of a whole 30,000 US dollars).
But you still have to pay the Austrian liability insurance, even if you don't have coverage through it anymore, because it mostly doesn't cover countries outside Europe. In Austria, you must return your license plate if you terminate your insurance.
Travel cancellation insurance
With every flight booking and also with many hotel bookings you can usually book a travel cancellation insurance for a small extra charge. However, as a world traveler such a travel cancellation insurance does not really pay off in many cases. Often a travel cancellation insurance is also included with credit cards, if you book the flight with this or use it regularly. It is advisable to read the current policy details carefully.
Baggage insurance
Having luggage insurance sounds good. However, the separate conclusion pays off in the rarest cases. As with trip cancellation insurance, luggage insurance is often included in the insurance benefits of credit cards, if you use them regularly. In addition, usually only the current value is replaced, which is close to zero for a 3-year-old cell phone, for example.
However, caution is advised when it comes to insurance benefits via credit cards. Not every credit card is the same. Many banks issue cards with credit card function or credit cards, but these do not have insurance benefits.
Recommended would be a luggage insurance sometimes for special equipment, if you need it, for example, also for work on the road. But again, you really have to ask around and get several quotes to find the one that suits you.
Accident insurance
The basic benefit of private accident insurance is the disability benefit. Other benefits can include the following: death benefit, hospital daily allowance, convalescence allowance, and an accident pension. In addition, other benefits such as rehabilitation allowance, salvage costs and assistance benefits can be agreed.
Here, as a traveler, it is important to note that the activities on a trip or the type of trip are also insured. Sometimes insurance policies exclude activities such as motorcycling, unless it is explicitly included in the policy.
Since, depending on the type of trip, the risk of an accident and permanent damage increases significantly, this insurance helps to cushion at least the worst financial consequences in an emergency.
Endowment insurance
Endowment insurance is a relatively simple insurance product: if the policyholder dies during the term of the policy, the agreed sum insured is paid out to a beneficiary. If the policyholder survives the agreed insurance period, then no benefit is paid, but the money is not returned. Depending on the sum insured, these insurances are already available for a few euros per month.
Such an insurance is to be thought straight with journeys as pair, if one gives up nearly everything or everything for the journey at home. So the other partner has at least a starting capital to build up a new existence after a stroke of fate easier or to settle everything.
Conclusion
Of the insurances discussed here, we have additionally taken out a travel health insurance and a death insurance.
We kept the liability, accident and car insurance with adaptations (explained in the next article).
We did not take out travel cancellation and luggage insurance, as this is partly covered by our credit cards.
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