Travel Insurance: Why you need it for festive season travels

While most South Africans eagerly await the festive season and their travel plans, experts say that those who are indeed travelling should be considering travel insurance.

Travel Insurance: Better safe than sorry

The Head of Travel Insurance at Travel Insurance Consultants (TIC) at Santam Group, Jason Veitch, says that while it’s great to see a positive increase in air travel numbers, holidaymakers simply can not afford to travel without purchasing a comprehensive travel insurance policy.

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“We’ve seen a fair amount of disruptions in the travel market post-Covid, and the war between Russia and the Ukraine has added to this. Airlines are struggling to commit to flight routes due to fuel shortages resulting in flight cancellations and missed connecting flights,” Veitch says.

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As reported by IOL, Veitch said that there are three reasons why purchasing this type of policy is important.

The first was the incredibly unaffordable cost of medical treatment in a different country.

“TIC’s largest medical claim originally amounted to R38.5 million. Virtually no South African would be able to pay this claim without the correct travel insurance policy being in place,” Veitch claimed.

The second reason was that the potential loss of the massive amount of money the policyholder would have to commit to their travel budget if things were to go wrong. A holiday being cancelled is yet another reason to make sure you’re covered.

“And lastly, the low cost of a travel insurance policy, in comparison to the potential expense of not having a comprehensive policy, is a no-brainer,” Veitch finished.

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