Travel Insurance – When Is Europe Not Europe?

Holiday destinations in countries for example Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco are incredibly popular. When purchasing travel cover on your trip or holiday it will not get lucky and you that some of these destinations may not be categorized under ‘Europe’ for insurance purposes. For example, an insurer may not include Turkey or Egypt in Europe under their policies, so that choosing forced to get a ‘Worldwide’ policy to be covered for travel in those areas.

Next time you buy travel cover on the Internet take notice of the box with a question mark [?] next to the drop-down menu underneath the section marked ‘Area’ or ‘Destination’ or similar wording in the ‘Obtain a Quote’ section. The drop-down menu usually provides choice, which will be worded differently from company to company and might include the following:

Europe Worldwide (excluding USA/Canada) Worldwide (including USA/Canada) Australia and New Zealand

It is vital that you find the correct area on your travels, and always double-check that anyone company or insurer won’t exclude your destination country from that geographical area. This issue originates under scrutiny recently regarding cover for Turkey and Egypt, and whether or not the countries are categorised within Europe for travel insurance purposes.

Individual insurance providers and underwriters may rate destinations differently, so never assume all of them are exactly the same. It is important to make use of the [?] box when finding a quote online, and look which you have purchased the correct cover on your destination when you press ‘Buy’. If you purchase insurance over the phone you’ll be asked to your destination country or countries and the proper cover will be applied automatically.

Insurance underwriters typically rate a geographical area based with a mix of factors, including:

Civil stability Any potential threat to tourism The expense of treatment and repatriation

Many travellers might discover geographical areas as well as the way insurers rate them and their associated risks very puzzling. Take North Africa for instance: Libya, Tunisia and Algeria are neighbours, geographically speaking, and yet Tunisia will be the only country from the three which is classified to within Europe for insurance purposes.

Most companies produce a differentiation between Worldwide cover that includes the USA and Canada, and Worldwide cover that excludes the USA and Canada. The premium is obviously higher for Worldwide cover, and sometimes even higher for Worldwide cover which includes the USA and Canada (mainly because with the astronomical cost of medical care and repatriation).

It will come like a huge shock to experience a medical emergency while overseas and after that discover too far gone that your particular insurer will not likely cover your claims as you find the incorrect part of travel if you purchased the insurance plan.

Most travel cover companies do automatically include popular holidaymaker destinations like the Canary Islands, the Azores, Tunisia, Turkey, Madeira, and Egypt under Europe – but check.

Eligible travellers in Europe holding the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) should also do their research and turn into conscious of set up EHIC covers them for holiday destination. For example: although Turkey is within Europe, it’s not at all a part of the European Union (during the time of writing) and therefore the EHIC is not valid.

The EHIC should never be used like a substitute for travel insurance, but carried along with your insurance. The reason for this is because the EHIC has limited cover, and while it must cover most costs for just about any emergency medical treatment it could vary from state to state. However, the EHIC does not cover all kinds of other potentially expensive travel problems, like lost or stolen luggage, liability claims, legal costs, or need for air ambulance and medical repatriation (to fly you home, perhaps with a stretcher and with a medical escort – all very costly).

The standard rule of thumb for most insurers has traditionally been that Europe includes all countries in Europe ‘west of the Ural Mountains’. However, individual insurers may anytime decide to change their territorial limits or boundaries depending on the level of claims they receive for the people destinations with regards to the quantity of policies sold.

Don’t get caught out – never think that a country in Europe is automatically classified as Europe for insurance purposes!