Today, so many distinct factors can play into the traveling experience. From natural disasters and weather events to traffic delays that cause a missed flight, traveling can be a hectic, stressful, and unpredictable endeavor. To help mitigate potential costs and prepare for the unexpected, you should consider investing in business travel insurance.
What is Business Travel Insurance
Knowing that any trip comes with inherent risks, business travel insurance helps protect employees who travel for work from potential financial losses that can happen due to a wide variety of issues.
Traveling risks include, but are not limited to, lost baggage, flight delays and cancellations, weather disasters, and health and medical emergencies.
Travel Insurance Basics
Not all trips require comprehensive, or added, insurance coverage. Often, especially when traveling in your home country, basic, everyday medical insurance is all you really need in case of a health issue.
Personal or business credit cards often offer some form of protection for travelers when it comes to flight cancellations, trip interruptions, and lost or damaged luggage.
However, if traveling internationally, it behooves you to purchase additional business travel insurance because these trips are usually more expensive and due to their nature, inherently riskier. A business travel policy that covers changing or canceling reservations for an international trip should be strongly considered.
What Business Travelers Need in a Travel Insurance Policy
If you have ever shopped around for insurance policies, whether it be auto, homeowners, etc., you know just how confusing and overwhelming the process can be. So, what should you be on the lookout for in a corporate travel insurance policy?
Unfortunately, there is no one correct business travel insurance policy for every traveler or situation. Here are several considerations to keep in mind when choosing your travel insurance.
Small Business Travelers
If you are a small business and do not travel frequently, consider basic travel insurance coverage for your employees. Make sure things like lost baggage, rental cars, and accident coverage are part of the plan.
Large Scale Business Traveler
If you travel or have employees that travel at least three times per year, you may want to invest in what is called an annual travel insurance policy. This type of policy covers all your trips for one year and will cost less than paying for insurance for each trip separately. It often includes rental car insurance, medical emergencies, canceled or interrupted trips, lost baggage, and more.
Personal Business Traveler
Whether you choose to buy a travel insurance policy as a personal business traveler depends largely on how you are covered with your personal medical insurance and credit card coverage. For low-risk trips, those may provide all the coverage you need. However, if you are planning a longer, higher-risk trip, it may behoove you to purchase a travel insurance policy to ensure you are covered and don’t have to eat any expenses from unforeseen circumstances.
Types of Travel Coverage
Business travel insurance does not fall under one umbrella. In fact, it can include a wide range of specific types of coverage. However, in general, travel insurance coverage fits within the following categories:
- Medical Insurance
- Trip Cancellation or Interruption Insurance
- Baggage and Personal Items Loss Insurance
- Evacuation Insurance
- Life Insurance
You can select either primary or secondary coverage depending on the amount of coverage already provided by other options including regular medical insurance.
Primary travel insurance will pay out even if you already have other insurance, while secondary travel insurance covers the costs and losses that your primary insurance coverage does not.
When traveling now and beyond, we must also consider COVID-19. It is imperative that when selecting travel insurance, you read the entire policy before purchasing. It will include all the exclusions and limitations of what is covered and what is not. If COVID is a concern for you, you will want to look for it in the policy to see what guidelines must be met for travel and where grace will be given in the event of cancellation or if a postponement is required.
How Can I Protect My Employees While Abroad?
Your employees are your greatest asset and when you send them abroad on business, your duty of care requires you to ensure they are always protected. For those without extensive international traveling experience, it can be quite intimidating and even scary to find yourself without the protection and safety net you have at home.
International travel is also more expensive, and you want to make sure you are not without recourse if the trip gets postponed or canceled for any reason, whether due to cancellations on the airline’s part or your own. And to ensure a smoother trip, you should consider either CLEAR or TSA PreCheck for your employees if they travel frequently. Also, these six must-have travel apps can help alleviate the stress of traveling for business.
Most importantly, receiving medical care internationally can be both more expensive and more difficult. A comprehensive insurance plan that covers medical care can help streamline the process of receiving medical treatment and get your employee the resources and help they need in a timely manner.
If you or members of your team travel internationally, it is necessary that you research and purchase a comprehensive business travel insurance plan that fits in with your overall travel risk management plan.
Does My Corporate Credit Card Protect My Trip?
Corporate credit cards may offer some level of travel protection. Some of them offer car rental insurance, trip delay insurance, accident insurance, and other forms of coverage (including hotel booking room scams) that are helpful if you travel regularly. Find out first if your corporate credit card provides any coverage, and then you can take that information and use it to help you decide on choosing what kind of business travel insurance you require.
If you’re ready to start simplifying business travel management, including flexible hotel reservations and cancellations, controlling costs, and discovering the tools and insights that will help you streamline business travel, join CLC Lodging today.
