Traveling Safely: The Increase in Travel Insurance during the Pandemic

The summer vacation season has already started and, for the first time since 2020, without covid in between. However, what does persist is the need to travel safely. In 2014, according to Mapfre, only 20% of Spaniards went on holiday protected, but the pandemic arrived and, for experts such as Jesús Millán, head of Supply, Commercial Management and Marketing at Asisa, it was a before and an after. He “pandemic effect“has transformed the trend.

In InterMundial they observe that there are destinations in which 90% of insured tourists are reached, that is, two thirds of Spaniards travel with insurance. Carlos Reolid, technical deputy director of travel assistance at Mapfre Spain, states that the insurer registers the same recruitment levels as in 2019, y an Axa Partners have increased 30% your hiring insurance compared to previous years. Thus, insurers perceive a constant increase in volume, which is here to stay.

The user today is much more aware and wants to travel, but safely. Our mentality when moving has changed, so much so that Manuel López, CEO of InterMundial, indicates that even “awareness has doubled“, since almost more than half of Spaniards went without insurance before on their trips.

Before the pandemic, an important mistake that the Spanish made, in which the experts agree, was “the false sense of security“, “the little conception of risk” or “the perception that nothing will ever happen”. Basically, traveling thinking that everything will go according to plan.

This overconfidence can lead us to lose a lot of money. If you travel to the US without insurance, you can get into serious trouble. Millan talks about “unapproachable figures“, between 10,000 and 15,000 euros. “There are things that you can not stop in the US. If they do a CT scan or an MRI, it’s thousands of dollars. What do I do with 11,000 euros that I did not have? And, if it is something more serious, it goes up a lot. A diverticulitis is half a million dollars“, explains the CEO of InterMundial. Reolid warns that “you stay helpless in destiny“, with a huge sum of money behind your back.

This, which may seem distant, can really happen. The Operations Director of AXA Partners Spain, Andreas Friedric, tells the recent story of one of his clients: “He suffered a car accident and severely injured his arm during your stay in Argentina. The patient was transferred to the capital by air ambulance and later by land ambulance, and was hospitalized for seven days until his repatriation to Spain. If you have not taken out travel insurance, would have been forced to disburse a total of 51,000 euros: 15,000 for ambulances, 10,800 for treatment and hospitalization, and 25,000 for repatriation with an accompanying doctor. And this insurance had cost him like maximum 78 euros with the most complete coverage“.

It does not only include medical coverage

Leaving health aside, if you travel insured you could cancel everything in a guaranteed way and, if they lose your luggage, you can get 2,000 euros compensation, along with the search and location service. Besides, a cancellation does not have to be only on the tourist’s sidebut situations may occur in which he cannot do anything, for example, cancel a flight.

From accidents to the inability to travel or, this summer’s nightmare, that the polling station touches you 23-J. “There has been a miniboom of requests for information for that weekend. The truth is that, If you hired it before May 29, you have that availability covered. If not, you’ve had bad luck”, clarifies Millán. From InterMundial they also noticed a boom as a result of the elections, which they had to manage hand in hand with telemarketers and agencies. You could hire until just before the draw for the elections was held. tables After the pool, there is nothing to do.

“There has been a ‘miniboom’ of requests for information since 23-J was announced”

For this reason, when asked if it is worth taking out travel insurance, the answer is “always” y “completely” by professionals. Reolid insists that “travel insurance is one of the most affordable on the market“. The cost of the insurance is minimal compared to the cost of the trip. López compares it with the price of a swimsuit, which is around 60-70 euros, since, for a little more, about 140 euros, you have a lot of services and protection.

Friedrich points out that “the cost of assistance insurance means between 2% and 5% of the total price of the trip“. At Asisa, a standard coverage covers you 100,000 euros for medical assistance abroad. And this the standard rate. If we talk about travel insurance, the options are multiple.

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We tend to think of travel insurance in a generic way, without knowing the breadth of options out there. Vacations, Erasmus students, executives who travel frequently, international tourists in Spain, cruises or going abroad, even safaris or hunting, where the hunter’s civil liability and personal accidents are covered. The possibilities are many and, most importantly, they are adaptable to the type of traveler.

Experience shows that moments of crisis on a trip require fast and reliable intervention to limit its consequences. It doesn’t matter if you travel for a day or several months, any mishap can always happen. That is what insurance is for, which we should always contract: to travel calm and protected. As Lopez quotes, “they are our guardian angels“.

The summer vacation season has already started and, for the first time since 2020, without covid in between. However, what does persist is the need to travel safely. In 2014, according to Mapfre, only 20% of Spaniards went on holiday protected, but the pandemic arrived and, for experts such as Jesús Millán, head of Supply, Commercial Management and Marketing at Asisa, it was a before and an after. He “pandemic effect“has transformed the trend.