You’re getting ready for an incredible trip. It’s the vacation of a lifetime and you’re ready to go. Or are you? Have you considered what will happen if you or a member of your family becomes ill during the trip? Most of the time, your existing insurance will cover you even when you travel. But you have to be sure that’s the case and you might find that you need to purchase travel insurance, just to be safe.

So what can you get from travel insurance that you might not get from your typical insurance provider? Consider this scenario. Your insurance service provider does cover you while you are out of the country. But the person verifying your insurance doesn’t speak English and only an automated response program – in English, of course – is available. Travel insurance sometimes offer multi-lingual responses around time clock.

You can get travel insurance for a single short trip, extended stays, multiple trips (as in business travel), for groups or even a global plan that will cover you wherever you are. But there are some additional benefits sometimes offered as part of a travel or global health insurance plan.

One of the options available on some insurance plans is terrorism coverage. Emergency evacuation options can also be included in the plan. Before you say that you’ll never need options like these or that you won’t get sick or injured while you’re out of the country, realistically consider what would happen if you did. Then decide whether you need travel insurance.