Family Travel Insurance: The Complete Guide

Families travel for any number of reasons: to attend reunions, wakes, weddings, or funerals and none of those trips are immune to things that can go wrong. Whether you are flying or driving, bringing the kids or not, there’s a family travel insurance plan that’s right for your needs.

Also check out our list of the best family travel insurance plans, which is updated monthly.

Contents (click to jump down) What are the risks on a family trip? What coverage do you need on a family trip? When should you purchase your family travel insurance? Where should you buy your family travel insurance? How can you be sure your travel insurance is adequate? What are the best travel insurance plans for family trips?

What are the risks on a family trip?

Some of the unexpected things that can go wrong on a family trip include the following:

• Your child gets sick – every parent’s nightmare is having a sick child and not being able to get medical help when you need it. If you’re traveling in a region that is foreign to you, you may not even know where the nearest medical facility is, much less whether it is open or has a medical team that can help. If you need emergency medical care on your trip, who can you call?
• Your destination is destroyed – if your destination residence is rendered inhabitable due to a weather-related natural disaster such as a hurricane, tornado, earthquake, or flood, how will you recover your pre-paid costs and perhaps make alternative travel plans?
• Your rental car is stolen – if you rent a vehicle for your family trip and it’s damaged or stolen, the coverage you have at home will not likely cover all the related costs and a claim could significantly increase your future rates impacting your family budget for years to come. If your rental vehicle is stolen or damaged, how will you pay for the cost of repairs and rental charges?
• You are hospitalized – if you’re hospitalized while traveling with family, particularly with young children, who will care for your children and make sure they get home safely? Who can you contact to bring someone from home to your hospital bedside?
• Your home is burglarized while you’re gone – if your home is burglarized, vandalized, or damaged in a fire while you’re on your trip and you want to return home to assess the damage and take care of things before you go back to work, how will you recover your travel expenses and schedule a new flight home?
• You need help or advice – anytime you are traveling in a new place, you could be in a situation where you need travel advice or emergency assistance. You may even need help communicating in a foreign language. If you need travel advice, legal advice, or foreign language assistance, who can you call?

What coverage do you need on a family trip?

While the following is not an exhaustive list of all the coverages available with travel insurance plans, it describes those that are most useful to those traveling as a family.

• Medical coverage provides for emergency medical and dental care in the case of a sudden illness or injury on your trip. (Review the details of medical/dental coverage.)
• Trip cancellation coverage provides reimbursement for pre-paid, non refundable trip costs if you have to cancel your trip for a covered reason. (Review the details of trip cancellation coverage.)
• Trip interruption coverage reimburses up to 150% of the unused trip costs and often provides additional money for return airfare if you have to end your trip and return home. (Review the details of trip interruption coverage.)
• Travel assistance services can help you locate nearby medical facilities and even arrange for emergency transportation. (Review the details about travel assistance services.)
• Car rental coverage provides protection against the cost of repairs and additional rental charges imposed by the rental company while the vehicle is recovered or repaired. (Review the details about car rental coverage.)
• Evacuation/repatriation coverage pays for medically necessary evacuations and brings a friend or family member to your bedside while chaperoning your dependent children to someone who can care for them as you recover. (Review the details about evacuation/repatriation coverage.)

When should you buy your family travel insurance?

When you purchase your travel insurance may be just as important as why you purchase it.

• When should I buy my travel insurance?
• How much does travel insurance cost?
• What information do I need to buy it?

Remember that all travel insurance companies offer a free look period with a refund if you decide the plan is not what you need.

Where should you buy your family travel insurance?

We recommend purchasing your travel insurance directly from a third-party company for a number of reasons.

• Buying Travel Insurance from a 3rd party company vs. through a travel agent
• Why buying Travel Insurance from a 3rd party company is better than buying from a Cruise Line
• Buying Travel Insurance Directly from the Company vs. Using a Comparison Site

Very briefly, you’ll have more choices and options in your travel insurance plan if you purchase from a third-party company using a comparison tool.

How can you be sure your travel insurance coverage is adequate?

These tips will help you determine whether you have enough coverage.

• 4 Steps to 100% confidence in your travel insurance plan
• Entering $0 Trip Cost is too risky
• Is ‘Cancel for any reason’ worth it?

What are the best family travel insurance plans?

We’ve done the research into which plans are best and our recommendations include:

• The important coverages for family travel
• Our analysis of each plan
• Sample quotes

See the 3 best family travel insurance plans