Overseas business travel insurance is very important for anyone taking an international trip abroad for work. The concerns that business travelers face are typically different from a person traveling on vacation, as they have different needs during their travels. Business travelers are quite likely to have a hectic trip planned, and travel insurance may not the first thing on their mind. Many things have the potential to go wrong, and travel insurance for business travelers could be very helpful if an undesirable situation occurs.

Before purchasing business travel insurance, it is very important to understand the types of things you would like to cover during your business trip to make sure you purchase the appropriate insurance to suit your needs. Don't rely on your corporate credit card to provide you adequate travel insurance.

Trip Cancellation Insurance

If you need to cancel your trip because the conference you planned to attend is cancelled, the client you are traveling to meet no longer needs to meet in person, or other travel-related issues such as extreme weather, terrorist acts, or some other covered reason, trip cancellation insurance can be extremely helpful. A business traveler may not be concerned about the monies lost for prepaid nonrefundable trip costs if their employer is paying for it; however, if you are self-employed or if your employer wants to buy this coverage, trip cancellation coverage can make a significant difference. Several travel insurance plans can cover cancellation for business reasons or for any reason.

Trip cancellation insurance also includes trip interruption coverage, as well as emergency medical coverage, loss of checked luggage, baggage delay coverage, and emergency medical evacuation and repatriation.

• Loss of Luggage Coverage

  Most business travelers carry their laptops, tablets and smartphones with them. Your business suit may be in the checked luggage that was lost and you may need to buy a new one quickly. Many travel insurance plans provide coverage only up to $250, which is obviously not enough for replacement. Some travel insurance plans provide higher coverage for lost baggage such as $2,500 or $5,000.

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• Baggage Delay Coverage

  You arrive at your destination on time, but your bags don't. All of your presentation materials, handouts, and brochures are in those bags. If your bags don't reach you prior to your presentation, you will need to pay to have some new material printed in a rush.

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• Emergency Medical Evacuation/Repatriation Coverage

  If you are traveling internationally and fall gravely ill or suffer an injury in a place where adequate medical facilities are not available, you may need to be transported to the nearest location where adequate care can be given. This coverage may easily run into tens of thousands or even over a hundred thousand dollars. Your employer is not going to pay for it, or reimburse you for the costs.

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Travel Medical Insurance

While on an international trip, you may become sick from eating unfamiliar food or drinking unsafe water. Perhaps you may plan to network with business associates through golf rounds or snow skiing, and you trip and fall while walking around. It is even possible to be struck by a vehicle in the destination country because the driver is distracted or not following traffic rules.

Medical care can be very expensive in some countries, and your domestic health insurance may not provide enough medical coverage abroad. Even if it did, it may be subject to a higher deductible, higher coinsurance and higher out-of-pocket costs.

If you are not worried about trip cancellation coverage, you should consider purchasing travel medical insurance, as this type of international insurance typically provides a much higher emergency medical coverage and is low cost.

Annual MultiTrip Insurance

If you are taking two or more international trips during the year, even if it is a mix of business and leisure travel, you should consider purchasing annual multitrip travel insurance. You can take any number of trips during the entire year and you don't have to worry about remembering to buy travel insurance for each trip. However, there is a duration limitation for each trip, typically 30 days or sometimes 45 days. Additionally, you must maintain major medical insurance while in your home country to be eligible for annual multi trip travel insurance.

Corporate Travel Insurance

Many companies routinely send employees abroad for international business travel. Instead of purchasing travel insurance for each person, the employer can purchase corporate business travel insurance for employees, which allows a set number of days to be banked for all traveling employees. The employer would report details about each traveling employee, including the number of days they are traveling. At the end of the month, the insurance company deducts the total number of used days or sends a payment invoice.

Such arrangements offer ease and convenience for employers that have many traveling employees. Corporate group business travel insurance is usually cheaper than individual travel insurance and may provide the same price for all employees, irrespective of their age.

Kidnap and Ransom Insurance

Some business executives traveling to certain international destinations, or high-level executives traveling anywhere could be worried about being kidnapped and held for ransom. Depending upon their value to the company, kidnappers might demand a large sum of ransom money. Kidnap and Ransom Insurance can be very helpful freeing such business travelers if they became a kidnapping victim.

Conclusion

Business professionals travel internationally for a number of reasons. They can be traveling to attend a conference or trade show, visiting suppliers or potential customers, discussing business matters with customers in person, or visiting foreign branches. No matter your reason for traveling internationally, business travel insurance provides coverage in case of trip cancellation, trip interruption (returning home early due to an emergency), trip delay, baggage delay or loss luggage, emergency medical evacuation, repatriation and many other necessary services.