Five Vacation Situations in Need of Family Travel Insurance

You've scrimped and saved for months to afford the family vacation of your dreams. But life doesn't always go as planned, particularly when you factor in the challenges of traveling with kids. Preparing for the unexpected can mean the difference between anxious uncertainty and peace of mind. Read on to learn how family travel insurance can help you deal with any detours which happen along the way to your next vacation.

A Closer Look at Family Travel Insurance

Individual travel insurance offers a multitude of benefits, but the costs add up when you adjust for coverage for additional family members. Family travel insurance offers critical coverage for your children, and with many RoamRight plans, children are included at no charge for each insured adult. Consider these five situations for which travel insurance for families offers available solutions.


When a child develops a fever while traveling, your "vacation" is suddenly anything but.

1.When Sickness Strikes

There's nothing worse than being away from your home when a family member becomes ill. Family travel insurance means that if you or a member of your family gets sick while on vacation, your expenses may be covered. If you incur an injury or hospitalization, travel insurance works with you to make sure you get the care you need, such as finding the nearest appropriate medical facility.

In some cases, getting sick on vacation means returning the sick or injured party back home for care. Without travel insurance, you will hold the bag for these unforeseen and typically exorbitant expenses. Family travel insurance not only covers the costs of your sick family member, but also covers the costs of a traveling attendant, if necessary. In other words, travel insurance helps keep family members together. And what's more important than that?

Sometimes illnesses and injuries stop a vacation before it can even begin. While this experience can be frustrating, these feelings are mitigated by knowing that your costs may be reimbursed if you have to cancel.

2. Trouble at Home

Whether you're gone for two days or two months, you're disconnected from life back home. Unfortunately, a multitude of catastrophes can befall your house during this time period. Whether your home has been burgled or incurred severe storm damage, it's hard to continue your vacation not knowing what is waiting for you on the homefront. Family travel insurance covers your early return home, so you can assess the damage sooner and get on the path to recovery.

3. Destination Difficulties

You may have pre-paid your dream vacation, but if your destination has been rendered uninhabitable because of a natural disaster, such as a tornado, earthquake, or hurricane, your vacation can quickly turn into a nightmare. Unless you have family travel insurance, that is, which can help recover all of your pre-paid costs.


While you may have pictured relaxing on the beach, a hurricane might have different plans for your vacation.

4. Strangers in a Strange Land

Being in an unfamiliar place can be overwhelming, particularly in uncertain circumstances. Family travel insurance gives you access to resources for any complications that arise -- from travel advice to emergency assistance. In some cases, you can even rely on your family travel coverage to help overcome a critical language barrier.

5. Car Trouble

Renting a car is often the cheapest option when you're traveling as a family. But if your car breaks down, is involved in an accident, or is stolen, you risk ending up stranded. Many people assume that their home auto insurance policies will cover car-related costs while traveling, but this is not always the case; if your costs are covered, incidents while traveling can drive up your rates. Family travel insurance removes this risk while handling issues related to car trouble on your vacation.

Family vacations may be expensive, but they don't have to be a risk. Safeguard your next vacation by thinking of family travel insurance not as an expense but as a savvy investment.

Joanna Hughes wrote this post on behalf of Sharon Mostyn.

Note: Available plans and coverages may have changed since this blog was published.