Trip insurance and why you should have it

After taking over a thousand people to Italy over the years, Sara could write a book on Murphy's law. People get sick, get injured, have family emergencies...you name it. You're making an investment in your trip and you should protect it. We do not offer travel insurance, but we do strongly recommend that you get it. You may even already have some sort of protection built in with the credit card you're using to book your trip - you might check with them before purchasing your coverage.

If you've recently run into some health issues, or have a loved on at home who has (or if you have anything else going on that could cause you to leave early or cancel altogether), you should consider trip interruption/cancellation insurance.

You should also check with your current medical insurance to see what, if anything, is covered while overseas. In many cases you will need to pay out-of-pocket in Italy and then be reimbursed by your insurance when you return home. Before you become alarmed at the possible costs of paying out-of-pocket, keep in mind that Italy is a socialist country with a public healthcare system. Sara spent several months in Italy while pregnant with her first child and all of her care while there (including ultrasounds, labs, diabetes testing, etc.) came to a whopping few hundred dollars. That said, you still may want to purchase an additional policy specifically for your trip. One thing that typically is only available through trip/travel insurance is evacuation - by that we mean being flown somewhere you can receive appropriate treatment in the event of an emergency.

Here are some resources to get you started:

• Betins
• Allianz
• Travelex
• Travel Guard
• Travel Insured International

You can compare insurance policies and costs among various providers at Insuremytrip.com.