Do you really need travel insurance?  This is a topic that's received more than its share of debate.  There are those who consider travel- and travel health insurance to be nothing more than a waste of good money; and, certainly, some issuing companies are better than others.  But just as your everyday insurance helps to shelter your bank account from catastrophic occurrences – not to mention allowing you to get a good night's rest – so, too, can travel insurance when you're away from home.  Let's take an objective look at what these policies can do.

What is Travel Insurance?
Travel insurance is precisely what its name implies: insurance for you and your family when you're on the go.  If you're on a business trip or pleasure cruise, for example, you want to know that you have some financial protection in case matters take a turn for the worse.  And most conventional insurance coverage is woefully ill-equipped to handle many of the circumstances that can arise when you're on a trip.  Travel insurance is specifically designed to handle those situations.

International Travel Insurance
Whether you frequently travel abroad or are just taking that long-awaited exotic vacation, you probably don't want to leave home without having a comprehensive international travel insurance policy in place.  In today's world, you never know what may happen, and the absolute worst place that you could be if and when it does is far away from home on foreign soil.  And acutely more significant than the sheer inconvenience of such an occurrence is the fact that very few regular health insurance policies offer adequate (if any at all) coverage for medical expenses originating outside your home country.  This all-to-common shortcoming would seem to boost international travel insurance from a simple take-it-or-leave-it choice to a fundamental travel necessity.

Domestic, too
Of course, travel insurance need not be for only the "international" jet set.  You don't necessarily have to leave your home country to take advantage of many of its possible benefits.  Travel policies – including many travel medical insurance offerings – provide for compensation and on-the-ground assistance in the event of lost or stolen money, trip interruptions, or if your luggage decides to take an alternate route to your destination.  A travel health insurance policy can also help to pay those unexpected medical bills that your conventional coverage doesn't quite reach.

There are a great many insurance providers in the marketplace, all vying for a piece of your travel budget.  So be sure to compare companies as well as the policies that they sell.  Learn what to look for in a good, reputable company.  And, in response to the question of whether or not you really need travel insurance: at the risk of sounding rather glib, we think it's fairly safe to answer, "Only if you travel."