For a lot of people travel insurance is simply one of the many extras which the travel agent will try to persuade us to include in our holiday package to help boost his profits and make our holiday even more expensive than it already is. However, there are at least three very important reasons for not leaving home without your international travel medical insurance plan in your suitcase.

For most people travel insurance is merely seen as one of several extras that the travel agent tries to get us to add to our holiday package to help boost his profits and to make our holiday even more expensive than it already is. But, there are 3 very important reasons for ensuring that you do not leave home without your international travel medical insurance policy in your pocket.

First, a travel insurance policy will protect you from losing all of your financial investment in your holiday should an emergency crop up and you are forced to cancel your trip. This is especially true when you are arranging your holiday well in advance because you never know what may happen in the weeks or months leading up to your trip. This said, by their very nature emergencies tend to appear at any time and without warning and so this is one form of protection that really should not be set against any timeframe.

It is only natural to think that nothing is ever going to happen to us but a holiday trip can often involve a considerable up-front payment and the loss of this money could well mean that you are unable to re-arrange your trip later on.

Second, a travel insurance policy permits you to pay for medical treatment both while you are traveling and at your destination and, if you are unlucky enough to have a serious illness or accident, will also pay for you and your family to return home if this proves necessary.

Medical treatment could well be excellent abroad and it might even be considerably less expensive than it is at home. Nevertheless, a stay in hospital might still lead to a very large bill that will eat deeply into your spending money. You might also find that medical treatment abroad leaves a lot to be desired and you might well need to curtail your trip and head back home to get the treatment you require.

Third, a travel insurance policy will protect the value of your possessions both while you are traveling and abroad so that you will receive compensation in the event of loss.

If you have spent any time traveling then you will almost certainly have suffered the loss of your luggage at some time and will know only too well just how inconvenient and costly it is. I will never forget stopping for a meal on my way to the airport at the end of one particular holiday and very carefully securing my bag in the trunk of my hire car. When I returned about thirty minutes later I found that someone had picked the lock on the passenger door and folded the rear seat down to get into the boot and remove my case.

I also remember only too well sitting at a road junction one hot and sunny day when a motorcycle pulled up alongside the car and a man reached in through the open passenger side window and snatched my mother's purse which was by her feet on the floor.

Traveling overseas is expensive at the best of times but traveling without adequate insurance can land you with bills which you simply do not have the money to pay. So, if you are planning a trip remember to add travel insurance to your holiday list.