Vacation is often synonymous with relaxation, entertainment, and adventure. The reality is that vacation can also be synonymous with headaches and unexpected costs when you don’t prepare accordingly.
Preparation usually consists of deciding where to stay, scheduling any excursions, booking any transportation needs, and packing all the necessities. If you’re traveling abroad, you may also need to obtain or renew a passport or two and verify any necessary vaccinations. There is one step in preparation that most people may not even consider, and that step is verifying what exactly your insurance policies cover and understanding where there are gaps in coverage.
Deciding Where You Stay
Whether you are taking a trip to spend a weekend skiing in the mountains or sun-bathing on a beach for a week, where you stay during that time is important. People are more commonly opting out of hotels and choosing AirBnBs (or other rentals). And, man, is that AirBnB amazing with its views and hot tub. Insurance is the last thing on your mind, but it is important to remember: most homeowner’s policies exclude the cost of any property damage that occurs during your stay in a rental property! (Yes – your homeowner’s policy is what matters when renting a place whether for two days or three weeks.)
Understanding Excursion Risks
Perhaps you’ve planned to leave the bunny hills and black diamonds behind for snow-mobile trails or to take a break from lounging poolside to ride some wave-runners for a few hours. You will sign a liability waiver when renting either of these fun toys. That waiver is your acknowledgement that you are accepting responsibility for damage! Most policies cover $1,500 for watercraft (including trailers and other accessories.) The average waverunner was around $12,000 in 2020. As for that snowmobile, it is considered a motor vehicle. Unless you have clauses added to one of your policies specifically, do not forget to pay for the insurance when renting a snowmobile. Trees can be hard to avoid! Paying an extra $25-$50 when renting can be the difference between paying a $5,000.00 claim and only paying a $600.00 deductible.
Traveling Transportation Needs
You have your own full-coverage auto policy. Yet when you rent a car or a truck, the pros heavily outweigh the cons of buying the Loss Damage Waiver provided by the rental car agency. By purchasing that LDW you won’t have to worry about potential loss or any deductible, no need to worry about long distance claims handling or any loss of use while traveling. The disadvantage is you can pay anywhere between $8 and $25 per day for this additional coverage that may have some slight duplicated coverage with your own auto policy.
Our advice is simple: when planning a vacation, add the extra step of checking in with your insurance agent to your to do list. It may not seem obviously convenient or necessary, but understanding and supplementing your insurance policies before traveling can be the defining difference between having the trip of a lifetime and regretting ever taking a vacation.
Contact
Interested in learning more about Worthy Insurance? Please email us at hello@worthyinsurance.com or call 773-945-9000.
Worthy Insurance is a niche broker with a focus on providing insurance placement and risk management services to the Healthcare, Manufacturing, Social Service, and Main Street business communities. Here at Worthy Insurance, we love to provide you with exciting and fun articles to learn more about insurance and how it impacts your life. Visit our other blogs to find more information.
While Worthy does offer a wide variety of insurance coverages, our main coverages include property coverage, worker’s compensation insurance, general liability, professional liability, and cybersecurity coverage. To find out the best coverages for your company, use the contact form below so you can be at ease knowing your company is covered. For personal insurance, please visit Vero Insurance.
