Insurance policy for tourists: why is it important

There is an opinion that with the advent of the opportunity to travel around Europe without visas, the need to take out insurance has also disappeared. This generally characterizes how carelessly our citizens treat their own safety when undertaking long trips.

First of all, you should understand that having an insurance policy is not a whim of consulates that refused to issue visas without this document. This is a matter of comfort and personal security for every person who finds himself in another country. Prices for medical services in Europe are significantly higher than Ukrainian price tags, where until recently there was medicine, which, albeit conditionally, was still positioned as free. Meanwhile, in 2016 alone, in the European Union, 302 travelers were forced to use an insurance certificate issued in advance, and the average cost of one course of medical care was just over 2 thousand euros. In six cases, the victims required medical evacuation and repatriation for health reasons. And this is already about 4 thousand euros. By the way, a regular gastric lavage in European hospitals costs about 400 euros, and poisoning, as you know, is the most common reason for foreign citizens visiting medical institutions.

No matter how paradoxical it may sound, the visa regime was to a certain extent useful for our compatriots. If previously, when receiving a visa, they were forced to take out insurance, but now many go to Europe, relying solely on chance and luck. If in the first months of visa-free travel, European border guards asked travelers whether they had a travel insurance policy, now some countries have abandoned this condition. In particular, the website of the German Embassy in Ukraine contains information that it is no longer necessary to take out an insurance policy for a trip to Germany. However, embassy staff still strongly recommend doing this.

Insurance for a trip abroad can be obtained either from an insurance company or from a tour operator, and most often, such institutions can cooperate with clients remotely – the client fills out an application form on the website, and after a set time receives a ready-made insurance policy by email, which can be printed.