What Is Business Travel Insurance and Why is it Important?

Although business or corporate travel is less risky than travelling for leisure, accidents and unexpected turns can happen. So what is business travel insurance and why exactly is it so important? Having corporate travel insurance helps to ensure the well-being of travelling employees and also covers the company for any legal proceedings should something happen to an employee while travelling.

What is business travel insurance?

Business travel insurance protects companies and individuals travelling as company representatives against unexpected costs owing to injury, illness, loss or theft of goods, and cancellations out of the traveller’s control. It’s useful; coverage to have so that the company does not have to absorb any of the business costs associated with these events. 

Business or corporate travel insurance is different from insurance that may be included in standard company employee benefits. It’s therefore recommended you have separate insurance policies in place to fully cover employees travelling on behalf of the company.

How to find the right business travel insurance

There are several types of travel insurance that businesses can get in order to cover themselves for anything unplanned during a business trip. The following will explore the different options companies have when getting business travel insurance.

Which type of travel insurance do you need?

Understanding the type of insurance you need fundamentally depends on the nature of travel, the duration of travel and how often the employee travels with or for the company. 

The most common types of travel insurance are single-trip travel insurance or multi-trip travel insurance. If your employee does several trips a year, you should consider taking out a multi-trip insurance policy. However, if business trips are less frequent, a single-trip policy is perfect, even if it’s for 2 - 3 trips in a year.

The cost of travel insurance

The cost of travel insurance depends on a few factors. Insurance will naturally be more expensive when there is a larger group of people travelling. For insurance to cover all those on the trip, the insurance company has to have all parties’ names on record. 

It also depends on the duration of the work trip as well as the destinations that will be visited during the trip. If those travelling need to be insured for a longer period then the insurance policy will be more expensive. You will also have to take the destinations into consideration owing to the different laws and practices in the given location. You should make sure that the insurance covers all areas of travel, which may end up costing more to cover.

Compare different travel insurance policies

Price comparison websites are useful as a starting point for comparing the cost of different travel documents. However, there are many that leave out important aspects that you may need to cover. For this reason, it’s better to compare different corporate travel insurance packages manually so that you’re fully aware of the price difference and what is and is not included in your policy.

Why is business travel insurance important?

When travelling, there are a whole host of things that can go wrong that are out of your company’s and your employee’s control. If and when accidents do happen, your business will not be able to absorb the full cost associated with hospital fees, rebooking transport or accommodation or replacing lost or stolen items. When you have business travel insurance, in the event of any of these happening, the cost is at least covered.

Cancellations

If a flight is cancelled, business travel insurance will help to make the inconvenience as painless as possible. Some packages may offer to put those travelling up in a hotel until the next available flight. Others may cover the cost of rebooking an emergency flight should it be a matter of urgency. 

Insurance packages may also cover hotel or accommodation cancellations and help to arrange an alternative set up or cover the costs of booking last-minute accommodation too. Cancellations are therefore an important coverage to look for when choosing business travel insurance.

Accidents and illness

Accidents happen even when away for work. Since the pandemic, people travelling have been more and more conscious about taking out insurance to cover any illness that may occur while travelling. Business travel insurance will cover any hospital and medical care fees should an accident happen or if one of the travelling parties falls ill while away. This means your company will not have to cover the costs themselves.

Theft/loss

Theft and loss travel insurance apply to the group’s personal items and any devices or equipment the team may be carrying on them for work purposes. This covers anything from lost or stolen baggage at the airport to being pickpocketed on the streets.

International emergencies

A classic example of an international emergency would be the global lockdowns we experienced during the covid pandemic. However, if there is an international emergency declared in a country where a company’s employees are visiting, this insurance coverage will cover the costs of an emergency evacuation. Cases that call for this type of insurance to kick in include terrorist attacks, disease outbreaks, riots, and natural disasters.

Why your company needs business travel insurance

There are several reasons why companies need to have travel insurance policies in place if they have employees who travel frequently on behalf of the company. Here are two of the key reasons why getting corporate travel insurance is important.

Business travel can be expensive

Business travel will require a lot of expenses and absorbing the cost of something unexpected can be financially draining for your company. For this reason, it’s vital to have insurance when you or your employees and colleagues are travelling for work. Business travel insurance may seem expensive as an upfront cost, but it may save the company a lot of money should something happen during business travel.

Provides peace of mind

Often, those that are travelling have families back at home. Having corporate travel insurance provides peace of mind to them, the company, and of course the individual. It also takes a lot of the stress out of inconvenient situations like cancellations or losing luggage and personal belongings.