You are looking for travel insurance for Africa? But it sounds so boring, right? I mean, what if you don’t even use it? Why not keep your money for the trip itself? After working as a tour leader for many years, I can tell you many of my guests have needed to make a claim. Trust me, you need it!

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Travel Insurance for Africa – Why You Need It

I worked as a tour leader in Africa for many years. These trips lasted anywhere between one and ten weeks. While major injuries or incidents on the trip didn’t happen every day, they certainly did happen. I have had guests suffer from a broken back, broken leg, broken ankle, malaria, bronchitis, heat stroke and so much more. This resulted in hospital scans and stays and the dreaded trip cancellation. In other words, the costs associated with an unexpected incident are very high and without travel insurance for Africa, you will need to incur the full brunt of these costs.

This experience as a tour leader changed my perspective of travel insurance for Africa. After all, it was me who had to pick up the pieces. I was often the guy making the phone calls. It was me who had to scan documents for the insurance company and help my guests navigate the insurance process when something went wrong. While my guests were required to buy Africa travel insurance in order to join the trip, I would find not every insurance company was as good as the next. Some travel insurance policies did not cover the incident and the customer service was sometimes awful.

The sight of medical bills pile up is a frightening one – especially if you do not have the right travel insurance for Africa. I won’t go on anymore about it. I just want to make clear that not having travel insurance for Africa is a bad decision. You need it. Please buy it. If not with one of the affiliate links in my article, from somewhere else instead. 

But where and how and who should you get insurance from? I want to use this post to outline why I always use this company for my trips. It also takes just a matter of seconds to get a free quote…

How to Compare Travel Insurance for Africa

I also worked in an insurance company for two years. It was one of Ireland’s biggest insurance companies and I worked as a claims handler for illness and accidental injuries. Insurance companies will naturally take steps to decline a claim. This is why choosing cheap travel insurance for Africa should not be the goal. You should be looking for an insurance company with great customer services and a reputation for taking care of customers when something goes wrong. You also need to be careful with insurance policies that stipulate too many exclusions. For instance, they may cover a certain type of incident but they also have many stipulations in fine print that will prevent a claim. 

This is what I look for in an insurance policy for backpacking Africa…

Coverage Limit – Make sure that the insurance company has a high limit of coverage for medical expenses. More than $1,000,000 minimum.

Emergency – The policy should have cover for emergency evacuation. Cheap travel insurance for Africa will unlikely provide this on their plan.

Repatriation – I hate this word (repatriation) but you should have a policy that covers your return trip home. This will be needed for serious illness or injury.

Africa Travel Insurance – What You Need to Be Included

Africa travel insurance is usually a priority for those who travel to the continent. Sometimes I feel that this is due to negative media attention and fear in general. Either way, people want it and companies provide it. However, whoever you go with, make sure that the policy has the following:

• Cover for every country you are visiting.
• Cover for portable items – stolen, lost or damaged luggage.
• Laptop or camera coverage (If you have either).
• 24 Hour customer support.
• $1,000,000 cover for medical bills.
• Repatriation Cover.
• Cancellation cover so that you can return home for a personal emergency (serious illness with family member).

Things to Consider Before Buy Africa Travel Insurance

Fine print:  Most Africa travel insurance companies will place many exclusions in the fine print. You should either read this print or just make sure that the company will cover you enough for the trip.

Expensive equipment: Cheap travel insurance for Africa is unlikely to cover you properly for electronics and other expensive equipment. Again, ask the question and make sure that you know what is covered.

World Nomads: Why I Use this Company for Travel Insurance

Whenever a friend or family member asks me about travel insurance, I tell them World Nomads. Most of my passengers had a policy with this company on my tours. Feedback was always good and I personally found them to be professional, competent, agreeable and reasonably priced. The cover is  comprehensive and if you click the image below, you can get a free quote in a matter of seconds…

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