If your employees regularly travel as part of their work, then business travel insurance can cover them for a number of unexpected expenses they might incur throughout their trip. This provides peace of mind for the employee, allowing the business to expand internationally with confidence.

What is Business Travel Insurance?

Business or corporate travel insurance covers the individual policyholder from risks and losses they might experience as a result of their travelling. Policies can cover employees for both domestic and international trips.

What Does Business Travel Insurance Cover?

A policy might include cover for the costs associated with:

• Delayed or cancelled flights.
• Lost, stolen, or delayed luggage.
• Trip cancellation and interruption.
• Loss or theft of personal possessions.
• Medical emergencies – including medical bills, emergency dental expenses, evacuation, and even the costs associated with accidental death and dismemberment.

How Does Business Travel Insurance Work?

Business travel insurance policies can either cover individuals for a single trip, or for multiple trips throughout the year. This type of cover might be referred to as “annual travel insurance”.

In any case, the policy wording will specify:

• How long the cover lasts – A single trip policy will outline the maximum length of the single trip. It could be a week, a fortnight, a month, or longer. An annual travel insurance policy will allow for multiple trips a year, but it might specify maximum trip length limits. For example, it might outline that no single trip can last for longer than 90 days.
• What’s covered – We listed some of the events that a travel insurance policy might cover above. As well as outlining what the policy covers, the wording will also specify what it doesn’t cover. A business travel insurance policy, for example, probably won’t cover you for losses if you travel to meet a client, who then doesn’t show up for the meeting.
• Cover limits – The policy will specify limits for the various cover it offers. For example, it might say that it will cover up to £3,000 or overseas medical expenses, or up to £1,000 of personal possessions cover.

With this in mind, a business travel insurance policy works just like any other insurance policy: If the insured individual experiences any losses as a result of the trip, so long as these losses are covered in their policy, they can make a claim and receive a pay-out from the insurer.

Business Travel Insurance vs. Personal Travel Insurance – What’s the Difference?

Both personal and business travel insurance policies can offer broadly the same type of cover. The major difference is that business or corporate travel insurance policies will explicitly cover trips that individuals take for business purposes.

This can mean that they offer additional cover for any expenses the traveller might incur if they need to amend or cancel their travel plans for business reasons. For example, they might have to cancel a trip if their business goes bankrupt, or they might have to cut a business trip short due to a product recall, a merger, an acquisition, or similar.

Does Business Travel Insurance Cover Employees Outside of Work Hours?

Many business insurance policies will not cover individuals for any travelling they do outside of working hours – such as family holidays. However, some insurers are more flexible, and allow employees to add family members to their business travel insurance policy. Some policies might even cover employees for trips they take out of work hours.

Do I Need Business Travel Insurance?

If you’re taking a one-off business trip, then investing in a single-trip business travel insurance policy can offer essential protection. Travel can be risky, and if you’re travelling for commercial purposes, any uncertainty could come at a significant cost to your business. Corporate travel insurance is a reliable way of managing this risk.

But if you regularly travel as part of your work, talk to your employer about an annual business travel insurance policy. This might prove more cost effective for you and your employer than taking out single trip policies for every journey you make.

Business Travel Insurance as an Employee Benefit

Some employers offer their employees travel insurance cover as a perk. If employees regularly travel as part of their work, then this sort of arrangement makes sense, as it provides peace of mind for staff and management alike.

Yet some employers go the extra mile and allow their employees to use their business travel insurance for trips they take outside of working hours. They may even be able to add family members to their policy for an extra price. This means that the employer may effectively cover their employees for all the risks associated with their family holidays, as well as their business trips.

For any travel it’s important to keep up to date with the latest travel advice.

Flexible Bespoke Business Travel insurance From Capacity Insights

At Capacity Insights, we specialise in providing bespoke corporate travel insurance plans for large companies with 250+ employees.

Whether you’re looking to build a corporate travel insurance plan from scratch, or you wish to change or add to your current package, we’re here for you. We can tailor a bespoke benefits package that truly meets your employees’ needs at a price you can afford.

Get in touch to see how we can help you.