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Whenever you travel, you’ll want to look into getting travel insurance. Is this a scam wasting your money? Here’s why it’s a good idea.

I get it. Everything always seems like a scam. There’s always someone who wants your money, and you need to decide if something is worth it or not.

Travel insurance is something you’ll hear about all the time. It doesn’t matter if you book everything yourself or if you go through a travel agent. Travel insurance is one of those things that many will recommend that you get.

But isn’t this money you could spend elsewhere on your vacation? Do you really want to dig into your account for something that you probably won’t even use? This isn’t a waste of money unless you know the future.

You don’t know what will happen when you’re away

You could experience an accident while you’re on vacation. Nobody wants to imagine that this will happen, but you just don’t know what will happen. You can’t read a crystal ball and you can’t predict the future. It doesn’t matter how careful you are; accidents happen.

Depending on the country you’re in, you could experience costs of $10,000+ per day for a hospital visit. Then there are costs of getting back home, especially if your accident leads to you missing your flight.

If you had insurance, this would be covered to help you with the costs. If you don’t have insurance, you’re in a lot of trouble financially!

Even if you are fit and healthy, you’ll still want to get insurance. It’s not a scam. It’s protecting you should the unimaginable happen.

Travel insurance works out cheaper

Look at the costs of what you could face. That insurance is going to seem a lot less in money now. You’ll pay just a fraction of the cost to get the coverage.

You will want to look into the details of the insurance, though, especially if you have preexisting conditions, disabilities, or are elderly. Some companies will have age limits and others will put limitations in place for conditions you already have. You may find that a problem that is likely going to happen won’t be covered, and then you’ll need to assess whether insurance will work out cheaper after all.

Don’t forget trip cancellation coverage

It’s not just about traditional travel* insurance. You’ll also want to look into trip cancellation coverage. This can help you with coverage on any pre-booked and non-refundable costs if your trip is canceled by you for whatever reason. This could be due to visa delays, an injury, or even if your flights have been canceled and you’ve decided to cancel the whole thing.

Trip interruption coverage is another type of insurance to look into. There may be an emergency that requires you to rebook your flights earlier than planned and go back home. Maybe a natural disaster leads to you needing to get home earlier than you wanted. Interruption coverage will help minimize your losses.

Personally, I don’t get the trip interruption coverage as the losses are likely to be less than the coverage costs. I get trip cancellation coverage depending on the trip. For example, a trip to the UK, I got it. My annual trip to Kansas City, not so much as I’ll lose very little on the trip if I don’t go.

You have peace of mind with travel insurance

Do you ever worry about what could happen when you’re on vacation*? You may have traveled a lot and never had something happen to you, but you know at the back of your mind there is always a chance. So what do you do?

You want the peace of mind when you’re on vacation. You want to be able to spend time seeing the sights and not having to worry about what could happen if you ride a bike or while you’re crossing the street. The last thing you want to worry about is how you’ll afford care if you need it.

Of course, if you have hundreds of thousands in an investment account, the idea of travel insurance can seem crazy. But for the majority of people, it’s a must.

MORE: 5 signs you need a vacation

What do you not go on vacation without? Share in the comments below.