The Italian Cruise Disaster: How would travel insurance help?

• Tweet

• Tweet

For reasons not yet fully understood, the cruise ship Costa Concordia struck the rocks off the Tuscan island of Giglio and capsized with over 4,000 passengers and crew aboard. At least five people are now known to have died in this tragedy and dozens remain missing.

Travel insurance would give you a ‘lifeline’ to call

While the immediate task of the cruise management company should be to help the survivors, as well as the relatives of the victims, helping that number of people is difficult for even the most well organized team. Travelers with travel insurance have a third-party to call for assistance – and these folks are trained to handle travel emergencies.

Arranging medical care or evacuation

Survivors who regularly take necessary prescriptions could be struggling to find replacements. Those who were injured or suffered hypothermia from the freezing water may be struggling to find medical help and may be facing foreign medical bills. Travel insurance assistance services can locate local medical care providers and even arrange for an evacuation.

Replacing lost passports and credit cards

Survivors of this bizarre tragedy were forced to abandon the ship, in most cases, with little more than the clothing on their backs. If they were lucky, they had a cell phone in their pocket. In the dead of night, these former passengers were virtually stranded in foreign country without their wallets, identification, passports, credit cards, cash, and more. Travel insurance services can help travelers replace their passports, obtain new credit cards, and even advance cash from their own accounts or from family.

Making new travel arrangements

As the survivors have begun returning to their homes, many tell tales of finding their own transportation to other towns, and having to rely on the kindness of strangers for temporary lodging. With travel insurance in their corner, stranded travelers have help finding and paying for alternative flights back home, lodging, and replacement clothing and personal items.