When you travel abroad, you may think that the insurance you get through your bank card is sufficient. You should be aware of the limitations of bank card insurance and consider taking out international insurance for added security. There are two types of cover: insurance cover (death/disability, luggage, cancellation, delay and civil liability) and assistance cover (medical expenses in the event of accident or illness, repatriation for medical reasons, early return home, etc.).
Your bank card abroad
Who is covered by your bank card?
Most cards cover: the cardholder, their spouse or partner, their children if they are unmarried, dependent and under 25 years of age (whether or not they are travelling with the cardholder), their dependent grandparents and unmarried grandchildren under 25 years of age (travelling with the cardholder).
How long are you covered abroad with your card?
Insurance cover: for the first 3 months of travel with Visa, Visa Premier, MasterCard and Mastercard Gold. Coverage starts when you are more than 100 km from home.
Assistance cover: for the first 3 months of travel with Visa, Visa Premier and MasterCard Gold outside your country of residence.
How do I access the travel insurance/assistance services provided by my credit card?
In order to use the insurance cover, you must have paid (in full or in part) with your credit card. You will only be covered for the amount you paid with the card. For example, if you paid €100 of a €2,000 trip with your card, you will only be covered for €100.
To access the assistance services: all you need is a valid card. Make sure you contact the assistance services before you start paying for anything.
What does your bank card cover?
What if you end up with medical expenses?
For entry-level cards, the reimbursement limit is far from sufficient in countries with high health costs. Remember that a day in hospital can cost up to €7,500 in North America, Asia or South Africa.
Visa and MasterCard upper limit: €11,000
Visa Premier and MasterCard Gold upper limit: €155,000
In addition, there are deductibles between €50 and €75, which reduce your level of reimbursement
For example, with a MasterCard, if a consultation with a specialist costs €80, you will only be reimbursed €5 because there is a €75 excess.
What if you cancel your trip?
With Visa and MasterCard: you are not covered.
With Visa Premier and MasterCard Gold: you are only covered in case of death in the family, serious damage to your home or redundancy. In all other cases, the cancellation insurance cannot be used.
With both cards, €5,000 per year per card is the maximum reimbursement limit.
What if your luggage is lost, stolen or damaged?
With Visa and MasterCard: you are not covered
With Visa Premier and MasterCard Gold: you are covered for between €800 and €850 per event, with an excess of €70 only if the baggage was checked in with an air or rail carrier.
What about personal liability?
With Visa and MasterCard: you are not covered.
With Visa Premier: you are covered up to €1,525,000.
With Gold MasterCard: you are covered up to €2,000,000.
Why take out international insurance?
With an international insurance you have a much better level of cover than with your bank card:
You are insured for stays of more than three months.
You benefit from good health cover with high reimbursement ceilings (up to €2,000,000/year), lower deductibles or even no deductibles.
With cancellation insurance, you are covered for a wide range of travel cancellation scenarios and the ceilings are much higher.
With luggage insurance, you are covered for theft, loss or damage on the way to or from your trip or during your stay.
Third-party liability insurance protects you in the event of damage caused to others.
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