TRAVEL INSURANCE & BRAZIL

Brazil Vacations, Travel Insurance and Safety

Brazil isn’t a risky travel country. Brazilian tourist crime is essentially pick pocketing and bag snatching, and doesn’t affect Brazil as a whole. With some basic precautions, and behaving and looking like a Brazilian, the risk the foreign travellers incur is very low, even in the most unsafe places. See: Crime and travelling safety in Brazil

The importance of Travel Insurance

Independently of the issue of Brazilian travel safety, things can go wrong on your vacations in Brazil. You could fall ill, you could have an accident. Your visit might be cancelled or cut short due to injury, illness, or because of anything that has happened to a member of your family. And all these – and other risks - can be covered by travel insurance involving your visit to Brazil.

Travel insurance is important (for Brazil or any other destination). Any accident or illness while in Brazil can represent a serious financial burden. It’s not just about medical expenses: travel insurance may cover loss of luggage or other personal belongings, or cancelled or delayed flights, or damage that you may cause to third parties

So… make sure you have adequate and appropriate travel insurance.

Typical cost of returning from Brazil

Your police should take into account the costs of an eventual anticipated return. In other words, what you have to pay to be returned to your country in an emergency. A scheduled flight, with a doctor escort from Brazil to Europe, North-America or an Asian country could cost you something around USD 30.000 / 22,000 € / £15.000 minimum.

Obviously, all depends on the type of flight, on the escort (doctor or nurse…), illness, etc.

Family travel insurance

Family policies cover parents and children together (instead of individual policies for each person). Typical family policies involve premiums, depending on the number of people involved.

Business travel insurance

Business travel insurance is typically available as an annual policy (based on the expectancy that business people work involves multiple annual trips) with the correspondent premiums. Some business policies cover sports equipment and colleague replacement cover (this clause allows a colleague to go in your place).

Over 65s Brazil travel insurance

Many insurers do not cover the ‘higher risk’ age categories. But not all... Some insurers offer expanded emergency and medical expenses for those aged over 65 and cover cancellations and curtailments…

General precautions involving Brazil Travel Insurance

- Check the small print of your insurance policy, and the exclusions it may include. Check the terms of the policy carefully to make sure it adequately meets your needs.

- Policy exclusions can include injury or death associated to violent acts or nature events; or accidents caused through drinking alcohol or to some sports; or problems arising from a previous illness not declared to the insurer... These are just examples that vary from policy to policy.

- If you are not sure whether you are covered for any of the above exclusions (or others that you may have in mind) check it with your insurer.

- Review all insurance policies clauses for accuracy. Check the information you gave the agent and information you were given at the time of the purchase of the police.

- Do not buy an insurance without understanding the kind of policy, and which are exactly the risks covered by it.

Take into account the most frequent accidents in travelling (in Brazil). Remember: transit, at some Brazilian places is chaotic, and the Brazilian roads outside urban areas are generally bad, and poorly lit, signposted and policed; some remote locations in the Amazon or the Pantanal may have increased risks; some districts of the big Brazilian towns involve a high degree of petty crime; beaches (though not specifically the Brazilian) are a place where the number of accidents is high…

For more information about travelling abroad, insurance policies and related issues:

Foreign & Commonwealth Office
US Department of State
Visa, Passport
Money, Payments, Credit Cards
Petty crime, Safety, Security, Local Travel
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Vaccination and Health Questions