Destination Wedding Checklist – How Travel Insurance Can Help

Travel insurance doesn’t cover your nuptial ceremony, but it can still be immensely helpful in a destination wedding. Here are the insurance benefits couples getting married overseas should look out for. 

Having a destination wedding is no doubt a bucket-list item, and the IG posts alone will make hosting one so worth it. 

But it can also be more risky, what with having to actually go to another country – with finery and guests and family in tow – in order to exchange vows.. 

All the more reason, then, to make sure you have proper insurance coverage just in case anything should go wrong on your big day. And that’s where travel insurance comes in.

Now, it’s important to understand that a travel insurance plan isn’t meant to cover your wedding ceremony. In fact, you may want to check what coverage or assurance – if any – will be offered by the venue or caterer or other important vendors. 

But, for everything else leading up to and throughout the entirety of your overseas wedding trip, travel insurance can play an important role. 

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What travel insurance benefits do you need for a destination wedding?

Overseas medical expenses and emergency evacuation

Overseas medical and emergency evacuation cover is the core function of any travel insurance plan, and for destination weddings, it’s no different. 

No need to go overboard here, just make sure the coverage offered matches the destination you’re travelling to. For instance, you can probably make do with lower coverage for a wedding in Bali, but if you’re having your ceremony in Hawaii, you’ll likely need a higher level of benefits. 

Since you’re likely to be travelling with family and friends, you may consider getting a group travel insurance plan. This could allow you to obtain higher coverage at a lower cost per person. 

If you go this route, clarify what the policy group limit is. This is the maximum amount the policy will pay out in the event of an insured event, and will be split among all claimants.

Luggage and personal belongings

Besides having sufficiently high overseas medical expenses and emergency evacuation cover, it’s also important to have ample luggage and personal belongings benefits.

Let’s be clear; having a travel insurance plan doesn't magically ensure that your luggage won’t get delayed or go missing. But, in the statistically unlikely event it does, having insurance coverage will help you defray the cost of replacing your belongings– or part of it, at least.

This will allow you to simply go ahead and buy the missing items without having to add too much to that pile of debt you probably already racked up. (Hey, no judgement here – there’s nothing wrong with taking on debt to fund your destination wedding, as long as you’ve worked out a plan to pay it all off in a reasonable timeframe.)

Do note that conventional travel insurance plans have sub-limits for high-worth items such as laptops, cameras and jewellery. This means you will be restricted in how much you can claim for such items. 

If you’re bringing, say, the family diamond necklace that has been passed down through the generations, consider getting a separate insurance plan specifically for high-value items. Such plans are pricier, but will offer higher coverage, in some cases up to full cover. 

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Travel delay and trip interruption

Travel delay and trip interruption benefits in a travel insurance plan kicks in should your trip be delayed, or you’re forced to cut your wedding trip short and come back early. 

Typically, travel plans cover events such as flight delays or missed connections; these may force you to have to purchase alternative flights to get to your wedding destination. 

Meanwhile, having to come back early means wasting the hotel bookings and attraction tickets you’ve already paid for, which can be particularly painful if you’ve splurged on luxury accommodations and bespoke experiences.  

Generally, travel insurance offers trip interruption benefits, which you can use to help recover the cost of wasted bookings. 

Yet, trip interruption benefits vary across plans, both in terms of coverage level, and causes/reasons/events covered. This makes it important to pay attention to the actual benefits you’re getting, under what circumstances you can make a claim, and how much you can claim.

Some insurers also offer a “cancel for any reason” (CFAR) clause, which covers you for changes to your itinerary for any reason (except ones specifically excluded; these will be indicated in your policy). 

CFAR covers you against a wider range of events, which may be appealing for some. But note that you’ll have to bear part of the risk, which means you’re unlikely to receive full restitution. 

Still, as always when it comes to insurance, partial coverage is better than no coverage.

Personal liability

Should your guests suffer accidents or injuries while attending your wedding ceremony, you could be on the hook for their medical bills, or may be held liable for losses or damages. 

The operative word here is “could/may”. In all likelihood, it needs to be proven that it was your actions or decisions that led to the injury or loss before your policy can be invoked, and that’s a task that may not exactly be cut and dried. 

Still, this is less about defending against a dramatic court battle and more about having an added resource to fall back on in case something unfortunate happens; having personal liability coverage will allow your guests to make a claim against your policy for compensation, provided the case goes through.

As such, it is worthwhile choosing a travel plan with high personal liability cover – or better yet, one that offers unlimited cover. 

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Best travel insurance plans for destination weddings

Singlife Travel Insurance

Singlife Travel Insurance covers trip cancellation for any reason, along with decent coverage for trip interruptions and change of travel dates.

There’s also unlimited coverage for overseas medical expenses, up to S$500,000 in personal accident cover, and up to S$2 million personal liability benefits. 

As an added bonus, you can also claim up to S$150 in case excessive rainfall causes disruptions to your carefully planned wedding ceremony on the day. 

See this also: Singlife Travel Insurance Review: Well-Rounded Coverage