SEOUL, 13 February 2017 ? The Philippine Embassy in Seoul enjoins Filipino travelers with plans to spend their holidays in South Korea, to secure a travel insurance policy prior to their intended travel.

This advisory is being made in connection with a recent spate of medical emergency cases that the Philippine Embassy handled in the last few months involving Filipinos traveling to Korea without proper insurance coverage for medical emergencies.

Travel insurance policies will cover travelers against incidents like medical emergencies, trip disruption or cancellation, and lost or stolen possessions. While loss of personal belongings is often the main reason most people buy travel insurance, it is considered the least important. Lost belongings can be replaced but damaged health can never be recovered.

Medical treatment and hospitalization abroad can be extremely expensive, but travel insurance could provide a speedy and timely solution to help defray most of the following travel and medical expenses:

• If a traveler falls ill or has an accident while overseas, travel insurance coverage ensures that the individual gets the best quality of medical care. Travel insurance coverage also provides for emergency airlift to medical facilities as warranted by the patient's medical condition.
• Most policies offer 24-hour emergency assistance, including hospitalization and ambulance service should travelers find themselves in medical emergencies.
• Without travel insurance, disruptions to a traveler's trip can end up costing a lot of money. In many cases, travelers not only lose the money already paid for due to emergencies, they may also have to spend more for new bookings.
• If a traveler's luggage is stolen, lost or damaged, without travel insurance, the traveler will be responsible for replacing their items. With travel insurance, losses and expenses can be reimbursed.

The Embassy, encourages Filipino travelers to secure travel insurance policies from reputable travel insurance providers. It is also imperative to review the details of the travel insurance before committing to a certain policy. Reading the fine print is also advised as policies vary for each provider.

The Philippine Embassy is always at the ready to assist our nationals who are in an emergency situation. Having a travel insurance, however, not only reduces the inconveniences to the traveler, it also helps the Embassy to prioritize cases that requires immediate action.

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