As we enter in the summer months, agents will face more frequent travel insurance requests and questions from customers as they prepare for their summer getaways. Here are seven essential things to consider when selling travel insurance.

Know how many times and where your clients travel per year. Each customer has different travel plans; knowing the frequency of travel and where in the world your customer will be visiting will help determine the amount of protection needed for travel insurance.

Find out how many family members are going. Knowing this will be helpful in determining the amount of protection needed, especially if you are insuring a young married couple on their honeymoon or a family of four with two small children.

Ask whether or not the travelers have a summer/secondary home they visit frequently. In the event that a family member should need emergency medical transportation, travel insurance would respond, and this helps direct emergency services to one specific location. Also, this information will be helpful for you as the agent to understand all of your customers' insurance needs. For example, will they need rental insurance for summer properties? Depending on what part of the world this vacation home is located, a customer may need hurricane, earthquake, flood, or other natural disaster coverage.

Make sure travel Insurance is a year-round policy. This is essential because customers may travel many times throughout the year. Also, make sure that policies provide coverage for all resident family members and spouses/domestic partners.

Remind your customer that travel Insurance protects against inclement weather/natural disasters, illness, and even terrorist acts. In today's political climate and in the event of a natural disaster, this will help put your customer at ease when planning a vacation in a foreign country or in a part of the world prone to hurricanes, earthquakes, or other natural disasters.

Know if your client will be renting a car while traveling. Travel insurance can provide coverage for collision and loss damage for customers' rental cars while on vacation.

Always provide your customer with a 24-hour hotline for assistance. This will be a great resource for your customer while traveling. The hotline can assist in multilingual issues while traveling abroad. Many hotlines also provide a concierge service to help with travel plans, finding golf tee times, and other services for your customer.

Also, the 24-hour assistance will be beneficial to your customer and you since natural disasters, auto claims, or injuries can happen at anytime, day or night, during a vacation. This around-the-clock access will help your customers feel that their insurance needs are being met in a timely fashion, and it helps gather pertinent claims information faster for you.

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