Trip insurance to cover belongings in case of mugging or burglary?
 

Planning my first trip out of the US for my honeymoon in Italy. My boss was just in Rome for 4 days and the last night at the hotel he returned to his room to find his room tossed - personal cell phone, company cell phone and laptop, plus 1,000 euros gone.

So, now I am freaked out. I have read to be weary of pickpockets and possibly muggers, and am typically paranoid of leaving anything valuable in a room without a room safe.

We plan to travel light, but will have either a laptop and/or an ipad and our two smart phones.

I am confirming with each of our hotels whether room safes are available or if they have a safe at the office we can use. But though I might add some insurance to our trip. However, trip insurance appears to be for cancellations/interruptions. I can put locks on the suit cases, but if they can just roll them out the door, not sure that is a solution. Any idea if there is a way to insure your belongings?

I also thought of doing Traveller's checks, but they seem very antiquated and I am not sure how readily they are accepted in Italy these days.

I also thought to check with American Express, since we have booked the majority of the trip through them.

I appreciate any suggestions!!!

Super excited, but now completely apprehensive :.|

First call your insurance broker and see if theft includes trips out of the country. Then there is usually a deductible any way.

Do not carry a lot of cash. See if your bank has offices or affiliates in Italy and use the ATM. Be sure to ask for a schedule of the fees.

Use credit cards whenever possible but cash advances on credit cards are usurous. Be sure to have a four digit PIN for use of credit cards and ATM's.

Take xerox copies of all documents including passports and both sides of the credit cards.

It is the rare trip insurance that covers theft.

One of our kids was robbed in Spain, lost everything but the passport. Our Homeowner's insurance covered it minus the deductible.

Check your own insurance first, not only for theft but for healthcare.
If you aren't covered then you can take out travel insurance which covers theft. The terms and conditions may not be great though. If your health insurance doesn't cover Europe you need to take out travel cover for that.

Traveller cheques are ancient history, and you would struggle to change them.

I didn't think about our homeowner's policy at all. Great suggestion!

I will check with out credit union about ATM fees.

I have a list of credit cards that do not charge fees for international use and will definately keep those on hand.

Thanks for the reminder to copy all my docs. It's on my list of to-do's.

Great feedback, thanks!

Do not get Traveller's checks. They are practically useless.

It would be more effective to PREVENT theft rather than finding way to remedy after the fact. Consider this, even if you get reimbursed by the insurance LATER, how do you continue your trip if you lose all your CC, ATM card, and cash? Is potentially ruined, but perhaps memorable(?!) honeymoon ok if you get reimbursed afterwards?

Cash vs. CC. While CC usage is sometimes recommended unconditionally whenever possible, there are pros and cons. Use CC only when you are sure the card never leaves your sight to ensure no card skimming takes places and also you have to reject the Dynamic Currency Conversion offered as if it is in your favor to be charged in US dollars (while they pocket 3-6% at your expense using an exchange rate in their favor.) They don't use the term Dynamic Currency Conversion, they either ask "would you like to be charged in US dollars?" or sometimes just say "sign it" and it is up to you to notice that the charge has been unknowingly been converted to the US dollar. Small merchants don't take CCs. Budget end family hotels sometimes give cash discounts.

How were your boss's things left? Outside the safe?
I carry an 11" laptop, 7" tablet, cellphones, and assortment of CC, ATM cards, and cash. I put all these in the in room safe. The 11" laptop is sometimes too big for the safe. In this case, I extract the SD card where critical info/photo backups are kept and put the SD card in the safe. I might lose the hardware, but not the info which is more important to me.

I use money belt and neck pouches to keep most critical money and documents under the clothes. Many people think these things are silly and recommend keep everything in the room safe. But what do you do on travel days when you don't have an access to an in-room safe?

Someone who leaves all that in a room is asking for trouble.

First, - do NOT carry that kind of cash around - that's why there are credit cards ()and you keep them with you).

Any small electronics that you don;t carry with you (cell phone - what is the point of leaving multiple phones in a room?) go into the room safe. If no room safe, the hotel safe. If neither lock inside your suitcase. (And do be aware that hotel staff - not all are totally honest - do know what you have in your room. A colleague of mine had a VERY expensive peignoir set (don't ask - but Yves St L) stolen out of her room in a hotel in Mexico. Luckily she found out right after the room was cleaned and they tracked down the maid and found it in her dirty linen cart. (No - it was not a mistake, but again - why take this to a hotel on a business trip?)

He was VERY careless. If you are sensible you should not have problems.

We do not carry a lot of cash either. Heat a CC without
foreign transaction fees. Be aware of your surroundings as in any place.
My child dozed off on an overnight train and was choloroformed, robbed. Robbers jumped off the train. Conductor said he was lucky to be alive. All he had was his passport and plane ticket.