What Are the Advantages of Travel Insurance?
Published January 31, 2012 | 
Travel insurance is usually the last thing on people’s mind when they are booking a trip, but can turn out to be the most important thing to have when you are in a crisis situation. Here are some advantages of booking travel insurance:
1. Medical Care: The most obvious advantage is that if you fall sick on your trip, you will be covered for any medical care you need. Make sure you understand the limitations in your policy, as some have upper limits for the amount they will pay.
2. Medical Transport: Most insurance policies will pay for you to be transported to a medical establishment, such as by road or air ambulance.
3. Repatriation: Insurance will also pay for the cost to be returned to your home country after your medical treatment, along with a medical professional. This also covers the transport of your remains if you die while abroad.
4. Medical Evacuation: In the event of you being extremely sick and there not being a good hospital where you are, you will be evacuated to the nearest good hospital for treatment, even if this means taking you to another country.
5. Hospital Incidentals: This covers incidental costs while you are a patient in a hospital. This is only given after a minimum length of stay and also has an upper limit on the amount you can claim.
6. Cancellation or trip interruption: This covers any costs of you having to change the duration of your trip, such as flight changes etc. This includes a death in the family, or something happening to your home, such as fire.
7. Missed Flights: This covers all added costs if you miss your flight back home. This will help you get the first possible flight back, as well as cover any extra costs of changing flights or hotel stays.
8. Personal Liability: This gives you cover in case you hurt a third party or damage any property.
9. Legal Expenses: There is usually some sort of cover provided if you have to get involved in litigation while on your visit.
10. Personal Accident: This means that if you get hurt or die during your trip, you will be given some amount of money.
11. Personal Baggage: This covers your belongings while on the trip. If you lose a bag, a laptop or any other belongings, you can claim compensation for it. This is usually accompanied with information on the maximum amounts you can claim, for instance on jewellery.
All of these are advantages of carrying travel insurance, however, the covers given to you under different policies vary, and so make sure you read the fine print before you sign any documents or pay for your cover. Depending on where you are going, and how long you are going for, you will be required to pay different amounts. So, it may be more expensive to buy travel insurance for a dangerous country, as compared to a country with low crime rate.
Travel Insurance – A Solution for a Hassle Free Journey
Published January 31, 2012 |
It is advisable to always plan your trip effectively as it will help make your journey safe, convenient and free of all tension. One of the recommended steps while planning your trip is buying a travel insurance. Travel health insurance is necessary while travelling to any part of the globe. It acts as an additional security in case you meet unforeseen emergencies. If you are not covered by travel medical insurance, any kind of personal tragedy will result in a financial burden. If you are travelling to any of the developed countries, then travel insurance is a must as the medical facilities in developed countries are very expensive and may entirely ruin your travel plan.
Overseas travel medical insurance is essential for travelers going to foreign countries since the domestic health insurance will not be of much use outside ones home country. When you travel abroad you will have enough responsibilities to worry about, do not let unforeseen emergencies be one of them. If you are secured by travel insurance you will have a hassle free journey and your trip will be one of the memorable experiences of your life. Many emergencies like trip delay, loss of checked baggage, loss of passport, delay of checked baggage, trip cancellation, trip curtailment, hijack, acts of war and terrorism, hospitalization, injuries can be covered by travel medical insurance during your travel period. Different insurance companies have designed a wide range of insurance plans to meet the specific needs of the travelers during their travel period.
Choosing among these plans is made easier for travelers online. All a traveler has to do is to fill an application form online. The traveler can then compare travel medical insurance quotes and choose any plan which satisfies their needs best. The compare tool helps the traveler to analyze the differences in the premium costs, deductibles, medical benefits, period of coverage… of the various plans provided by the different companies. The purchase process at online is very easy. The travelers can buy a policy which suits their needs. The plan’s life will start and end on the dates as per the travelers choice. The transaction can be completed by making a payment online through a credit or debit card. The purchase process of an insurance policy does not require any kind of medical checkup or paper work. Though every misfortune event is not covered by overseas travel medical insurance it covers most of the unfortunate events. You need to check you travel insurance policy carefully if there are any exclusions. It is recommended that the traveler keeps the medical bills, boarding passes, ticket copies and receipts of other expenses made so that you can file your claim if anything goes wrong.
Travel Insurance For Children – What To Look Out For
Published January 31, 2012 |
Ask any parent and they’ll tell you that their child’s safety is their number one priority, and the majority of parent’s find they spend a great deal of time worrying over what their kids are up to. As their lives are the parent’s responsibilities this is of course, a good thing, but when travelling abroad, the children become just one concern of many. It’s strange, but often the family holiday, a break from the stresses of everyday life, is actually more stressful than the life they’re trying to escape from!
Having worked in the industry for some time, I like to think I know a thing or two about children’s travel insurance. So here are some things to look out for:
Children go free?
Quite a few companies are now offering free child travel insurance when buying a policy for accompanying adults. There’s no reason to be suspicious of offers like that (we have such a policy at Insuremore), but it is important to see if the small print matches your requirements. For example, how many additional children are covered by an adult policy? If it covers 2, and you have a family with 3 children you need to contact the company about getting additional cover. Likewise, some companies’ family policies have very tight definitions of who would be covered. If you have foster children, or are the legal guardians, make a quick check to ensure you’re covered.
How old can a ‘child’ be?
This is an interesting one, because some companies’ definitions of ‘child’ are pushing it a bit. The majority of companies will provide children’s travel insurance for sons and daughters up to the age of 18, but it’s not unheard of for 21, or even 23, to be the age gap if the relation is in full time education. Of course, by that age, they may not be enamoured by the idea of a family holiday with the folks, but if for some reason they are, then it’s a great little saving if you can find a provider who have such an ‘interesting’ idea of the word ‘child’.
Independent Child’s Travel Insurance
One thing to look out for is annual children’s travel insurance, as some of these offer children the opportunity to travel independently of their parents or guardians, and still be covered. These usually cost an additional premium, but if your child is likely to be needing to travel on their own regularly (for school trips, for example), then this is a great solution. If independent trips are likely to be few and far between, it may be worth paying for one-off single trip child travel insurance.
Check the Small Print
It should go without saying, but all child travel insurance policies are not born equal. Compare a few policies and ensure that your kid is covered for whatever you may plan on getting up to on holiday – for example, if it’s a skiing holiday, you’ll very likely have to pay an additional fee to ensure that your child is completely covered for the trip.
Of course on top of this, there’s the usual advice of being vigilant. Children can be unpredictable, and while travel insurance should rightly provide you some peace of mind, it does not mean you can completely relax. The usual care for children’s safety should be observed even with the child’s travel insurance protection: plenty of suncream, all the right vaccinations, a wrist band on toddlers with contact information in case they get lost – that sort of thing.
When travelling, there are hundreds of things that can go wrong, but with the usual vigilance you would observe for your kid at home and some quality child’s travel insurance, you can avoid the majority of problems that could arise and enjoy some quality rest and relaxation in your holiday paradise of choice.