Insurance provider, AXA has launched an independent travel insurance, despite the present financial turmoil’s that are due to the credit crunch.
In spite of the increasing economic gloom, the holiday season is approaching and millions of Brits will be preparing to travel abroad over the summer months. But AXA warns that increasing numbers of people arranging their own holidays may be leaving themselves exposed despite taking out travel insurance.
Over the last few years the number of Independent Travelers has overtaken the number of Package Holiday Travelers. Internet access and low-cost airlines have helped escalate this trend – in 2006 over 16 million Independent Travelers headed overseas for holidays between April and September.
However, insurance provision has not kept pace with the changing profile of the British holidaymaker and Independent Travelers, can find that there are gaps in their insurance cover, which AXA are addressing with their Independent Travelers cover, available with AXA travel insurance from their website, axa.co.uk/travelinsurance.
The new product is an optional extension which costs as little as an additional £10 for annual European cover. It covers travelers for a number of areas such as problems with flight cancellations or delays, missed connections or the customer being denied boarding.
With a package holiday, the tour operator or travel agent is legally required to make suitable alternative arrangements for such eventualities, but the independent traveller must make and pay for their own arrangements.
Edward Dutton, AXA’s Personal Insurance Director said: “We are aware from our own claims area that Independent Travellers have run into problems with their travel insurance and a recent report from Defaqto underlined the need for insurers to offer cover that helps customers when things go wrong – the things that would normally be picked up by a tour operator or travel agent if it were a package holiday.
Dutton continued: “We believe that the rise of the Independent Traveller is something that all insurers should be addressing; as the Ombudsman pointed out in his latest report – ‘There is clearly a mismatch in what insurers intend to offer and the cover that consumers believe they are buying.’”
The additional cover offered by this optional extension includes, delayed departure compensation for delays exceeding 5 hours occurring at the departure point of any connecting flights or booked public transportation on both the outbound and return journeys.
By: Ruth Jacob
Archive for November, 2009
AXA’s Independent Travel Insurance
November 30th, 2009Medication Changes and Travel Insurance – Pre-Existing Medical Conditions Coverage
November 30th, 2009
Medication changes or adjustments can cause a stable medical condition to be classified as a pre-existing medical condition under many travel insurance companies plans. Now, I don’t mean to say that all travel insurance plans throughout the world work exactly like I’m going to explain it. I only work with 6 trip cancellation travel insurance companies mainly because I don’t think it’s possible to know the details of scores of different plans.
Also, before I go further into this subject I just need to say that what’s commonly known as travel insurance really has two different categories:
- travel health / medical insurance
- trip cancellation / interruption travel insurance
While nearly everybody thinks that these kinds of plans are the same, in reality they’re not for a few different reasons. So, with the purpose of trying to help you avoid likely claim problems with “travel health / medical insurance plans”, here is what we say:
“Pre-existing conditions are not covered. A pre-existing condition is defined as any injury, illness, sickness, disease, or other physical, medical, mental or nervous condition, disorder or ailment that, with reasonable medical certainty, existed at the time of application or at any time during the three years prior to the effective date of the insurance, whether or not previously manifested or symptomatic, diagnosed, treated, or disclosed prior to the effective date, including any subsequent, chronic or recurring complications or consequences related thereto or arising therefrom.”
I won’t bore you with all the other differences between these types of plans, since I am only addressing changes of medications and pre-existing medical conditions.
Back to the trip cancellation travel insurance plans. Typically, these plans have a Lookback Period of 60 – 180 days prior to the date the travel insurance is purchased. If the person’s medical condition has been diagnosed, treated, received advisement on, had symptoms of or changes or adjustments in their prescribed medication during that Lookback Period then most companies will define that medical condition as a pre-existing medical condition.
Having a pre-existing medical condition doesn’t mean you can’t get travel insurance. It just means that order to get coverage for that pre-existing condition with a trip cancellation travel insurance plan, you have to purchase the insurance within the specified deadline to receive the waiver of the pre-existing medical conditions exclusion. Here are the four rules that you need to follow:
- With a few exceptions, you have to insure at least your trip’s full prepaid, non-refundable cost (you can’t round it down). If you don’t know your final trip cost, estimate it high to be safe. You can always lower to the correct trip cost prior to your departure date. If it drops you to a lower trip cost range, you’ll get a partial refund. and
- The person (including non-traveling family members) with the medical condition has to be medically stable when you get your insurance and
- You must get your travel insurance in the first 14 or 21 days after your first trip payment date or no later than 24 Hours after you make your final Trip payment and
- You have to cover your trip’s full length.
By: Steve Dasseos
Travel Insurance – Why You Mustn’t Set Off Without It
November 25th, 2009
When you’re booking an overseas holiday, travel insurance isn’t always the uppermost thing on your mind – especially if you’re heading to somewhere relatively close by.
But be warned – the cost of failing to take out adequate protection against issues such as lost luggage and medical treatment can be huge, with breaks to some countries resulting in bills of tens of thousands of pounds if you happen to injure yourself or fall ill.
Making sure to always take out the right travel insurance policy before you set off for your overseas break can help guard against such huge expenses.
Lost luggage
Losing your luggage can be stressful – more so if it wasn’t your fault.
The Foreign & Commonwealth Office recommends taking out travel insurance rather than relying on airline compensation if your carrier loses your bags and suitcases in transit.
Airlines are required by law to pay a specific minimum amount per kilo of lost luggage to the traveller affected, which is likely to be far less than the actual worth of the belongings that have been mislaid.
Medical expenses
Medical bills can be huge in pretty much any foreign country if you haven’t taken out the right travel insurance.
Figures from FirstAssist Services indicate that the cost of flying back to the UK with a doctor escort from Australia in the event of injuring yourself or becoming ill can be between £15,000 and £20,000.
If you need to head back home from the Canary Islands, this can cost up to £16,000, while those doing so from the east coast of the US will be required to pay between £35,000 and £45,000 if they do not have travel insurance.
What else?
Holiday insurance can cover a number of other issues when heading abroad.
For example, you can get policies that offer protection for personal liability if you are sued for damaging property or causing injury, as well as those offering cover for lost and stolen possessions and needing to cancel or curtail your break.
Make sure to check the fine print of your policy and talk to your insurer to check it covers everything you might need on your next trip abroad.
By: Dipika Patel
