When you are travelling, you probably let your mind go right to all the good times and activities you have planned or the business matters that you will be handling during the course of your trip. You probably aren’t thinking about what could go wrong. While you don’t want to dwell on what could go wrong, you do want to be prepared for it. The way to be prepared is by having travel insurance.
Why Is Travel Insurance Necessary?
You’re probably thinking that most leisure and business trips go off without a hitch. Nothing happens and nothing goes wrong. Why should you buy travel insurance if nothing has happened before?
No one ever thinks that something will go wrong until it does. Most people think that holidaydisasters will never happen to them. The problem is that they have to happen to someone, and on your next trip it could be you.
So what could happen? You could lose your luggage or other valuables. You could become ill and have to cut your trip short or not be able to go at all. Plus, you would have lost all the money you had already spent on plans or plane tickets because refunds can be hard to come by.
You could also face a medical emergency of some sort. This could be difficult both at the time it happens and later when trying to cope with the bills. With all the things that could happen, you know that you have to take the right precautions.
What Can Travel Insurance Do?
Travel insurance can do many things. What a policy covers depends on that policy but there are many possible areas of coverage. Here are some of the main types of travel insurance that may be covered by a typical policy.
Emergency travel medical insurance covers medical emergencies that happen while you travel. For unexpected medical emergencies this coverage picks up where your regular medical insurance policy left off. You know medical expenses aren’t cheap no matter where you are so they need to be covered.
Medical evacuation insurance covers the expenses related to when you have to be evacuated from a location due to medical problems. This may not happen often but when it does it comes with a hefty price tag. This insurance helps pay for the means of transportation as well as the medical personnel who watch over you.
Trip cancellation insurance covers the money lost when you have to cancel your trip before you get to go and can cover trip interruption too. You will want to look into the reasons for which trip cancellation or interruption is covered. There will be limitations.
Rental car excess waiver helps with costs related to damage to or theft of your rental car. If you’ll have a rental car or vehicle, you’ll want this coverage.
Travel insurance is always a necessity when you go on any kind of trip. There are so many things that could go wrong, and the right travel insurance policy will help to protect you from them. Without travel insurance, you’re just waiting for something to go wrong.
By: Mark V James
Posts Tagged ‘Medical Expenses’
Travel Insurance is Necessary
April 19th, 2010An Introduction to Travel Insurance For Students
April 6th, 2010
If you’re about to take the great leap into the unknown and study overseas for a time, one arrangement that shouldn’t be overlooked is your insurance. Accidents do happen, and it’s always better to be prepared, so that if something does go wrong, you come through it a bit easier.
What cover do students normally need?
The most important items to be covered for are medical expenses, dental emergencies, return flights home and personal liability. Other items that are also important are cover for your equipment (because if your laptop isn’t covered it might be hard to study without one should it get stolen) and the cost to replace travel documents.
As an Australian student travelling overseas which countries provide reciprocal health care?
Some countries do have reciprocal health care with Australia, and these include:
o New Zealand
o The United Kingdom
o The Republic of Ireland
o Sweden
o The Netherlands
o Finland
o Italy
o Malta
o Norway
You will need to show them your passport and Medicare card to receive health care, so make sure your Medicare card goes with you and is valid for the whole time you are away.
For other countries, you will need to have travel insurance to cover medical costs, particularly if they are expensive, such as the USA, or below par, in which case you might need to be evacuated to another country to receive adequate care.
What are the main considerations when buying student travel insurance
While the most obvious consideration may be budget, be careful not to choose the cheapest policy over the more comprehensive one.
While the most obvious consideration may be budget, be careful not to choose the cheapest policy over the more comprehensive one.
First, make sure that you have unlimited medical cover. This is important because medical bills can be a lot more expensive than you think, and unlimited cover means you are not stuck with bills that run into the tens of thousands (it’s quite enough to have a student debt as it is, let alone medical bills on top!).
Second, make sure that the personal liability in the policy is adequate. Some policies cap this at $1million, while others will offer up to $5million. This may or may not include legal fees, so be sure on this point also. Some policies will list legal fees as a separate item, and if this is the case, make sure they will cover at least $50,000.
While it may not seem important at the time of signing up, it’s good to check on the policy’s cover for accidental death, repatriation of remains and permanent disability. One policy reviewed offered only $5000 for accidental death, which would hardly be enough for repatriation and funeral expenses. Another policy offered well over $75,000 for permanent disability and unlimited expenses for repatriation of remains. It’s not nice to think about, but nonetheless it’s an important point to consider.
Your time overseas will no doubt be filled with plenty of good times you will remember for the rest of your life. But it pays to be secure in the knowledge that if something does go awry you are not working for the next 20 years to pay it off.
By: Ian D. Jackson
Defining Travel-Health Insurance
March 29th, 2010
Ever heard of stories of how people go travelling or go on vacation in perfectly healthy conditions, and come across some mishaps during the journey that render them hospitalized? It is no laughing matter when this happens as you are away from home, and you end up with a medical bill that could go up to a few hundred, maybe even thousand dollars. How do we avert from facing this situation? Definitely by investing in a credible and trustworthy, yet affordable health insurance plan for travels.
When we talk about individual health insurance plans, many are not aware of such a thing called travel health insurance. Well, now that you have heard of it, let us look at what it really is. Normally health insurance companies only provide coverage for you within your own country, thus when you are travelling, you are completely exposed to the dangers of travelling without the security of an insurance policy to back you up. However, this could be easily remedied by purchasing a short-term travel protection plan that insures you against health hazards and accidents while you travel beyond the borders of your country. Most travel agents and insurance companies offer this service for the benefit of travellers, and you should take this plan up if you are planning to venture out of your country. Normally this short-term policy covers emergency services, hospital bills, doctor’s fees and other similar expenditure that you might face in the case of an accident abroad.
There are two main varieties of travel insurance offered by insurance companies, namely the international medical insurance plan as well as the travel protection plan. The international medical insurance plan can be either short or long term, and would reimburse you for any medical expenses that you bear during travelling or living in a different country. The travel protection plan on the other hand would normally provide you refunds on non-reimbursed travel expenses in the case of an emergency (such as airline strike, sickness, etc) occurring just before you leave for your trip and causing you losses. The plan usually includes coverage for lost or damaged baggage as well, as well as a small allocation for medical expenses incurred.
Remember never to leave your country without a travel health insurance plan with you, or you might be stranded in a strange country without the ability to settle your hospital bills. Not a pretty sight if you ask me.
By: Vignes Chandran
