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
Archive for November, 2009
Travel Insurance – Why You Mustn’t Set Off Without It
November 25th, 2009Working Overseas Travel Insurance
November 25th, 2009
According to a government website, there are approximately 900,000 Australians living and working overseas at any one time. Australians are renowned for their globetrotting – how often have you come across an Aussie serving behind a bar in even the most remote of places around the world?
There are a number of reasons you might be working overseas: maybe you’re heading off to work in your company’s overseas office; perhaps you’re an independent contractor whose skills are in demand all over the globe; you could be studying overseas and need a part-time job; or maybe you’re just young and filled with wanderlust but need to fund your travels.
Whether you’re a backpacker with a holiday job or an expatriate working in New York you’ll need some decent travel insurance. The risk of becoming a casualty of illness or a serious accident increases exponentially with the length of time you live away from home. The potential costs arising from unexpected incidents such as these, could leave you financially burdened for a very long time. For example, hospitalisation in some European hospitals can cost upwards of $1,000 a day. A travel insurance policy will go a long way towards minimising the possibility of monetary losses.
Here’s a few things to look out for…
¥ Check to see that your particular occupation is covered.
¥ Be mindful of the fact that your policy may not extend to public liability cover whilst you’re at work. Have a chat to your prospective employers – there’s a very good chance that you’ll automatically have access to public liability insurance through your employment contract.
¥ Please note that it is unlikely that any insurer would cover you at all for any work involving the use of mechanical or industrial machinery. However, if you are, ask them if they can extend cover for you.
¥ Typically, “light” or “non-manual” work such as bar and restaurant work, office work, nursing and even fruit picking would be covered but you will need to check with your insurance supplier.
Don’t forget to ensure that you have all your relevant employment documentation with you and check to see if you need a special working visa! You might like to take a look at the Australian Government DFAT website http://www.smartraveller.gov.au that will give you excellent guidance and information on working overseas.
By: Josh Harrison
Why Travel Medical Insurance Is So Important
November 22nd, 2009
Travel medical insurance is an insurance package that offers certain medical coverage while traveling. These plans are similar to that of normal health insurance policies, but are associated with traveling. Travel medical plans consist mainly of one of two types of policies, namely temporary travel medical plan and permanent travel insurance program.
To acquire travel insurance, an individual needs to pay a monthly premium to the insurance company through a travel agent. The company then pays for all medical care required by the customer while traveling.
International travelers, who travel frequently, mainly require this type of insurance. There are various choices to be made amongst travel health insurers, which offer help to numerous traveling people. If travelers develop some medical troubles outside their country, these travel programs provide them with all the necessary medical assistance and protection.
These travel health insurance scheme provides hospital security benefit of $100 or more per night, for travelers going outside the US. They also provide $15,000 and more to cover suitable medical expenses for previous health conditions. These are the most attractive feature of these travel plans.
Reasons To Get Travel Insurance:
Is travel medical insurance necessary or waste of money? This is a common question arising in the minds of many people, when they think of a travel insurance program. There are certain reasons that show how important travel health coverage can be to a traveler.
While seeking an affordable travel package, people need to pay attention to its price structure. Most of the available travel medical plans are of low cost. The traveler is ready to spend the vacation money for fun, but chances of medical complications can add extra money. To avoid this, it is very necessary to buy a cheap travel health insurance package.
Most medical policies provide health care assurance all around the world. However, they do not offer full amount as per the coverage. For instance, if a person is traveling on a cruise ship, the basic health insurance plan will cover only 50 percent of the doctor’s visits on the ship.
However, the medical travel package covers the full amount and sometimes more. Therefore, travel insurance programs are the best choice for international travelers to protect themselves while relaxing.
Many travel medical insurers offer policies, without a medical or health examination. The package takes care of all the medical expenses associated with any medical crisis, while traveling.
Final Advice:
Travel medical insurance provides peace of mind, during your entire trip. To make the vacation more enjoyable without any hassles, it is very important to have travel medical insurance. For those travelers, who have previous medical history this is even more important.
Travelers with previous history have a high risk of medical complications during traveling and there is no chance of extra expense, if they already have travel coverage. You really don’t want to take the risk of not having it.
A travel agent generally offers the travel health insurance when making bookings, and a large number of travel agents, who provides these policies, are available online. To conclude, travel health coverage provides an extra level of comfort and deals with all the medical complications get a quote below.
By: Ian E. Wright
