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
Posts Tagged ‘Medical Costs’
An Introduction to Travel Insurance For Students
April 12th, 2010Finding Travel Insurance for Pre-Existing Medical Conditions
November 29th, 2009
What would happen if you had a month’s trip to America booked – departing in six months time – and were unexpectedly diagnosed with lung cancer? Suppose you had to cancel your holiday and go in for immediate surgery. If you had been smart and taken out travel insurance – effective from the date you booked the trip – you should be able to recover costs associated with the cancellation of the trip (after any excess payable). However, if you had waited until the day before departure to purchase travel insurance your cancellation costs would not be covered. Some people try to squeeze extra mileage out of their annual travel insurance policy by making the start date of the policy the date of the first departure. This is a risky thing to do because there will be no cover for cancellation costs if anything should go wrong prior to the departure date.
Just suppose you’d been having tests and investigations within the last year for lung-related problems but failed to declare this fact when purchasing travel insurance. During your scuba diving holiday in California, you start coughing up blood all over the dive boat. You have to seek emergency medical care and a diagnosis of lung cancer is confirmed. Would you be covered for the high emergency medical costs or curtailment of your trip? Probably not.
Anyone with a serious pre-existing medical condition will already know that obtaining travel insurance can be tricky, but not impossible. Some travel insurance companies exclude all claims related to pre-existing medical conditions. Some insurers will cover for pre-existing conditions without any additional premium. Other travel insurance companies may have a medical screening system, usually carried out over the telephone or online. A series of questions is asked to assess the risk and determine whether insurance can be issued. If approved, there may be a choice to either pay an additional premium to cover the pre-existing condition – or elect not to pay the extra premium and exclude claims relating to the risk.
Common conditions such as hypertension (high blood pressure), diabetes and asthma can all cause problems when trying to obtain travel insurance – especially if combined with other conditions, so never neglect to disclose something as common as high cholesterol thinking that it is insignificant! All questions must be answered fully and honestly.
As with any type of insurance, there are always exclusions. Some insurers will refuse to insure those with pre-existing conditions involving cancer, serious kidney problems (requiring dialysis), serious heart conditions, strokes and HIV, AIDS, or any AIDS-related problems. They also do not cover for suicide or suicide attempts – in case you’re thinking of jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge!
Most travel insurance policies will carry similar wording and it is wise to read and understand the terms and conditions. For instance, there might be clauses stating that you should never travel against the advice of a medical practitioner, or to obtain medical treatment abroad (unless already disclosed and pre-approved). The same goes for those on waiting lists for surgery or procedures, or awaiting the results of medical tests. There are specialist travel insurers who will often cover terminal illnesses.
During the medical screening, you may be asked specific questions, such as: have you been a hospital inpatient or had any medical condition that requires ongoing medication, or referral to a specialist within the past twelve months? Have you ever suffered from, been diagnosed with, or treated for cancer (or other malignant disease), a heart or lung condition (excluding well-controlled asthma), high blood pressure or any psychiatric disorder?
Any claims you make which relate directly or indirectly to the types of conditions listed above will normally be excluded – unless you declared the condition and it was accepted by the underwriter, subject to any conditions or additional premiums imposed. Whether or not a particular travel insurance company is willing to offer insurance will depend upon different factors, depending on the underwriter, so it is wise to shop around and obtain quotes.
The biggest mistake is taking the risk of failing to disclose a condition to obtain the insurance. You might get away with it if there are no problems and you have no reason to make a claim. However, if the worst should happen, the insurance company has ways to find out – and they will find out – about any pre-existing conditions! You could find yourself with huge medical bills and your insurance claims denied. With the high cost of medical treatment in some countries (the USA especially) it simply is not worth it. Always be completely honest so that you can have peace of mind and enjoy your holiday without worrying about every twinge!
By: Jean Andrews
Do I Really Need UK Travel Insurance?
November 17th, 2009
When you think of why you’d need travel insurance you probably get images of broken legs whilst skiing, Car rental mishaps in the Mediterranean and eating some dodgy shrimp. You wouldn’t normally associate a weekend break within the UK as somewhere you’d need travel insurance.
But the truth is that wherever you go in the UK you are still going to need travel insurance, just not in the way you’d normally expect. Since you’ll still be in the UK you won’t be claiming against your life insurance if you get injured, that’s what health insurance is for.
The situations you’d need to claim against travel insurance would normally be the occasions where you have to cancel your holiday or cut it short. One such situation could be that you go on holiday for two weeks, when halfway through you injure yourself meaning you have to go to the hospital, subsequently cutting your holiday short. Aside from the medical costs you could end up being lumbered with charges for your accommodation even though you’re stuck in a hospital bed and not even at the hotel anymore!
This is unfortunate but hotels are well within their rights to charge you as otherwise they could have filled that booking with someone else. Luckily your travel insurance policy covers events such as these and can help regain most of the expenses which normally would be lost.
It’s also becoming more popular for people to take advantage of cheap domestic flights and taking the plane as opposed to a long and winding road trip, so if you were to cancel your holiday even due to bereavement then normally you’d be left out of pocket, travel insurance covers this too fortunately. This would also cover lost luggage as even with domestic flights it’s not unknown for your bags to disappear off the face of the earth!
Invariably whilst you’re away you’ll be taking a camera with you, and in this day and age probably a mobile phone or MP3 player too, if you were to lose or damage it while on holiday then you may not be able to afford a replacement out of your own money.
So as you can see there are plenty of occasions where you’d need travel insurance, no matter where you go, be it abroad or the other side of the country. If you have any doubts or questions it would be best to check with your current travel insurance company or a travel agent as they’d be best to advise on the level of cover for your chosen destination, you should also familiarise yourself with your insurance emergency claims line which are normally open 24 hours, 365 days a year
By: Andy Adams
