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
Posts Tagged ‘Mishaps’
Defining Travel-Health Insurance
March 30th, 2010Do 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
Business Trip Travel Insurance
November 16th, 2009
If you are planning a business trip, you may be under the impression that if anything was to happen to you while you were away that your employer will cover it. However, the chances are, your employer will be under the assumption you have arranged your own travel insurance, therefore responsibility, as far as your employer is concerned, would lie with you.
Whether you are self employed, or an employee, or an employer, looking to take a trip to improve relations or get a better deal from a supplier, o meet that all important new client, but having business trip travel insurance in place you can be sure that all you need to worry about is the ask at hand, and not anything related to your trip.
Having the insurance is not just sound financially, but, in the event of an emergency, can also help your business make the most of an unfortunate situation, as well as ensure that you business meeting is not too effected by any mishaps that may happen. Your cover could include a replacement colleague clause, so that if you or your employee is sick during their business trip, your insurance will cover most if not all of the costs in replacing that colleague with another member of staff.
Time and time again we hear that our own government officials have left extremely sensitive and important information, appear and digital based, in places they shouldn’t have been left. It happens, and when it does, it can cause a real problem within your business. No matter how comprehensive your insurance is, no amount of money can bring that data back, so be sure you have back up copies of all important documents relating to your business. However, your business trip insurance can cover the cost of a replacement laptop, which at least softens the bow a little when you have o tell your employer the bad news.
No matter what you encounter during your business trip, by taking out the appropriate insurance you can be sure that no matter what unexpected events occur, your business will not be affected. Business trips are a necessary burden to most people, and the burden should not be made any bigger by needing insurance, and not having it.
If your business trip is not all work related, and you plan to have a little fun while you’re away, some providers will be able to offer cover equivalent to a holiday single trip, which will be an extra benefit of your business trip insurance.
Make sure you check with your insurer to find out exactly what your policy covers.
By: Lilly L Fry
