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 ‘Passport’
An Introduction to Travel Insurance For Students
April 12th, 2010Annual Travel Insurance Provides Affordable Coverage For Frequent Travelers
April 6th, 2010
If you find yourself traveling internationally, it’s always a good idea to have a travel insurance plan to protect you in case of an emergency. But if you travel internationally frequently, then a multi trip travel insurance plan isn’t just a good idea; it’s a must-have item.
Accidents and illnesses that occur while traveling overseas may not be covered by your existing insurance plan. So if you need to see a doctor for something as simple as food poisoning from unfamiliar cuisine, or as serious as an injury suffered during a flight, it’s vital that you have a travel insurance plan in place to keep the costs associated with that doctor’s visit manageable. And the more you travel abroad, the more potential there is for you to need healthcare assistance. Having an annual multi-trip travel insurance plan in place will help keep your health care costs affordable for every international trip you take in a year.
Annual travel insurance gives you year-round protection, so that if you travel multiple times a year for business or pleasure, you’re covered every time. And the coverage doesn’t just apply to illness and injury either; it also helps with travel problems like lost luggage and travel assistance as well, making it even more valuable to frequent travelers.
Should your baggage becomes lost, stolen, or damaged, annual travel insurance will reimburse you up to $3200 for each article. You can also be compensated up to $50 each for lost/stolen visa, passport, and credit cards. And if your baggage is misdirected or delayed in arriving at your final destination, you’ll be covered for purchase of replacement items. If you’ve traveled internationally, you know there’s a very real chance of these inconveniences occurring. And the more often you travel, the more likely these things are to happen.
Annual travel insurance travel assistance features will practically pay for the cost of the policy by themselves. These features include medical evacuation information, medical and legal referral information (since if you need medical or legal assistance in a foreign country, you likely won’t know where to turn for the best care), emergency cash transfers, guaranteed hospital admission, translation services, prescription drug and eyeglass replacement, and more. With travel assistance features, you won’t need to fend for yourself should a problem, whether an emergency or an inconvenience, occur.
Travel insurance for frequent travelers assures you of a stress-free travel experience, because you won’t need to worry about how to handle a difficult medical or logistical situation. You’ll be promised affordable service for any health-related issues, and prompt, friendly, knowledgeable assistance with resolving any travel problems.
By: Harry Higgins
The Necessity of International Travel Insurance
March 3rd, 2010
Everyone has an innate desire to travel abroad and go to places they’ve never been before. It certainly would be an exhilarating experience worth remembering for life.
Indeed, traveling abroad is exciting but there are things you need to brace yourself up with before you fly. These include international travel insurance. It isn’t a scam. Actually, it can be considered as a life saver in some ways. You’ll fully understand its importance once you get to your destination.
Basically, if you have international travel insurance at hand, you will never be anxious instead, you’ll have peace of mind. This is not a sales pitch. Take note, you are traveling to another country. You don’t know what to expect, right? Driving your way to a different state that has unfamiliar symbols and signs around with different names and places can be very disorienting. Good for you, if they speak the same language as yours or at least know how to speak the language you speak of.
Being in a foreign land can be discomforting as well as alarming at times. But with international travel insurance it will make it less so. Therefore, never hesitate to apply for international travel insurance before you leave the country.
Aside from having peace of mind, international travel insurance can also grant you safety. You can be spared from many paradoxes you may encounter along the way. For example, you are looking for a doctor and since let’s say, you are in Portugal, it would be easy if you speak Portuguese. Now, what if you can speak Portuguese, would you still need an English speaking doctor?
Another example, let’s put it in this case, if you happen to lose your passport, the easiest solution would be to go to your Embassy. Now, how are you going to do that when you can’t get inside the Embassy without showing your passport?
This is where International travel insurance serves its purpose. It provides solutions to these paradoxes and helps you get away from these difficult situations. Aside from that, it helps youin recovering nonrefundable costs in delays and cancellation as well as it aids you with emergency medical care.
Indeed, going to places you’ve never been can be an exciting experience. Seeing the world’s best tourist destinations such as France and Italy will certainly be a memorable experience. You may bump into some unexpected and unwanted events, like what was above mentioned; having international travel insurance will be your guarantee for a safe and worry-free trip.
By: Ileana Limon
