Know Before You go Essential for Travel Insurance

Cheap Travel Insurance

Travel Insurance Do I Really Need It ?

How To Buy Affordable And Comprehensive Medical Travel Insurance

While a lot of people think “I’m healthy, I don’t need travel insurance. I won’t get sick,” travel insurance is something you absolutely need on the road. You never know what could happen, and most health plans don’t cover you overseas.

Travel insurance is much more than just medical protection. It covers you when your camera breaks, your flight is canceled, a family member dies and you have to come home, lose a bag, or something is stolen. It’s all-purpose emergency coverage and is the single most important thing you should get but hope to never have to use.

My friend never thought he would break his leg hiking in New Zealand. A writer I know had to be helicoptered out of the Amazon after he fell off a boat. Another friend didn’t think her father would die and she would have to fly back home. I never planned on falling in the sea in Italy with my camera or popping my eardrum in Thailand, but I did and, if it wasn’t for my travel insurance, I would have been out a lot of money.

Travel insurance really only costs a few dollars a day. You’d be foolish not to get it.

Personally I use and recommend World Nomads. They've always had my back when something happened.

Travel insurance is one of the most complex and confusing aspects of trip planning. With the myriad of plans and companies out there, people can easily get confused about what they should get and why. Given its importance and the amount of time it’s been since I last discussed it, I want to start the year by discussing it again.

Here is how to avoid getting a bad insurance plan and not be properly covered:

What to look for in a great plan

There are a lot of options out there. This is a billion-dollar business, and everyone wants their hand in the cookie jar, thus you face a mind-numbing number of choices that can be confusing and overwhelming. And, often, in the fine print, you’ll find that plans aren’t as good as you thought.

When looking for a Medical Travel Insurance plan, first make sure they have a high coverage limit on your medical expenses. A good company will provide up to $100,000 in coverage care, though more expensive policies will cover you for higher amounts. The maximum coverage limit you can find is around $1,000,000 USD, though I’m not sure why you would ever need a limit that large. High coverage limits are important because if you get sick, injured, or need serious attention and have to seek professional care, you want to make sure your high hospital bills are covered. The worst thing you can do is go cheap and get a policy with a $20,000 coverage limit, break a leg, and reach that limit before they are done taking care of you. Don’t be cheap with your health. Get minimum coverage of $100,000.

Second, you want to make sure your policy also covers emergency evacuation and care that is separate from your medical coverage. If you are hiking in the woods and you break your leg, your policy should cover your evacuation to the hospital. If a natural disaster occurs and you need to be evacuated to somewhere else, your plan should cover that as well. This protection should cover an expense of up to $300,000 USD.

Additionally, evacuation also should mean from the hospital to your home country. Standard emergency evacuation usually includes this provision, but it’s important you double-check a company will cover the cost of your flight back home if you need it.

A great policy will always include the following provisions:

Cover most countries in the world

Some coverage for your electronics (and have the option for a higher coverage limit)

Cover injury and sudden illnesses

Twenty-four hour emergency services and help (you don’t want to call to be told to call back later)

Cover lost, damaged or stolen possessions like jewelry, baggage, documents, cameras, etc.

Cover cancellations such as hotel bookings, flight, and other transportation bookings if you have a sudden illness, death in the family, or some other emergency

Cover emergencies, strife in the country visited, etc., that cause you to head home early

Should include personal accident coverage

Have financial protection if any company you are using goes bankrupt and you are stuck in another country

Don’t get a policy that doesn’t cover these bullet points!

What isn’t covered is just as important as what is

Know what is also not covered by your Medical Travel Insurance plan. Most policies do not cover accidents sustained while participating in extreme adventure activities such as hang gliding, paragliding, or bungee jumping unless you pay extra. The majority of companies won’t cover you if you injure someone on the road (called third-party liability). Policies do not normally cover alcohol- or drug-related incidents, or carelessness in handling your possessions and baggage. You won’t get reimbursed if the problem happened because you were reckless, and how “reckless” is defined is a matter up to each company. Simply put, if a reasonable person wouldn’t partake in what caused your accident, you won’t be covered.

Moreover, you won’t be covered for pre-existing conditions or general check-ups. For example, if you have diabetes and need to buy more insulin, you won’t be covered. If you want to go see a doctor for a general check-up, you aren’t covered either.

The medical portion of travel insurance is more about emergency care than being a replacement for your normal healthcare. A lot of people purchase insurance thinking it is, then get disappointed when they find out they can’t go get an annual physical with it. Travel insurance is accident insurance. It is there to protect you in case of emergency and, if need be, get you home in a hurry. If you want a global health plan (because, say you now live in Beijing), you need a completely different type of plan.

Making a claim

If you make a claim, remember that any travel insurance company, no matter how good, is there to make money and will try to avoid paying out as much as they can. They are, after all, an insurance company and they don’t make money by paying out to every Tom, Dick, and Harry. Be prepared to wait to receive your money, because even the best companies drag their feet. In order to ensure that you do get paid your claim, make sure you have all your receipts, necessary forms, and proper documentation — all of it will help make your claim go through a lot quicker.

SOURCE:  [ http://blogs.rediff.com/travelinsurance/2016/06/23/medical-travel-insurance/ ]

Medical Travel Insurance

Cheap Travel Insurance

Compare from our travel insurance plans and choose the one that suits you best. Bajaj Allianz travel policy offers cashless hospitalization worldwide.           

Best Travel Insurance in India-Product Comparison

It is dream come true for few who are planning to travel abroad. We make sure everything planned but majority of us forget to think like, what will happen if some unwanted incidents happens like health issues, loss of valuables or loss of cash. In such a situation travel insurance will come into handy.

They are very cheap, as the coverage is for limited period. But many forget to buy it if it is not compulsory in their travel. So let us understand what are the things you need to take care of while buying such travel insurance products.

1) Duration of Travel-You must know that online travel insurance india without any travel insurance will not be necessary. But while travelling abroad, you must have travel insurance. Hence always plan to buy travel insurance when you are leaving country. Your premium will depend on duration of travel. Higher the duration higher will be premium. Also if you are a frequent traveler then there are certain policies meant for such kind of travelers. They will cost you cheaper than buying a policy every time you travel. Hence duration and frequency of travel very much effect your premium.

2) Destination of Travel-Your premium will be set depending on your travel destination. Because in some countries like USA or Canada medical cost is highest compare to other countries. Hence insurers at beginning itself get your information about destination. Based on this they will fix the premium. They usually offer like countries to USA or Canada, except USA or Canada or worldwide travel (this includes USA and Canada)

3) Age of Traveler-Your premium depends on your age. So higher the age higher will be premium. Exactly like health insurance, in travel insurance too companies offer senior citizen travel insurance.

4) Individual or Family-If you are individual then opt for individual plan. But if you are travelling with your family then it is always better to opt for family travel insurance. Because this will cost you cheaper than going for individual plans.

5) Nature of Travel-Usually if the travel includes adventures kind of activities then premium will raise automatically. Because risk involves of meeting with accident is at higher end. Hence specify the nature of travel while buying like business, adventures or holiday travel.

6) Nature of Coverage-It is complicated process for an individual to go through all inclusion and exclusion of policy document. Still it is better to go through each wordings like what type of medical insurance is covered under policy, what are the riders added or what about the existing disease.

7) Contact details of Insurers-You are buying this insurance for the emergencies during your travel. Hence once you buy the plan better to get the information like how the claim process will be done, whom you need to contact or toll free numbers to contact. Because during emergencies especially when you are abroad quick service will actually be handy.

[Source: https://travelinsuranceindiablog.wordpress.com/2016/01/05/best-travel-insurance-in-india-product-comparison/]

Why travel insurance is essential for overseas travel

Travel insurance? Good idea or waste of money?

Travel insurance should be an essential purchase for anyone before they head off on a trip overseas, and yet I still hear about so many who get themselves into situations because they didn’t want to spend the extra money. Is it really worth ruining your trip with health concerns, hospital bills, or lost luggage to save money by not buying insurance? Personally I think you’re a complete idiot if you travel without it.

Now over the years, I’ve gone on many trips overseas, all of which I’ve been covered by travel insurance. Granted most have gone without a hitch and without any need to claim. Yes I could have saved myself hundreds of dollars not buying travel insurance but. I don’t own a crystal ball, and I am by no means psychic. There have only been a couple of times, but a couple all the same when I’ve needed insurance, and have been glad I was sensible enough to buy it.

Most overseas travel insurance policies cover a wrath of different things including accidents, or health issues, doctors and hospital bills and even on some occasions medication. They also cover lost of damaged luggage, lost/stolen credit cards and money, lost or stolen passports including emergency replacement or sorting out travel documents. The list goes on but these definitely are the most important to pay attention to.

Hospital bills are not cheap overseas. There’s not only the initial cost of treatment, but also the possibility that you could be kept in hospital for days, weeks or even months. There’s also the post treatment costs. In my case I broke my leg once, and so it was very uncomfortable to fly, my leg would swell up like a balloon, and sitting in economy class was hell on earth. Luckily because I had travel insurance, I was upgraded for all my remaining flights to business class, making the journey home much more bearable. I also received help carrying my bags, and health checks in all the locations I travelled to make sure that everything was ok.

The other thing that can also put a dampener on your travels is lost of damaged luggage. Suitcases go missing every day around the world. Some turn up, eventually, some never do. And it’s not going to be cheap to buy a new suitcase full of clothes for your holiday. Luckily, (touch wood), this hasn’t happened to me on my travels, but on my recent trip to Argentina, I needed to claim for damage to my camera and iPhone.

I had travel insurance with Cover More and had made it through the entire 3 weeks with no problems at all. When checking in for my flight home, I dropped my bag off the counter, onto the marble floor of the airport. This had my Nikon DSLR camera in it and also my iPhone, amongst other things. 

At first I didn’t think there was a problem. It was only when I was through customs that I took my phone out to use the internet, that I noticed the screen was totally smashed, and that it wouldn’t work. I then checked my camera and realised a piece of the camera lens had broken off and was floating around inside the camera. Not a great end to a holiday at all. However, I had travel insurance, so although annoying that things had broken, it was not the end of the world, and I knew that my insurance would cover repairing or replacing the items damaged. And that’s exactly what happened. Yes I had to fill out paperwork and get repair claims sorted, which let’s face it, isn’t the most interesting of things to do, but at the end of the day, my camera was fixed, and my iPhone was replaced.

The damage to my camera and iPhone cost nearly $2,000 to repair and replace. My medical bills when I broke my leg would have been at least $10,000 if not a lot more. Travel insurance, depending on where you are travelling, can start at less than $100. It’s not hard to guess which I  choose, and would choose every time.

It does pay to do a bit of homework before choosing your travel insurance. There are many different companies and many different types of policies. Be sure to check what is and more importantly isn’t covered before you make your final decision.

[Source: http://www.kapchatheworld.com/2013/09/why-travel-insurance-is-essential-every-trip/]