Vacation
Insurance... Saves Your Money, Time And Frustrations! by: Jonathan
Tan
Don't forget your vacation insurance
before you take off for any travel.
I am very serious when it comes to
insurance, I do not want to take any chances, I grew up in a family with
my mother as a sole bread winner, my Dad passed away when I was 10 years
old without any insurance. Life was very very difficult then.
So the same goes with vacation insurance
too!
It can cost you an extra few thousands
of dollars if the cruise or tour operator goes bankrupt, or if you need
to shorten your vacation due to sickness or injury.
Quick Tip
The biggest myth would be that your
normal health insurance covers you when you are away, or that since many
travelers visit an area or region, access to medical care is easy or affordable.
Here's a quick guide to understanding
what a good vacation insurance should cover for any travel.
1. Travel Curtailment
If you or an immediate family member
becomes seriously ill or is injured during the vacation most vacation insurance
companies would reimburse you for the unused portion of the vacation.
2. Travel Cancellation
You would be reimbursed if the cruise
line or tour operator goes out of business. It would also reimburse you
if you have to cancel the vacation due to sickness, a death in the family
or other calamity listed in the insurance policy.
Travel cancellation is very different
from a Cancellation Waiver that many cruise and tour operators offer. Waivers
are relatively inexpensive. They provide coverage if you have to cancel
the trip, but they have many restrictions.
They must be purchased when you book
the trip and will usually not cover you immediately before departure. Most
importantly, waiver is not insurance.
2. Personal liability
Personal Liability is important in
case of legal liability, arising out of one's negligence in causing a third
party injury (or death) and/or third party property damage.
Some traveler insurance companies
even insure against the loss or theft of golfing equipment and laptops.
3. Luggage/Baggage/Flight Delay
This feature comes along with a "Time"
excess, meaning that the traveler insurance companies only compensate when
the delay exceeds a certain time frame. The limit for loss of luggage/baggage/flight
varies, usually with a cap for individual items.
4. Emergency & Medical Assistance
and Information Service
Look for those 24-hour services that
offer information on visa requirements, foreign exchange, weather forecasts
and medical advice et cetera.
Emergency evacuation is very helpful
indeed for inexperienced travelers or travelers with medical conditions
or for those who are traveling to more remote and less traveled places.
These service centers may also offer
emergency assistance in the form of embassy, legal, interpreter and medical
referrals.
Most vacation insurance policies
would compensate a couple of hundred dollars for each day of hospitalization
up to the maximum limit indicated in their respective packages.
This is solely to compensate the
traveler for the number of days spent in a hospital overseas and should
not be mistaken as hospital or medical reimbursement, which takes care
of the hospital and ward charges.
4. Accidental Death insurance
Personal accident coverage, which
is to compensate the insured for permanent or temporary disablement or
death as a result of an accident.
2 Main Types of Vacation Insurance
Annual Policy
Most traveler insurance companies
offer vacation insurance on annual basis as well as per trip basis. Annual
policies cover unlimited trips made by the insured during the entire year
provided that each trip does not exceed a certain number of days, usually
90 days.
No declaration is required.
For frequent flyers, this type of
cover would be most ideal in terms of cost and convenience.
Family Vacation Insurance
Family packages are also designed
to cater for immediate families traveling together. Definition of immediate
families would mean you, your spouse and your children.
Family vacation insurance are usually
priced lower premium than if individual insurance policies were to be taken
up for the whole family.
Special Features ALERT!
Go for vacation insurance policies
come with higher deductible and this translates into lower premium.
The worst case scenario is you may
end up having to bear the first $40 or $50 of every claim that you make.
Deductible: (Also known as Excess
in UK, NZ, AU) This is the amount that the insured must pay before the
vacation insurance starts paying for your claim.
This may be an annual amount, an
amount for the duration of the policy, or an amount for each incident.
Choose the latter.
For those of you who intend to engage
in water or winter sports during your vacation, it would be wise to take
up your insurers who offer free coverage for such activities.
Some traveler insurance companies
may charge an additional premium for this extension, so it is better to
check this point before you effect your cover.
Unfortunately, the definition of
water sports in the typical travel policy does not include scuba diving.
Not surprisingly, bungee jumping
is excluded from most policies. Watch out for age limits imposed by some
traveler insurance companies, meaning that persons exceeding a certain
age are excluded from their coverage. But if you belong to this elderly
group, fret not.
There are traveler insurance companies
that do not impose any age limit and offer the same coverage at no additional
premium loading.
A unique coverage that is being offered
in the traveler insurance market is the "Car Rental Excess". This feature
takes care of the excess amount that the insured normally has to bear (under
the motor policy taken up at car rental companies) in the event of damage
to the rented vehicle while driving overseas.
Price of Vacation Insurance also
known as Premium - Premium Computation
For "per-trip" policies, the premium
payable hinges considerably on the number of days of travel, the country
of destination and choice of plan.
For example, if you are from Europe,
a vacation in USA warrants a much higher premium than a trip within Europe
for the same number of days.
Some traveler insurance companies
provide the option of higher limits of coverage at of course, a higher
premium.
If price is of concern, it is advisable
to keep on hand the premium schedule from a few traveler insurance companies
for comparison before you activate your insurance before each trip.
Claim Procedure
I consider this the most important
aspect of buying a vacation insurance.
All traveler insurance companies
will require you to lodge your claims within a certain time frame. You
would be required to complete and submit a claim form, which can be obtained
from the traveler insurance company.
In almost all instances, your claims
must be accompanied by relevant documents, such as medical receipts for
medical reimbursement or hospital cash; a police report for loss of money
or personal documents; an official letter from the airline in cases of
flight or lugguage delay and loss of lugguage if within custody of the
airline.
In all cases, call up and inform
your traveler insurance company immediately for necessary advice.
There you are... now with a basic
knowledge of vacation insurance, you are equipped to choose the best suited
to your travel needs and you are all set to fly!
About The Author
As a business traveler, Jonathan
has traveled extensively within America, across Asia and Europe. Last minute
travel is the norm for him, you can check out his Last Minute Vacations
Guide at http://www.last-minute-vacation-guide.com
jonathan@last-minute-vacation-guide.com
Courtesy of http://www.ArticleCity.com/
