Buying Travel Insurance? A Guide to Buying Travel Insurance

A Guide to Buying and Using Travel Insurance: Learn from my mistakes!  Find out why travel insurance is necessary; where you can get appropriate, but affordable coverage; what to consider; and what you should do with it.

Is Travel Insurance Really Necessary? Travel is already expensive enough, isn't it? The cost of air fare, cruises, hotels, ground transportation, food and activities and entertainment are already high enough. I don't know about you, but I work hard for my money, and when I travel, I want to keep as much of my money in MY pocket as possible. Is travel insurance a necessity or a luxury? Why not cut a few corners here and there. Why buy something if it�s not really needed? My personal answer is, of course, that I am not independently wealthy and can�t withstand the potential financial losses if I require medical care while I�m traveling. Not being independently wealthy also means that I'm in the market for adequate but cheap travel insurance. I suspect that you are in the same position, so you, too need cheap travel insurance. If you�re still not sure about that, consider the following. Did you know that if you get sick or are injured while traveling abroad, your medical plan may not cover all the expenses you will incur? If the costs of treatment are higher than the maximums of your medical plan, you will be responsible for the difference, unless you have already purchased travel insurance. In fact, you may not even be admitted into hospitals in some countries without proof that you have health or medical insurance. This is true for everyone, regardless of age or length of time abroad. Suppose you fall ill just a few hours after arriving at your destination. Or suppose you make a day-trip to another country, and you are injured in a traffic accident. Or suppose one of your children is part of a group making a class visit abroad, gets food poisoning and requires hospitalization. In all cases, without adequate travel health insurance, you will be responsible for the costs above and beyond the limitations of your existing medical plan. Therefore, before going abroad, you need to make sure that you are adequately covered by travel medical insurance that won't break your budget. You should check to see if appropriate coverage is already available to you through your medical plan, employee benefits, or even through a credit card. If the coverage is sufficient for your needs, then you can enjoy your trip without incurring the extra expense of travel insurance. However, if you are not sure of your coverage, or if your coverage is inadequate or non-existent, then your next step should be to research and purchase the travel insurance coverage you need. 

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How Much Can You Expect To Pay? When I bought my first plane ticket to China a few years ago it cost around $2000 round-trip, and my travel insurance cost me over $500 because I didn't shop around for cheap travel insurance online. A few years later, a little bit older and wiser, and my travel insurance for another trip to China cost me much less--about $300 for roughly the same coverage. The difference? Before buying my travel insurance for the second trip, I shopped around online and got the coverage I needed, at the right price. If I'd have purchased my travel insurance for this latest trip from my travel agent, it would've cost me about $600 for the trip, and my plane tickets only cost $1,500! Not exactly the smart way to go. So how much will it cost you? Not as much money as it will cost you if you get sick or injured abroad and you don't have any travel insurance coverage! That's the obvious answer to the question. In fact, how much travel insurance costs will depend on your age and the type of coverage you choose. Basic policies cost as little as $5.50 USD per $1000 of coverage. On the other hand, you can expect a full coverage policy to cost you from 7 to 10% of the cost of your trip, depending on your age. The older you are, the more you will pay. No matter what the cost of the policy, however, it's sure to be much less than the cost of medical evacuation! The good news is that you can easily, conveniently and quickly research and locate excellent but cheap online travel insurance and reduce the costs while making an informed purchase. This is much better than taking what you are offered at the travel agency because you can choose from hundreds of travel insurance companies and polices and save yourself a lot of money in the process.  

What You Should Consider When Buying Travel Insurance To assist you in your research, here are some suggestions to help you make an informed purchase. 

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1. Consider the worst-case scenario. If you can financially withstand the worst-case scenario then maybe you don't need travel insurance or maybe you don't need a comprehensive policy.  

2. Make sure the policy you are considering provides adequate medical/dental coverage, including medical evacuation coverage just in case you need medical care in a place where the best treatment available is below the standards you are accustomed to in your country. This can happen if you fall ill in a developing country or even on a cruise ship.

 3. Check your existing insurance policies for possible coverage. There is no sense in paying more for what you already have in your homeowner or tenant policy, such as theft and loss coverage.  

4. If you are a frequent traveler, you should consider annual or year-round travel insurance policies. Sometimes they are called multi-trip travel insurance policies. Whatever the name, these policies can be relatively cheap when compared to single-trip travel insurance policies. 

5. Know what you are buying, so read the fine print. Make sure that you understand what the company considers to be a legitimate reason for cancellation or interruption. If the list is too restrictive, maybe you should consider another policy.  

6. Don't restrict yourself to buying only from your travel agent. He/She will probably only have one company�s product(s) available, and it's there for your convenience, but that convenience can be quite costly! 

7. Ask lots of questions about the coverage. Play the "what if" game. Ask for clear explanations of terminology. Make sure that you and the travel insurance company are speaking the same language. 

8. Don't buy the insurance through your transportation provider. If the airline goes bankrupt, how adequate will your insurance coverage be?

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 Once You�ve Bought Your Travel Insurance Remember that your travel insurance policy covers you between certain specific dates, so don�t start your trip early or extend your trip without first changing the dates of coverage on your travel insurance policy. Of course, this might cost you extra, but that's cheaper than finding yourself without coverage when you need it the most. Also, it almost goes without saying that you should bring your travel insurance policy with you when you go abroad. You can't consult the policy if it's sitting on your desk at home. 

Situations That Would Pay You To Have Travel Insurance

Situations That Would Pay You To Have Travel Insurance: No one likes to think about the worst when you�re planning a holiday � that�s for the journey back when you�re thinking about the stack of papers that need dealing with on Monday when you�re back in the office.
Sadly, there are hundreds of things which could go wrong when you�re on your travels around the world. And �away from home� is the last place you want to be when things start to go wrong. Unfamiliar surroundings can make a bad situation considerably worse, but having...

No one likes to think about the worst when you�re planning a holiday � that�s for the journey back when you�re thinking about the stack of papers that need dealing with on Monday when you�re back in the office.

Sadly, there are hundreds of things which could go wrong when you�re on your travels around the world. And �away from home� is the last place you want to be when things start to go wrong. Unfamiliar surroundings can make a bad situation considerably worse, but having appropriate global travel insurance can really lighten the load.

�I never thought it would happen to me� is a phrase you hear a lot in my trade � fortunately the types who say it to me are the types who took the smart decision to buy global travel insurance anyway. You can never be too sure, and for that reason here are 5 scenarios when your UK travel insurance company would swoop in to save the day wherever you are in the world:

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You have to cancel your vacation for a death in the family

No one can accurately predict when a loved one will pass away, and with holidays booked months in advance, it�s no wonder that the unexpected often occurs and a family is forced to cancel or delay their vacation plans. If you don�t have travel insurance though, the losses will be firmly for you to soak up. With global travel insurance, the provider should reimburse you the costs involved so you can rebook at a more appropriate juncture.

Your daughter is hospitalized after a nasty fall abroad

A child playing in unfamiliar surroundings is often a recipe for trouble. If your daughter were to fall and break bones while on your holiday, a timely and expensive visit to the local hospital will be on the cards. While everyone would be happy to pay for their daughter�s recovery, it is always easier if your UK travel insurance company is on hand to foot the bill � leaving you with more cash to sightsee when your daughter is able.


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Your business� future is in jeopardy after you fall ill

Picture the scene: You�re representing the company on some urgent business abroad, and suddenly you fall terribly ill. The company�s future is at stake! Fortunately, your travel insurance company can save the day by paying for an early return home for you, with a business associate taking your place. They�ll pay the travel and accommodation expenses, to boot.

Your holiday apartment is broken into and your valuables are stolen

There�s no disguising the fact that affluent holiday makers are an obvious target for crime, and holiday apartments often contain rich pickings for burglars. If your possessions are stolen while you�re out enjoying the sunshine then it can ruin a holiday � fortunately, appropriate travel insurance can save the day by replacing or reimbursing you for the items stolen.

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You injure a complete stranger by accident

Suppose you�re minding your own business by your hotel�s swimming pool, when you bump into someone, causing them to slip and break their arm. Without travel insurance, you could be held liable to pay damages including their hospital fees. With travel insurance, your personal liability cover will pay for their medical expenses.


Sure, I understand that the majority of people have a wonderful time on their holidays and don�t encounter any of these problems � I mean they�re not the kind of thing that happens to you everyday. But they do happen � I�ve seen the claims to prove it! And those are just the stories from the people who have bought global travel insurance: I can�t prove it, but I suspect the number of people who wish they had bought travel insurance for the peace of mind it offers must be a significant figure.

10 Simple Travel Health Insurance Tips

Travel health insurance helps the travelers to know better the insurance policy and to reduce the premium. If travelers know the policy better, they can often save money on travel insurance. Here are top simple travel health insurance tips travelers should know.

Tip1: Understanding Travel Health Insurance Policy First
Travelers should read travel insurance policy before purchasing any plan, and better understand the coverage the company has offered. Every policy has few limitations such as pre-existence health conditions and age limits which must be well known to travelers unless it could be a great problem.

Tip 2: Medical Assistance Services
When travelers are going to buy insurance policy, they should ask to the company if they have any assistance service for their clients. Experience shows that there are many assistance service companies which are disinterested to take to emergency calls to real doctors or nurse. But it�s not all the cases, there are some serious insurance companies which pay attention to their respected clients and provide assistance service. Though it is little bit expensive to receive calls from distance, but few companies take their responsibility because minutes can save lives.

Tip 3: Understand the Preexisting Condition
Travel health insurance policy has few terms and conditions and the travelers should understand the preexisting condition clause of policy. And check these terms and conditions apply since travelers� departure date, not while purchasing the plan. Suppose travelers buy an annual health insurance policy then these conditions apply to the departure date of every trip.

Tip 4: Buy Health Insurance That Cover Medical Conditions
Travelers who take medication will not congregate with the pre-existing clause and unfortunately you will not get any coverage for such conditions. So check the insurance policy and in case you do not understand compare among different agencies which offer health insurance plan compatible with your medication.

Tip5: Choose Affordable Deductible
Many travelers want to save money while purchasing insurance policy. However, there are various deductible choices in policy by which traveler can easily save money and has to provide fewer premiums.
So choose any deductable which only you can afford. While choosing plan you see there are few policies which have greater deductibles, do not fall into that trap because greater deductable means greater price.

Tip 6: Save Money In Multiple Trips
Generally insurance companies offer health insurance plan in different category such as single trip, multiple trips, individual trip, family or group plan etc., first determine that whether your trip is single or multiple in a year. If you are planning multiple trips then you need to buy annual plan rather than single plan. Annual insurance policy is comparatively less expensive, and you can save as much money as making another travel.

Tip 7: Save Money Even In Higher Age Band
All know that higher age people have to give higher premium and lower age people have to give lower amount, but there is little trick to get lower premium yet you are in higher age band. It seems if your birthday will place before your trip, you have to give extra 20% - 40% premium more than earlier, but if you purchase health insurance plan and leave your country before birthday, you can save significant amount of money which you have to pay after your birthday. Even you can save money by purchasing insurance policy before birthday with lower age band.

Tip 8: Follow Doctor�s recommendations
Many people often do not take drugs or medicine even their doctor recommends them because they think it might affect insurance policy. This practice is bad, though it is true but traveler should follow the doctor�s prescriptions because health is important than money. When doctor gives change in medicine, you should take unless the insurance company rejects your claim in the ground of unstable preexistence medical conditions. It would be better while getting an insurance plan provide details about your medical conditions and the medicine you are using.

Tip 9: Inform Your Insurance Company If Trip Plan Changes
Many people do not inform to their insurance agency when they change in insurance plan and the most mistakes are that they forget or intentionally do not inform their departure time and arrival time. This is the worst case and most important reason to get rejected their claim. Logically why any insurance company covers you if they do not know where you are and what you are doing. They simple void you policy. So inform as soon as you are planning to change your plan r any part the plan.

Tip 10: Show the Proofs of Departure and Arrival
Travel insurance companies sometimes check the proofs of your travel and sadly few people forget to keep record of their medical expenses and other costs and get rejected. There are few ways to keep record such as use credit card on the first day and last day of your trip. Some health insurance companies recommend using stamp on passport while departing from and arriving to your country.

These travel health insurance tips help travelers to purchase insurance policy properly, to get affordable health insurance, to know how to choose deductable which less premium and finally to know how to claim.