8 steps to verify you have the right travel insurance

TRAVEL INSURANCE

8 Steps to Verify You Have the Right Travel Insurance One of the biggest complaints travellers have about travel insurance is that it doesn’t pay out when they expect it to. In nearly all of the cases we’ve seen over the years it comes down to the traveller not understanding what their plan covers and, more importantly, what it doesn’t.

Travellers buy travel insurance for all kinds of reasons: •‘I’m worried about terrorist attacks and want to be protected.’

•‘My parents are elderly and I want to be able to get home if they need my help.’

•‘If I get hurt or sick, I don’t want to worry about paying a huge medical bill.’

•‘My job has been a little ‘weird’ lately and I’m worried about layoffs.’

To be sure you actually have the right travel insurance for your trip, follow these steps with the plan you already purchased or want to purchase.

Check your plan within the review period so you still have time to cancel your policy (for a refund) or make changes to get the coverage you need.

1. Do a quick health review If you’ve been to the doctor recently – is that condition likely to recur? If you visited the doctor for migraine headaches in the past few months, for example, and that condition reoccurs on your trip, your medical care while traveling might not be covered.

2. Check your destination To get the latest health and security information about where you’re going, you have a number of sources outside of the standard media coverage.

To find out the latest travel safety information – including warnings about the potential for terrorist actions, see the State Department Website.

3. Check your travel mileage How far you travel factors into a number of travel insurance benefits. Most travel insurance policies limit the coverage unless a traveller is going a certain distance from home. For example: •If you’re traveling abroad, you are likely to be outside your health insurance network on your trip. That means you won’t have benefits for emergency medical treatment without travel medical coverage.

4. Know your trip activities The activities you do on your trip could render your coverage invalid. Travel insurance plans typically exclude a number of activities that are considered more hazardous than say running along the beach in the dark. Specifically activities like parasailing, hang-gliding, mountain sports, diving and more are excluded from the typical plan unless you purchase an upgrade.

5. Double check the dates In the chaos of planning a trip, the dates may get shuffled around a little so you can get the best airfare or meet a friend while waiting for a connecting flight. The key is to double check that the dates you are traveling are the dates you’re covered for with your travel insurance plan.

6. Verify your layovers Travel insurance coverage for trip delays and missed connections comes with the standard caveat that you gave yourself enough time from the start.

If you schedule a multi-stop flight with tight connections and the first flight is delayed for an hour due to mechanical repairs, you could throw off your entire trip.

Even worse, if the delay means you incur a loss and want to make a claim on your travel insurance plan they will verify that you had enough time to make your connection.

7. Check the policy limits Every insurance plan has limits applied to the coverage.

The baggage limits, for example, may not be enough to fully reimburse you for a lost bag and it’s contents (depending on what you’re taking with you).

Where the limits really get sticky are when it comes to medical and evacuation coverage. Specifically, you want to have enough coverage to pay for these events should they occur, but you don’t want to pay too much for coverage you may never use.

8. Don’t make assumptions Don’t make assumptions about your travel insurance coverage. Many travelers read that their policy covers trip cancellation, for example, and assume it means the plan will cover no matter what causes the cancellation.

Getting the right travel insurance takes a little bit of thinking, some research, and a careful review of the policy you choose.

It’s not hard, but it does take a little effort on your part. See the 9 Most Expensive Travel Mistakes You’re Likely to Make for more details on what to watch out for.

[Source: http://www.travelinsurancereview.net/2013/09/30/get-theright-travel-insurance/]

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