Tag: compare insurance

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Travel Insurance

Ready for your trip? Three insurance questions to consider before you travel

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Before you travel abroad, it is absolutely essential to ensure that everything you need has been packed. However, something that can too often be overlooked is that it is also essential to have one way travel insurance in place prior to travel, as not only does it provide additional peace of mind, but it can potentially save you an incredible amount of money should you find yourself injured. Research has found that an injury abroad can cost as much as £230,000 (1.16 million AED), so the financial impact can be severe.

In order to ensure your travel insurance is as robust as possible and is as comprehensive as you require, it is vital you ask the following three questions:

1. Are previous/current medical conditions covered?

For many people, this is the most important question to ask. Most travel insurance companies will offer very cheap deals, but often such offers will come at the expense of covering pre-existing conditions. Such medical conditions can be small or major, but it makes sense you ensure you are fully covered, even if you feel as though it is unlikely your injury will be exacerbated.

2. Am I covered if I participate in extreme sports?

Some travel insurers are very open about the fact that they will not cover individuals should they actively participate in activities with a high risk factor, so if you plan on going skydiving, make sure you ask this question first to see where you stand.

3. Does my travel insurance give me access to a physician on the phone?

This is a question that is absolutely worth asking, even if it’s not something you’ve previously considered. In some instances, it will be the case that you will not actually require a trip to a hospital if you feel a twinge or a little under the weather. In these cases, it may actually be more beneficial to have a conversation with a doctor or physician. It may well be the case that access to a hotline of some kind is included with your insurance policy, but it is certainly worth asking the question ahead of time.

Have other questions or queries about your policy bazaar travel insurance? Get in touch today and we’ll do our best to provide the answers you need.

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Travel Insurance

The different types of travel insurance, explained

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Shopping for overseas travel insurance can often seem like a minefield, with many people deciding they won’t purchase it – either because they don’t think it’s necessary, they’ve never had to use it before, or they think the process is too complicated. Nowadays, with insurance comparison sites and quick application processes, it’s easier and more affordable than ever. There are a few different types of travel insurance policies out there, so make sure you get the right one for you.

Single Trip Travel Insurance

If you’re heading to one destination for a set amount of time, then this is the type of cover you would get. Single trip travel insurance is the most basic of policies and can cover you for a variety of different events, up to a certain level of expense, depending on what you want to be covered.

Annual Multi-Trip Travel Insurance

If you travel on a regular basis, for business or leisure, then it makes the most sense to buy an annual multi-trip policy. It’s more cost-effective and less time consuming than having to buy single trip travel insurance every time you go away. It’ll cover multiple destinations over the course of the year and can either cover European, Worldwide or Worldwide, excluding the USA, Canada and the Caribbean.

Winter Sports Travel Insurance

If you’re going on a skiing holiday or heading somewhere where you’re going to take part in a winter sports activity, then you’ll need winter sports travel insurance. These types of activities are considered riskier than those included in other policies, as there are unique situations you could find yourself in, such as avalanche delays, piste closures or serious injury.

Backpacker Travel Insurance

A backpacker policy covers you if you’re heading away for a longer period of time and jumping around between destinations. It’ll often cover you for a wider range of activities too, such as skiing and white-water rafting.

Family Travel Insurance

A family travel insurance policy covers up to two adults and eight children of the same family, provided the children are under 18 years old. This is a more cost-effective and easier option than buying separate policies, and you can purchase a single or annual trip cover.

Cruise Travel Insurance

Just like winter sports coverage, cruise travel insurance covers you for unique situations you can find yourself in with a cruise holiday. You’ll often be visiting multiple countries for an extended period of time and can experience things such as missed port departures and itinerary changes.

Over 65’s Travel Insurance

Those over the age of 65 are usually more likely to need urgent medical attention while they’re away, so the over 65’s travel insurance policy often covers extra expenses – occasionally allowing a companion to be added to the policy.

Whatever type of visa travel insurance policy you purchase, be sure to declare any pre-existing medical conditions when applying. This will often increase the price of your policy. However, it is a small price to pay for peace of mind and an appropriate level of cover.

To find the best travel insurance for your trip, head to Compare Insurance today.

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Car Insurance

Top tips to find the cheapest car insurance

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Car insurance is a significant financial cost each year, however legally you cannot drive a car without holding the required insurance. Although, it is possible to compare quotes to ensure you benefit from the cheapest price for the cover you need.

How much will my car insurance cost?

There are many factors that determine the cost of your car policy, from the type of vehicle you drive and your age to your previous driving history. There are many car insurance providers operating in the UAE, with every company calculating the risk of your cover differently. The cost of your car insurance is personal to you, so it is always worth comparing insurers to find the best deal for your specific requirements.

Do not automatically renew your car insurance

Although it may seem easy to accept the automatic renewal quote from your current car insurance provider, you should never accept the price without comparing other alternatives. The price may end up being the best deal available, however, you will never know unless you compare other providers quotes.

In many cases, when you choose to accept the auto-renewal you end up paying an additional amount for the convenience of this. Over the years, this amount can significantly add up and you could save hundreds by comparing and switching to the cheapest deal every year.

Pay for your insurance annually

When you find the best deal, you will be given the option to pay via monthly instalments or with a single monthly payment. Although monthly payments can be beneficial if you are unable to cover the full cost upfront, you will pay additional interest for the privilege.

Consider multi-car insurance for your household

If your household owns more than one car, you may be able to secure a cheaper quote by insuring every car under a single policy. There are some insurers that will allow you to combine multiple car insurance policies, which is likely to work out cheaper than separate covers.

Increase your excess

If you are willing to pay more of an excess charge in the event of a claim, you may be able to secure lower premiums. However, it is important to ensure that you are able to cover the required excess charge.

Compare car insurance quotes today!

We specialise in helping our customers compare auto insurance quickly and easily. To find out more about securing the best car insurance deals, please contact our team today.

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Health Insurance

How to prepare your health insurance for starting a family

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Starting a family is a busy time with lots of things to prepare and your health insurance should be one of them. Here are some key things to consider before you start your next chapter:

Are you on the best type of insurance?

Health insurance for parents is a legal requirement in Dubai, whether you are a full-time resident or only working in the city temporarily. As a result, you must either be covered through your employer or your own plan. If you and your partner are both offered healthcare insurance by your employer, then you may want to stick with your existing work policies. However, if one or both of you aren’t covered through work and you organise your own health insurance, you may want to consider taking out a joint or family policy. This could save you money compared to multiple individual policies and gives you the convenience of having everything in one place.

Health insurance for your children

Protecting your children against illness or accidents is essential for keeping them safe, so check if your children are covered by your work health insurance policy. If not, and you and your partner are content with your existing cover, then you may want to start looking into separate children’s health insurance so you are prepared. Alternatively, you could choose to take out a new family health insurance policy, which would cover every member of the family in one.

Does your current policy offer maternity benefits?

If you are planning on trying to conceive in the near future, it is a good idea to check whether your current health insurance covers issues relating to pregnancy. Not every insurer will cover the same thing and some conditions related to pregnancy could be very costly for you if they aren’t covered. If you aren’t satisfied with what your current insurer offers, investigate alternative options before you become pregnant, if possible. Some insurance companies will be reluctant to accept new policies from women who are already pregnant.

If you want to check that you’ve got the best health insurance broker for you and your growing family, why not do some research and compare the available policies on our website?

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Travel Insurance

Tips for finding the best travel insurance deals

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If you’re going on holiday abroad, you need travel insurance. Many people put off purchasing travel insurance because they think it is expensive and that they are unlikely to use it. However, travel insurance is an essential part of any foreign holiday – you shouldn’t leave home without it!

To help you find some better deals, here are some of our tips on getting cheap travel insurance.

Use comparison websites

Comparison websites, like our own, will help you find the best deals out there. You’ll be able to compare different deals and find the most suitable company for you.

Decide on the cover that you need before looking

Make sure that you write down exactly what you want your insurance to cover and look at all of these aspects in detail. For example, cover for an electronic item might have a big excess, so it may not actually cover your phone. If you have a really good idea of what cover you will need, it will make looking at our price comparison website much easier!

Think about eliminating some activities

You may be tempted to purchase cover for certain ‘risky’ activities. These could include SCUBA diving, skydiving, or mountain biking. Carefully look at what sports are included in this insurance bracket, and think about if you will really be doing them. If the answer is probably not, then you could eliminate them from your insurance package and get a cheaper deal. However, if you are not covered for them, this means that you will not get any medical help if you change your mind and decide to do any adventure sports.

Consider what you are already insured for

Your valuables may already be insured under home or contents insurance, or the home and contents insurance of someone that you live with. Make sure that you have a good understanding of what is already covered before you decide to buy.

If you are savvy and only insure what you need, you will be able to get a much cheaper seniors travel insurance! If you’re going on holiday, you need insurance, but it doesn’t have to cost a fortune.

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Travel Insurance

What are the most common travel insurance claims?

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Travel insurance is an essential pre-trip investment for any traveller. Travel insurance can help you pay for unexpected things that happen that would otherwise leave you largely out of pocket. But what are the most common travel insurance claims? Let’s take a look in this article!

The most common claims are for the following:

1) Flight delays

2) Cancellations of flights or accommodation

3) Medical costs

4) Lost or stolen baggage

A whopping 93% of travel insurance claims are for one of the above. Let’s explore in a little more detail…

Trip cancellation and delays

The most common reason for claiming on aib travel insurance tends to be trip cancellation or abandonment, with around 40% of claims being related to this.

Trip cancellation could come from the customer’s end or the supplier’s end – for example, if an airline goes bankrupt, they would subsequently cancel their customers’ trips.

However, trip abandonment could refer to when someone is unable to make a trip. This could be for a variety of reasons, including personal illness or illness of a relative, bereavement, moving jobs, or personal financial issues.

Illness or injury

Illness is the next most common claim, and many people consider this to be the most important thing to be insured for. This is because falling ill overseas, or having a bad injury, can result in bills of up to a million Dirhams or more.

And claiming for illness and injury is fairly common, although generally medical bills are less expensive. Still, having travel insurance for medical reasons is essential for peace of mind.

Lost or stolen baggage

Lost or stolen baggage is another common travel insurance claim. These are sometimes contested, especially if the baggage was not reported missing in time or left unattended.

There is also usually an excess, and some people find that the contents of their baggage are worth less than the excess, therefore they may not bother claiming.

There are many other things that you can claim on insurance for, but these are the main ones. As discussed, it’s important to have travel insurance not just so your holiday is covered if you need to cancel or if your airline or accommodation cancels, but so you are covered if you get ill overseas. Click here to find the right schengen visa insurance for you.

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Travel Insurance

Travel checklist: things to do before going on a trip

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Are you planning a trip abroad at some point in the future? We bet that you’ll want a holiday somewhere soon! If that’s the case, make sure that you refer to this travel checklist for some useful tips of things to remember.

Pack appropriately for the destination

Of course, everyone packs their case before a trip, but try to do some research into the destination that you’re visiting and make sure that your case is full of appropriate attire and gear for the destination! For example, if you are going trekking in the jungle, you will want to make sure that you have mosquito spray. or if you’re going backpacking get backpacker travel insurance But if you are visiting the UK, you should pack an umbrella!

Pay all bills that you need to before going away

Nobody wants to have to negotiate an unpaid bill while on holiday. Ensure that any outstanding bills are already paid before you get on the plane and try to pay some in advance if possible. Make a detailed list of when your electricity, gas, water and internet bills are due, so you don’t forget any.

Turn all plugs in your house off

Make sure that you turn off anything that you can before going on holidays, such as plugs and lights. You will obviously need to keep some things, like your refrigerator, plugged in, but everything else should be turned off completely and not just left on standby. This will help you save some money on your insurance policy.

Keep updated with current affairs at your destination

This has become more important since COVID began, but it’s always a good idea to keep updated with current affairs before travelling somewhere because they can affect your entry requirements. In the lead up to your trip, check for any incidents of note or any border changes. If you do see anything worrying, contact your airline.

Make sure that you have insurance

Every time you go travelling abroad, you should have travel insurance. You can compare travel insurance plans and find the best one for you here.

If you’re looking for a travel insurance policy that works for you, get in touch with our team at Compare Insurance today.

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Categories
Travel Insurance

Is it safe to travel abroad during the Covid-19 pandemic?

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We’ve been living with Covid for over a year now. Life as we know it has changed a lot, and many of us are wondering if we could sneak away for a holiday. Here are some things to consider if you’re thinking about travelling abroad during Covid-19.

Testing and quarantining is important

Most countries require you to take a test and quarantine before entering. This is really important – you need to make sure that you aren’t bringing any new strains of the virus into another country, or infecting people that you see on the way. If you do decide to travel, make sure that you take at least two tests and quarantine when you arrive.

Be aware of travel restrictions

Travel restrictions could change at any minute, and your travel insurance may not cover them. For example, travellers from the UAE must now quarantine for two weeks in UK hotels at their own cost. If you travel during the pandemic, you should be prepared to face random quarantines and extra costs which you may not get refunded for, especially flight cancellation insurance.

Know the risks of you catching Covid

Covid does disproportionately affect the old and people with underlying conditions. However, people who are young and fit have still become gravely ill due to this virus. If you can’t afford to pay for potential hospitalisation abroad, make sure that you find a travel insurance provider who has Covid cover (there aren’t many of them, but you can use our schengen insurance tool to look for them). If you aren’t insured and can’t afford to pay out of pocket, then you shouldn’t be thinking about travelling.

Plan your destination wisely

Some countries are in a bad situation due to the Covid pandemic, so tourism is the last thing on their mind, while other countries are concerned about the loss of tourism as an income source. If you must travel, choose a country that is dealing with the pandemic well, and that wants to welcome tourists back.

Use PPE

It goes without saying that, if you travel, you should wear a mask at all times in public places and keep your hands sanitised.

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Car Insurance Health Insurance Travel Insurance

Do I need insurance for domestic travel?

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Are you going on holiday in the UAE? If you’re not leaving the country, you may be tempted to skip travel insurance. However, you should still make sure that you are covered for other eventualities. Here’s why you need domestic travel insurance.

Your health insurance will cover health issues

If you fall ill abroad, you need travel insurance to access healthcare. This isn’t the case if you’re staying within the UAE as long as you have adequate UAE medical insurance policy (if you don’t, be sure to check out our health insurance comparison tool and purchase insurance – it’s essential that you have it!).

You may need insurance for stolen luggage

There are virtually zero domestic flights in the UAE (and the few that do exist are very expensive!), so if you are travelling by bus, it may be prudent to take out insurance that covers your possessions. You may also want to cover your possessions for theft from your hotel room. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that you need a travel insurance policy – you could take out separate contents insurance for your luggage.

Don’t forget car insurance

Most people travel around the UAE by car. Whether you are using your own car or a hired vehicle, make sure that you have comprehensive car insurance to cover any breakdowns or accidents.

Travel insurance may cover delays or cancellations

Travel insurance may be useful if you experience any bus delays or cancellations, or any issues with your hotel. However, bus journeys are generally too cheap to warrant taking out insurance for, and hotels normally have their own kind of insurance policies in place. While travel insurance when venturing abroad is always a good idea, in the UAE you may be able to get away with separate insurance policies.

You will likely already have health insurance and car insurance (if you are driving your own vehicle), so you could pay separately to have your luggage insured and make sure that everything is secure at your hotel. This will probably help you save money rather than taking out a comprehensive travel insurance policy.

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Travel Insurance

Best places to visit near the UAE

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Are you looking for some weekend breaks to take from the UAE? The small nation benefits from excellent air links to other countries in the Middle East and beyond. Here are some easy and inexpensive weekend breaks that you can take from Abu Dhabi or Dubai. Before booking, remember to purchase worldwide travel insurance – you can use our comparison tool to find the best deal for your short break.

Qatar

Qatar is a tiny nation to the north-west of the UAE. It’s only a short flight, so you can easily visit just for a day or two. Qatar is one of the richest nations on the planet, so it’s a great place to visit for luxury travellers. Some of the best things to do in Doha, its capital, include visits to the Katara Cultural Village, the Barzan Towers, and a trip out of the city to see the desert.

Oman

Oman neighbours the UAE and can be reached by air or road. Muscat is a thriving city that is very welcoming to tourists, and the surrounding nature of Oman is absolutely epic. Don’t miss the many Wadis, including Wadi Shab, the Omani Desert, and the epic Sultan Qaboos Mosque.

Istanbul

Turkey is a large country, but Istanbul is well connected to Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Istanbul sits at the crossroads of Europe and Asia and is a deeply historic city, making it one of the best places in the world to explore. Don’t miss the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia, as well as views from the Galata Tower. Be sure to take a walk around Taksim, the new district of Istanbul, and try some delicious Turkish food!

Tbilisi

Tbilisi is a short flight from the UAE and is a popular tourist destination for travellers. It’s very authentic and is a great place to visit if you want to enjoy a completely different culture. The city is beautiful – make sure you take a cable car up to see the amazing views – and the Georgian countryside is marvellous too.

There are lots of places to visit near the UAE, but it is crucial that you compare holiday insurance whenever you go abroad – no matter for how short a time it is! Search our policies today to find the best deal for you.

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