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Travel Insurance

What to watch out for when purchasing travel insurance

Travel insurance policies can be complicated, particularly if it’s your first time purchasing them. There are numerous guidelines to read and understand, and determining what you need to insure for your travel can be overwhelming. To help you get the best cover, here are four things to watch out for when buying best value travel insurance.

1. Exclusions

Providers structure travel insurance around risk mitigation. This means they only cover you to the extent that doesn’t compromise their business (profits and gains). So, it’s normal to find insurers restricting coverage in certain situations like extreme sports and losses incurred due to intoxication.

Hence, when buying travel insurance, identify the exclusions stated in the fine print and whether you can buy an additional policy to cover them.

2. Exceptions

Travel insurance exceptions are circumstances in which your insurer doesn’t cover all the expenses incurred as a result of a particular emergency or accident. For instance, while your insurer might cover a medical evacuation, they may not cover the actual treatment of your injuries.

So, it’s vital to examine the exceptions listed in your policy to learn about hidden additional costs.

3. Destinations covered

If you’re visiting more than one country, be sure to check that your policy covers every place you intend to visit. Travel insurers tend to avoid covering certain countries, especially if they’re known for having a high crime rate, to mitigate risks.

4. Duration of your trip

This might sound simple, but if you miscalculate your trip and are away for more days than your policy covers, it automatically becomes invalid. Therefore, if you lose any luggage or fall ill on the additional days, don’t expect to be reimbursed.

Calculate the days you’ll be away as accurately as possible, factoring in time zones and delays to ensure that you’re covered throughout your trip.

Bottom line

Travel insurance policies can be hard to decipher, but with these tips, you can ensure you get the coverage you need. Similarly, you can get the right cover by comparing policies and quotes from different providers.

Use Compare Insurance today to compare travel insurance products from top brands.

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Travel Insurance

Travel insurance tips for travelling in a pandemic

The past few months have been difficult for the travel industry and travellers alike, but now that there are signs that the world is once again opening up to travel, you will need to keep up to date with the latest rules on annual travel insurance plans in a post-pandemic world.

Choose your destination carefully

When it comes to travel insurance there is no one-size-fits-all solution, and the destination you choose and the itinerary you opt for will play a considerable role in shaping how much travel insurance you will need. The secret to lowering your travel insurance costs is to only take out cover for what you might need. Try to ignore those add-ons that will increase your premium but will be of no benefit to you whatsoever.

Your credit card provider may already cover you for some expenses

You may be surprised to find out that you have already signed up for some complimentary travel insurance coverage when signed up for a new credit card. Such things as travel interruption insurance or trip cancellation cover are two of the most common types of travel insurance perks that some credit card companies provide. Contact your credit card provider and ask what travel insurance perks are included with your account, and if you are covered for certain eventualities then these are things you don’t have to add to your travel insurance policy.

Don’t imagine your travel insurance policy will cover a pandemic

A large proportion of travel insurance policies rule out coverage of pandemics, with these seen as being a foreseeable event, which means you won’t be refunded for your outlays. However, there are still plenty of good travel insurance plans that will not exclude Covid-19 as a reason for your trip being cancelled.

Another way to circumvent the risk of a Covid-19 outbreak ruining your vacation is to opt for a policy that provides “cancel for any reason” coverage. This kind of plan will reimburse the non-refundable and prepaid portion of your vacation should you need to cancel for whatever reason. However, this type of policy usually needs to be brought within two to three weeks of your initial trip payment and is often more costly. Also, check the small print as your policy may require you to cancel no later than 48 hours before your scheduled departure.

Photo: Free image by Pixabay