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Travel Insurance

What does travel insurance actually cover?

Travel insurance over 70 products vary from provider to provider. Therefore, the losses they cover are not always the same.

In this post, we take a look at what your policy might cover, and what it might not.

Cancellations

Travel insurance usually covers cancellations. Cancellations occur when you need to cancel some aspect of your trip, usually because of circumstances outside of your control.

Cancellations cover cancelled tour packages, aeroplane tickets, cruise fares, and hotel rooms. Mostly, they only apply if you cancel for qualifying reasons. For instance, they might cover cancellation costs if you lose your job, get sick, or can’t travel because of adverse weather.

Some travel insurance policies will cover you for any reason, though they tend to be more expensive.

Medical emergencies overseas

Travel insurance also usually covers the cost of medical care overseas. If you don’t have this cover, you may have to pay out-of-pocket. And, depending on where you go and the medical attention you require, that could be expensive.

Lost baggage

Travel insurance often covers lost, stolen, or damaged baggage as well as compensates for any delay in receiving your items.

Emergency evacuations

You may experience a health emergency while abroad. If so, evacuation coverage helps. This cover pays for emergency travel arrangements related to your medical care.

You can activate the emergency evacuation clause on your policy if your health deteriorates beyond a certain point, usually defined by local medical personnel. Coverage may include ambulance trips to the hospital, airlifts to better-equipped facilities, and flights back home.

Please note that evacuations can be exceptionally expensive – often reaching $50,000 or more.

Phone assistance

Travel arrangements and plans can go wrong while you are abroad. Because of this, many travel insurers offer 24/7 assistance, anywhere in the world. These services can help you if you need to get medical transportation, find your baggage, or locate a lost passport.

Additional coverage

Lastly, some groups of travellers require additional coverage to protect them against losses. For instance, if you are travelling to a dangerous part of the world, you may require life insurance. You may also benefit from hazardous sports cover which covers any medical costs you incur as a result of scuba diving or sailing accidents.

Find an insurance policy to suit your needs at Compare Insurance today.

Photo: Free image by Pixabay
Categories
Travel Insurance

What are the most common travel insurance claims?

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.

Photo: Free image by Pixabay