Why you need to buy travel insurance
I keep reading on facebook and in the news so many stories of people who are travelling without insurance or their insurance wouldn’t pay out. Having previously worked in the insurance industry and spending my days reading insurance policies, I understand the importance of checking to make sure you understand what you are covered for and what you aren’t.
Something I am now experiencing in the UK is that insurance companies are changing their definition of UK resident, to someone who has spent 6 months out of the last 12 months in the UK. Generally this is not me and I have realised that in recent years a few of the policies I have bought, had I claimed, I would not have been covered!!
Make sure you check the policy before you buy it, if you spend a lot of time outside the country you are resident in, make sure that you would be classed as a resident by their definition and check every time as this seems to be something recent especially for the UK.
Do you have a return ticket? I have read stories recently of claims being turned down as the person did not have a return ticket. Most policies cover you from the date you leave your home country until the date you return and if you cannot prove you are returning then your claim may be turned down.
I have found at times that it can actually be cheaper to buy a return ticket than a single ticket!! Some people buy annual travel insurance but make sure you are aware that this only covers you for so many trips a year and up to a maximum amount of time (you need to check the policy as each company can be different, but quite frequently it’s a maximum of 30 days).
Also you need to check for exclusions, know before you go exactly what activities are covered/excluded. For example, high risk activities like ziplining, white water rafting and hiking over a certain altitude may not be covered.
Did you know that if you rent a motorbike/scooter, then you need to have the appropriate licence in your own country to ride one and to be covered under your travel insurance!! If you do not have the appropriate licence and have a bad accident then you need to have the funds to cover any medical treatment needed as it will be excluded from your travel insurance.
Just because Thailand will let you hire a scooter does not mean that your travel insurance will happily cover you if you have an accident on it!!
Also hiking, most policies only cover up to a certain height for example 2,500 metres. This may be ok if you are hiking in Europe but in South America/Nepal then you will need to either get it extended or buy specialist cover if you are to be covered hiking any higher.
You also need to make sure that you declare any previous medical conditions, as not declaring a medical condition could void a claim. You will need to discuss with the insurance company whether any cover can be provided for this condition while you are abroad or whether you can only be covered for non related incidents.
Very few insurance companies will allow you to buy an insurance policy once you have left your home country, so you will need to consider this if you are already abroad. It is possible though these policies tend to be more expensive than if you bought the cover at home, so if you can buy before you travel then you are best to do this.
It is also a good idea to buy the policy once your trip has been booked, in case the trip is cancelled for any reason, eg if you have an accident/illness and are no longer able to travel or this happens to your travel partner.
Gadget cover. Generally no cover is given, though you can pay extra to get some cover. If you want specific items covering eg laptop, camera then you need to speak to the insurance company to see how much extra it will cost to get insurance for these.
Also make sure you know what cover is available as most will have quite strict terms on the care you have taken with them for cover to be valid. They must have been stolen from somewhere locked with signs of forced entry.