As with all insurances, it is important that you read policy documents carefully to ensure that the cover you need is included, this is especially true if you are into sports or adventurous persuasion as many activities increase the risk of injury, and therefore may not be covered by default or can only be covered for a limited frequency over insurance. Policies vary slightly, so it pays to shop around if you have time, or speak with a specialist broker to try to find a policy that covers your intended activity at no extra cost.
Travel insurance policies come in different forms, but most policies for UK residents include the following categories of coverage, although you should always read the policy wording to find out what is and is not covered by the specific policies, including policies may have benefits in separate categories, or bundle them under one heading:
Acute medical care
Covers cost of emergency medical treatment, this usually involves treatment in a hospital, but not necessarily. Prior authorization from the insurer is normally required if the expected cost of treatment is likely to be above a fixed amount set out in policy formulation, it is often quite low, hundreds of pounds.
Acute 
medical care
Covers cost of emergency care, mainly getting someone to hospital if this is the cost of a road ambulance or where applicable an air ambulance or sea rescue, although you should check that you are covered for the activity in which you participated as casualty or become ill.
Repatriation
Covers costs associated with returning you to your home country after receiving medical treatment, with an accompanying medical professional when necessary. Also covers the back of your stay in the event of your death overseas.
Medical Evacuation
In the event that there is no hospital able to treat you locally, this part of the policy cost of transport to the nearest hospital that can treat you, even if it is in another country
Hospital Benefit
A small daily amount to cover miscellaneous costs of being a hospital in-patient abroad. Normally have a minimum length of stay requirements and an upper limit on the total benefits paid. Daily is usually in the vicinity of £ 10 to £ 30th
Cancellation, Interruption & Trip Interruption
Covers any financial loss can be recovered for other means, such as lost deposits or non-refundable transportation costs, you suffer as a result of having to cancel or shorten your trip or having to return home suddenly. Common causes of applying under this section will be the sudden and unexpected serious illness or death in the immediate family or something happens to your home such as fire or flood. What is considered a valid reason to claim on this point varies from policy to policy, so as usual, read the fine print.
Missed Departure
Covers additional costs if you miss your scheduled transport to depart your home country and the first international transport on the return journey. Cover under this section is usually limited to situations out of your control, such as lack of public transport or your car breaking down, although you may be required to prove that it had been maintained regularly. Missed connections in a country that is not your home country or country of final destination is often excluded.
Personal Responsibility
Provides coverage in case you injure a third party or damage their property, although there is often an exception to liability for the use of a vehicle or an animal under your control, such as a horse or dog.
Legal expenses insurance
If you are involved in litigation there is some coverage for legal costs.
Personal Accident
Usually a relatively small amount of life cover if you die or permanent disability cover in case you are seriously injured, such as loss of a limb or permanently blinded.
Personal belongings / luggage
Cover for your personal belongings and money that you take with you. There is usually an overall limit, which is the maximum for any requirements and limits for individual types of buildings.
It is the single item, pair or set of lines border, for example, a set of golf clubs is considered to be one item and you can not claim for each club in turn.
The valuables limit valuables usually referring to jewelry and electronic equipment. There will be a single item limit and a total valuables limit is the maximum coverage in a requirement for all items considered to be valuable.
There will also be a limit to the amount of cash included in a claim.
In case of theft will also be restrictions on valid claims as to where the item was, if it was safe, and a requirement to report the theft to the police. If you replace any items you need to get receipts.
Most, but not necessarily all parts of the cover will have an excess amount, which is the amount you expected to pay in the event of a claim and the insurance only covers the costs above this figure. This excess amount can per person, per policy or per claim.
Although we have a list of standard covers many policies allow you to change the policy, whether by adding the cover or by removing parts of the coverage entirely.
Common options are to waive the excess amount in the event of a claim to increase the cancellation coverage is included in the policy, eliminating the personal property section to exclude cancellation section and in some cases, you can exclude emergency medical treatment section.
Another frequent change is to add cover for a particular activity, although the effect on premiums can be quite dramatic depending on the type of activity as most policies will apply a multiplier to the base cost, which can more than double the premium.
In summary, a standard travel insurance policy contains many different parts of the coverage, not all needs, but for most people a standard travel insurance policy will cover all the unexpected events that may occur while you are away from home.
Be aware that if you purchase a travel insurance policy which provides coverage you want, you have wasted your money, not to mention the fact that you may be facing a huge bill.
With all insurance policies, you should always read the small print in the UK you have a 14 day period after purchase, provided you have not already made use of travel insurance policy, where you can get a guaranteed refund if the travel insurance policy is not to be fit, so let it later than that and a possible recovery is on insurer's discretion.
Have happy and safe driving.
No comments:
Post a Comment