Travel Insurance

DO YOU NEED TRAVEL INSURANCE?

The answer would be a resounding "Yes"!

Travel Insurance provides for a variety of incidents that could happen while on holiday. Being properly insured will allow you to enjoy your holiday without having to worry about any unplanned costs.

Travel Insurance is especially important if you are traveling with young children or someone elderly. The medical expense and emergency expense coverage are one of the most important benefits of Travel Insurance. Repatriation may not be covered by many hospitalization plans and is very expensive to arrange without Travel Insurance coverage.

If you are covered by a Travel Insurance policy provided by your employer, check whether this covers personal holidays as most do not cover non-business related travel. Otherwise, you should purchase specific Travel Insurance covering the period of your personal trip.

WHAT ARE THE MOST COMMON TRAVEL INSURANCE CLAIMS?

The most common travel insurance claims made are on:

• Travel Delay and Travel Cancellation
• Lost Luggage
• Medical Expenses
• Lost, Damaged or Stolen Property
• Lost or Stolen Money

While precautions can be taken while on your travels to reduce the risks, it is unfortunately, not possible to avoid all problems while traveling. In the meantime, watch out for your belongings, valuable items and travel documents and be careful of who you trust.

HOW MUCH TRAVEL INSURANCE COVERAGE TO BUY?

You can purchase Travel Insurance for a specific trip or, if you intend to travel regularly during the year, an annual policy will provide more value for money. Typically, if you travel more than six to nine times a year, an annual policy will probably make more sense.

If you travel with your spouse and children, you may consider purchasing family plans which also provide more value for money than single plans for each family member.

The key categories of benefits: overseas medical treatment and emergency repatriation; loss or delay of baggage and delay or cancellation of trip are available across all plans. However, the claim limits may differ.

If you intend to bring many expensive items on your trip, you may want to buy a policy with a higher baggage claim limit.

There may be additional benefits that are trip specific and you should consider these when making your purchase. For example:

• If you are going to drive on your holiday, you should buy a plan that covers the rental vehicle excess.
• If you are going to participate in sporting activities like scuba diving, rock climbing or skiing, you should buy a plan that covers amateur sports.

WHAT DOES A TRAVEL INSURANCE PRODUCT LOOK LIKE?

The premium payment is made at the start of the policy. There is no refund of premium should you terminate a single trip policy. You may be able to obtain a small refund for an annual policy if you cancel the policy early during the policy period without having made any claims.

Most Travel Insurance policies have around 15 different categories of benefits. However, we suggest focusing on the key categories that are important to you when making your selection and ensuring that the level of coverage is adequate for you.

Remember that each travel policy covers one policyholder. This means that if you have a number of check-in baggages you should try to check these in under different (insured) persons.