Travel insurance is a type of policy that is aimed for people who are seeking to travel overseas, either as a holiday, a business trip, an extended visit to one or several countries, a gap year or simply a need for some type of escapism !
Travel insurance seeks to provide a number of benefits for people whilst travelling, but the main one is unquestionably a need to provide financial cover for any medical assistance that might be needed whilst overseas.
This need for help could be as the result of an accident or an injury, or something that may trigger a pre-existing condition that the traveller already has. Cost of overseas medical help can often be highly expensive , especially in the USA, and most travel insurance policies will make a point of having high levels of financial cover.
These financial limits are meant to cover costs that relate to both a stay in hospital, physician and related clinical fees. A number of travel insurance policies will also include emergency repatriation to the insured’s home country where necessary.
This is normally facilitated by a specialist travel company, the cost of which will be covered under the terms of the travel insurance policy.
Single Trip Travel Insurance
This is one of the two main types of travel insurance policy that are normally issued to individuals, and is intended for a one off trip.
This trip maybe to several different countries, and may last over a definite period of time normally 30 / 45 days, depending upon the insurance company.
The policy will need to be taken out by the individual before the trip happens, and they must be located in their home country at the time of issue.
There is normally provision to extend the length of the policy in the event of an emergency, either affecting the individual or possibly the country they are visiting.
Annual Travel Insurance
This is the other type of main travel insurance policy issued by insurance companies to individuals and is intended to cover multiple trips during one calendar year.
Someone who makes multiple trips abroad will find this type of insurance policy more useful. It will normally allow for unlimited trips abroad during a year, but will have strict limits as to how long each trip can last for.
As with a single trip insurance policy it will have a similar level of cover both in terms of the risks that are insured and the financial limits that apply to each trip.
Whilst an individual will have to answer a number of questions particularly regarding their health before taking out an annual travel insurance, they will also be under an obligation to declare to the insurance company any change in their circumstances during the term of the policy that may affect the insurance companies willingness to cover them.
This particular rates to pre-existing or new health conditions that the insured is under an obligation to notify the insurance company of.
Both of the above types of travel insurance will have a number of other features in common, one of which is territorial limits. Most policies will normally be offered on a basis of worldwide either including or excluding USA / Canada. Certain countries may be excluded depending on government issued travel advice
Pre-existing Conditions
As with health insurance, the issue of pre-existing medical conditions is often one of the most contentious areas to navigate.
Anyone taking out travel insurance will have to answer a number of questions relating to their health and will be expected to notify the insurance company of any pre-existing conditions that they currently have, or have previously had within a certain number of fixed years.
These questions will be by way of a proposal form, normally online nowadays, will they it could still be done at a paper exercise.
Either way a travel insurance company will expect individuals to give a full and frank account of any pre-existing conditions, any medications that they are on or have been on previously and any potential health conditions that they are currently awaiting tests or examinations for.
People are often quite wary of giving a full account of their health, largely because they fear it could impact on either how much they are charged for their travel insurance, or whether they will be able to receive cover at all.
There are two answers to this that are really important.
Firstly, if someone does not give a full and frank account of their medical history or conditions, then in the event of a claim the insurance company will look very carefully at what they said when taking out the insurance and if it does not tally with the truth, then the insurance company may well decide to avoid any claim.
This potentially is a horrific situation for anyone to be in and one that will needs to be avoided. It leaves people alone and broke in a foreign country with no help from the insurance company.
The other reason is that an insurance company looks at risk. If someone has a pre-existing medical condition and they are managing it on a day-to-day basis in their own country with or without medication, then most of the time the insurance company will see that as an acceptable risk and not make any additional charge or change to the terms and conditions of the policy.
There may be some exceptions to that if the individual is going to be visiting certain countries or engaging in certain activities that could potentially increase the risk to the health.
That however is something that the individual should or needs to be aware of in its own right in any event and therefore it is not surprising that the insurance company may ask for additional restraints or charges.
Seniors Travel Insurance
it is somewhat of a paradox, that people when they have reached a certain age, normally retirement age, will have both funds and time to travel more extensively than they had earlier in their life or career..
It is also true that people of this age all more likely to have health conditions or need financial assistance whilst travelling.
Both these factors can have an impact on travel insurance policies but are not a reason for a senior either not to travel or not take out travel insurance.
Most insurance companies who offer travel insurance may well have an upper age limit, simply as a cut off point to avoid future claims.
However, there are a number of insurance companies who specialise in senior travel insurance policies which are normally not that much more expensive than standard policies.
Most of the costs will effectively depend upon the health condition of the individual, and as above if they have a pre-existing condition that is managed effectively in their own country this need not be an impediment to obtaining oceans at a reasonable price.
Digital Nomads Travel Insurance.
This is a relatively new type of travel insurance policy that has been established over the last few years, in response to what are known as digital nomads.
Many countries now offer a digital nomad visa, normally for a year, which individuals take advantage of to hop from one country to another often making the digital nomad way of life a permanent feature of their travelling.
This unfortunately goes against the principle of most types of travel insurance that a policy needs to be taken out by the individual in their home country before the trip is undertaken.
The need for such insurance has led to a few specialist digital nomad insurance companies which offer insurance on a much more liberal basis, allowing for the individual to travel more freely within the terms of their digital nomad visa.
Most of these types of insurance company are completely online, and it is not clear how responsive they are in terms of legitimate claims. There is some anecdotal evidence online that gives a mixed response to this question, and is an area that does not lead itself to easy answers.
Cruise Insurance
One of the other types of main travel insurance policy that is issued relates to cruise insurance, individuals taking one or more trips on a cruise that requires them to have some type of medical insurance.
Normally a cruise line will insist on passengers having some type of medical insurance, largely to make sure that in the event of an emergency they can leave the ship either for offshore treatment or to be repatriated to their own country.
The level of cover or terms of conditions of such a policy can vary, but cruise lines will have very specific information about what is required which needs to be either proven at time of booking or before the trip is undertaken
Some cruise lines have had their own insurance policies in effect that they either offer to passengers or require passengers to take out.
This has proved somewhat unpopular as it takes away the choice from the individual passenger as to what type of insurance to purchase and such policies are certainly on the decline if not disappeared altogether.
Exclusions and specialist policies
Most travel insurance policies will have a number of very specific exclusions, largely focusing on different types of activity that the insurance company either consider dangerous or particularly risky to certain types of individuals.
These activities can range from skiing holidays to winter sports to extreme sports to bungee jumping to normal golfing holidays.
A number of these types of activity can be included in a travel insurance policy at an additional cost, offered as a specialist type of policy that the individual can take out at the same time as the standard travel insurance policy
