User:(WT-en) It's So Easy Travel Insurance

Most of us think of travel insurance as being boring, unnecessary and about the last thing we want to spend time on, when planning a trip. I've had exactly those thoughts myself.

However, having been on the other side of the fence, as it were, over the past few years, I now see things differently. My experiences of providing travel insurance have taught me that part of planning a successful trip is to include provision of adequat travel insurance.

It's in fact a huge risk to travel without insurance. If you do, you're exposing yourself financially and could incur potentially very large large bills if you need medical treatment - especially if you need an air ambulance or you're in a country where medical bills are very high - for example the USA.

To give you an idea: someone travelling recently simply fell off a wall, broke his ankle but because of his location, had to be air ambulanced to a hospital with suitable facilities. The bill came to £25,000! I bet he was glad he had travel insurance! If he hadn't, he would have been paying off that loan for a long time!

It is particularly important to be adequately insured if you have any pre-existing medical condition. If you don't declare these to insurers and need treatment for them when you are away, an 'ordinary' travel insurance policy won't cover the costs. The insurer could even void the entire policy because you had not declared what they consider to be a 'material' fact.

If you are travelling with someone who has a medical condition, you should ensure that your policy would meet your claim if your had to cancel, cut short or extend your trip because your travelling companion is ill, related to their pre-existing medical condition. Your insurers would need to know about this and agree to meet such a claim. It might be preferable to be covered by the same policy that has covered your companion who has declared their condition.

What do I mean by 'pre-existing medical condition'? In essence, it's something that could be a chronic condition, such as blood pressure or kidney stones or heightened cholesterol - even if things are stable by taking medication. They are, nevertheless, medical conditions.

It's always best to err on the side of caution - so if you're not sure, declare things to an insurer, so there can be no comeback on you if you later need to make a claim related to any pre-existing condition.

Similarly, if you have someone back home who is ill and you might need to make a claim to cut short your trip if their health deteriorates, you need to declare this to your insurer, to ensure they agree to cover this situation.

It's also especially important to have adequat insurance if you are taking part in any sports of activities eg scuba diving, water or sno skiing, white water rafting, snowbaodring etc. Some of these activities will be covered as standard under a policy; you may need to pay an extra premium to have others included. Sometimes you'll need to purchase a specialist policy for activities that are considered to be high risk.

Different countries have different kinds of insurance packages. For example, in the UK, travel insurance is very comprehensive. Policies will generally automatically include cover for cancellation, curtailment, medical expenses, loss of baggage or personal items, loss of passport/driving licence, punblic liability and legal expenses.

In other countries, insurers structure their policies differently, so you may need to purchase more than one kind to obtain comprehensive cover.

As I say, I've heard many stories that now make me realise how important insurance is. I hope you'll never need to use it but, if you do, I bet you'll be pleased you had it!

Apologies to those who consider that what I have written is not appropriate here. As someone who works in a specialist area of insurance, I was hoping to warn and inform people by writing something. It was my first time visiting the site and I don't wish to contravene its intentions. I thought I was remaining within the guidelines laid out for businesses. Apologies if I have failed. I would rather amend my article and, hopefully, write others that might be useful to people than just be deleted altogether. I'd be happy to receive guidance.

http://www.itssoeasytravelinsurance.com