Blog - Insurance Agency Singapore | Commercial Insurance and Personal Insurance

Expert Dishes on When You Should Really Buy Travel Insurance

20 May 2015 By Digital Curator Leave a Comment

Image via Flickr user Liam Moloney

You’ve selected your destination, departure date and seat assignment. You’ve entered your name and date of birth and if you’d like to pre-pay for checked bags. You’re almost done buying a plane ticket and then the dreaded checkbox asking whether you would like to purchase travel insurance or not pops onto the screen.

Here are some tips to help coach you on when to buy trip or airfare insurance:

What’s the timing? If you’re buying a ticket last minute for a trip you’re taking this weekend, it’s less likely something will disrupt your plans.

Will canceling break your pocketbook? If you need to cancel or delay a trip and being out that money (and perhaps knowing that you’ll have to pay even more money to reschedule), paying a little extra up front for insurance won’t hurt in the long run.

Do you have use for other services? If you’re going on a major trip where you might need more than just trip interruption coverage — if you want coverage for medical incidents, lost baggage or help with lost travel documents, for example, — insurance might be for you.

by Liz Klimas

See Full Story on theblaze.com

Medical claims are top of the list for travel insurance

18 May 2015 By Digital Curator Leave a Comment

Image via Flickr user [Duncan]

Medical insurance claims are the most expensive for New Zealand’s largest online travel insurer.

Southern Cross Travel Insurance has released a list of its ten largest insurance claims in 2014 today, all of which were medical.

The most expensive was a $400,000 surgery in the United States.

Southern Cross’s Craig Morrison admits other types of claims are small in comparison.

“After medical, the biggest claim we pay for is accidental death – for car accidents…things like that, and that’s a pay out of around $50,000.”

Morrison points out the list shows the importance of travel insurance.

“My experience tells me that the unexpected events indeed happened and it happened in a random nature.”

See Full Story on newstalkzb.co.nz

What you need to know about travel insurance

15 May 2015 By Digital Curator Leave a Comment

Image via Flickr user fdecomite

An online travel insurance company has taken out this year’s national award for best-value policy, sharing the top spot with Southern Cross.

Travel Insurance Direct were joint winners with Southern Cross in this year’s Canstar travel insurance awards, offering the best policies across both trans-Tasman and international travel.

“Offshore events such as Tropical Cyclone Pam or domestic events such as a family member suddenly falling sick can cancel a holiday altogether. That said, it’s never too late to insure yourself, so if you’re heading away for Easter next week and haven’t yet put travel insurance in place, do it right now.”

TRAPS TO WATCH OUT FOR

Travel insurance was second in New Zealanders’ list of gripes to the Financial Services Ombudsman last year, behind personal loans for car purchases. Here’s what you can do to minimise any problems.

* Pre-existing conditions: these are existing medical conditions that insurers don’t cover. Each insurer will have a different list, so make sure to read the small print. Don’t be tempted not to declare your condition, as it could void the entire policy.

* Look closely at policy definitions to check cover is as comprehensive as thought.

* Age limits – cover can be limited when a trip is cut short by the death or illness of a relative over a certain age (usually 75-80).

* Cover for certain sports – Skiing, snowboarding, scuba-diving, bungy-jumping and motorcycling may not be covered unless discussed with your insurer beforehand.

* Motor vehicle liability – Most insurers don’t cover the renting of a car in another country, so make sure you take out a comprehensive policy from the rental agency.

CASE STUDY 1

C arranged insurance for a trip to Peru between June and September 2013, with P. In June, C made a claim, providing a report from the Peruvian police, which stated C “declares having forgotten and left, inside a black coloured taxi . . . a black coloured HP personal computer”. P declined the claim on the basis that the loss was not a result of a defined peril, in this case theft, and the claim was outside the scope of cover.

C disputed the decision, saying the police report did not correctly record the circumstances. C stated that she did not leave the laptop in the taxi, but that it was stolen. The case manager did not believe C had shown, on the balance of probabilities, that the laptop was stolen. The complaint was not upheld by the Insurance and Savings Ombudsman.

CASE STUDY 2

X arranged travel insurance for his and his wife’s travel to Australia between June and August 2013, with P. While in Australia, X’s wife sought medical treatment for a problem with her left eye.

X telephoned P and advised that his wife required eye surgery. P told X it did not believe the surgery was emergency surgery, given that it was scheduled two weeks later. P said it was considering flying X’s wife back to New Zealand for treatment, and requested confirmation from X’s wife’s doctor in Australia, who said this was fine.

P said X’s wife was fit to fly back to New Zealand and the policy would not cover claims arising from her refusal to return to New Zealand.

X told P his wife would undergo surgery in Australia, and then tried to claim for the surgery when the pair returned to New Zealand. P declined the claim, saying X’s wife had been fit to fly, the surgery was not emergency treatment and the policy did not cover private hospital treatment where publicly funded services were available. The claim was not upheld by the ombudsman.

See Full Story on stuff.co.nz

Things to look before you buy Travel Insurance

13 May 2015 By Digital Curator Leave a Comment

Image via Flickr user Moyan Brenn

In today’s times, travelling to a foreign country does not mean packing bags and flying off. Rather, the task has become complex as various arrangements need to be made such as foreign currency or changing one’s telephone plan. The increasing instances of lost luggage, delayed flights and health complications have made the need for travel insurance must for a traveler. One has to get into finer details to know if their selection of travel insurance policy is right or not.

Extent of health coverage – Though all of the travel insurance policies cover for medical emergencies and other related expenditure, but a traveler should look for a policy that has a comprehensive or appropriate coverage to suit one’s medical condition.

Other inclusions – Most of the policies provide compensation for lost baggage and documents and flight delays, but specific inclusions such as covering disabilities or death as a result of accident while traveling are not part of all policies. A traveler should look for such inclusion if he is going on an adventure trip. On the other hand, leisure holidaying will not need such coverage.

Global or specific region coverage – Travel insurance policies are of two types, that is, either they are applicable to travel across the globe or extend coverage to specific regions. In most cases, a global coverage is appropriate but if a traveler is sure of travelling to a certain region then a specific geographical coverage should suffice. Normally, insurance companies charge a higher premium for covering places that are categorized as high-risk. Hence, one should review and compare policies to save paying higher premiums.

Pre-set coverage amount – A travel policy specifies a preset coverage amount that is allowed for each head. For example, a travel policy may specify maximum limit of upto $1000 on flight delay or $100,000 for health emergencies. One should try to get a coverage that will cover the maximum cost.

Time of travel – If travel abroad is a frequent activity then one may consider buying an annual multi-trip policy. But, if it is just one-time affair in a year then a single trip policy will be good enough. Also, one should get a coverage that allows an extension of policy, if in case someone wants to extend the stay.

See Full Story on indiainfoline.com

Buying travel insurance policy? Use this 5 point checklist

11 May 2015 By Digital Curator Leave a Comment

Image via Flickr user Kreuzfahrtfan

Travel insurance protects the policyholder for loss arising because of unforeseen events during travel. Coverage, extent of coverage, destination clauses, pre-existing health conditions coverage are some factors one should check before buying one such cover.

Here are the top 5 things to be evaluated before buying a travel insurance policy:

1. What is actually covered and what is not: While all travel insurance policies may look similar on the face of it, the finer details of what is covered and what is not can make a huge difference. For example, medical coverage while travelling abroad is an important component.

2. Destination coverage: Travel insurance companies offer policies which may either have global coverage or have specific geographical coverage. Choosing a policy with global coverage is always safer, as there is no risk of rejection. However, there may be sub clauses and exceptions to this.

3. Duration of coverage: Policies can be either a single trip policy or an annual multi trip policy. The frequency of travel should determine the choice of the policy. Check how many consecutive days abroad will be covered under the policy.

4. Extent of coverage: In addition to the various heads which are covered in the policy, one must also check how much will be the coverage for each head. This means there will be a limit on the claims imposed, depending on what is being claimed.

5. Pre-existing health conditions: Insurers generally do not cover pre existing conditions of the policy holder. However, some companies offer coverage with certain caveats and conditions. Policy holders are required to declare the pre existing conditions while purchasing the policy.

Any insurance costs money and therefore purchasing travel insurance entails premium outflow. However, it is better to be safe than sorry, and travelling without adequate insurance is foolishness. It is important to compare the various options available, look up all the relevant features of the policies and select the one which is provides the most appropriate coverage.

by Smitha Hari

See Full Story on moneycontrol.com

Travel insurance: 5 scenarios why you should opt for higher cover

8 May 2015 By Digital Curator Leave a Comment

Image via Flickr user Giorgio Montersino

Travelling is an important and regular event in everyone’s life whether it is for leisure or work. Travelling creates memories which we cherish all through our life.

What You Need? A good travel insurance plan will take care of any unforeseen situation during transit. Situations like loss or theft of baggage, delay of flights leading to financial loss, loss of passport and other important documents and medical emergency are quite common.

Big Mistake: Buy the lowest premium insurance or tick off any box the agent or airline asks you to.

Result: Just not enough when the actual need arises. Either it won’t cover that situation or the reimbursement will be a measly amount.

Solution: Buy the coverage for travel insurance keeping in mind the country you are traveling to and the purpose of your travel.

Not Convinced Yet? Consider these situations and statistics:

High Cost To Meet Medical Emergency: If you are travelling to United States, Singapore, Egypt, Turkey or Greece (the most popular tourist countries) and you fall sick even with a basic problem of gastritis you are up for big trouble.

Student Travelling Abroad for Education: If you are studying abroad in Australia, US, UK or Canada (countries that see highest influx of Indian students) you would definitely need a higher coverage travel plan to cover any unforeseen situation.

Adventure Travel: If your travel plan includes indulgence in adventure or extreme sport activities like mountain climbing, sky diving, paragliding, rafting, etc you may want to go for a higher travel insurance coverage.

Acts of Terrorism: Are you planning to travel to Thailand, Egypt, Turkey or Philippines without a good insurance plan? My advice: Don’t.

Airlines – The Soft Targets: Hijacking, accidents, terrorist attack, and flight delay – we have heard about these situations innumerable times. Airlines are, undoubtedly, the soft targets.

When you are travelling then only good preparation can save you and buying a travel insurance plan that covers you adequately is an important preparatory tool.

Recommended Minimum Travel Insurance Coverage (USD):

US or Canada—$50,000
Europe excluding UK—$30,000
UK—$50,000
Entire Asia Excluding Japan—$15,000
Anywhere Else—$50,000

by Yashish Dahiya

See Full Story on deccanchronicle.com

Things you need to know about travel insurance before you head off

6 May 2015 By Digital Curator Leave a Comment

Image via Flickr user Jurien Minke

It is imperative that business travellers ensure their travel insurance is up to scratch before embarking on a business trip. According to Corporate Traveller South Africa, in 2014, 40% of business trips from South Africa were into the rest of the continent, and of these, 65% of travel insurance claims were medical, compared to only 25% for cancellation and 15% for baggage loss or damage.

According to data from Travel Insurance Consultants (TIC), which works closely with Corporate Traveller, travellers aged 40 years and above tend to be at the greatest risk of cardiac emergencies, and diabetes is the most common pre-existing illness claim. Further to this, 50% of medical claims are accident or injury related, but the most common claim was food poisoning or gastroenteritis, resulting in travellers forking out anywhere between R3 000 – R30 000 for medical bills due to insurance policies that were insufficient.

Typically, travellers do not think it is necessary to take out additional travel insurance as a certain amount of cover is provided by their banks when purchasing an air ticket on a credit card. However, what travellers are not aware of is that this provides only limited medical cover and makes no provision for pre-existing conditions. By opting to top up this cover with an additional policy, a much greater level of cover can be secured at an affordable cost and obviously minimise the risks of incurring unnecessary costs.

When it comes to serious illness, although most people are worried about Ebola, it is malaria that dominates travel risks. Annually, there are about 200 million cases of malaria, of which 600 000 result in death. As a lot of hospitals and clinics in Africa lack basic medication and equipment; it is therefore important to know the risks and ask the right questions before heading overseas.

“Travel insurance is in part about the importance of being able to react quickly and having all the necessary agreements in place to provide a comprehensive insurance plan that can cover unplanned incidents such as these,” explains Michelle Jolley, Marketing Manager, Corporate Traveller.

Most serious medical cases on the continent such as these often require a patient to be moved to an appropriate facility, usually in another country. As such, TIC employs the services of Europ Assistance to manage all medical emergencies.

One of the latest provisions is an unconditional tropical disease cover, which is designed to provide full cover upon contracting malaria – even if the traveller did not take preventative medicines. To highlight the benefit of this insurance, a traveller who recently contracted malaria in Sierra Leone could not be treated there and was transferred to the nearest centre of medical excellence, Accra, Ghana. The total cost of which, including medical care, amounted to more than R950 000.

An alternative solution which provides great peace of mind for business travellers is an annual travel insurance policy, which can be taken out in the company’s name and provides cover for all travellers over an annual period. The policy is purchased in bulk based on the estimated number of travel days employees are likely to undertake over one year, and then adjusted at the end of the period based on actual travel dates. This represents a highly cost-effective and hassle free-solution against any unplanned medical needs while abroad.

“It’s natural to think ‘it will never happen to me’, but the reality of being unprepared is significant, from both a financial and health perspective. The cost of medical aid on the continent can be enormous, especially when the patient may need to be transferred across borders for treatment. ,Therefore it is more important than ever that travellers know what is covered in their travel insurance,” says Jolley.

by GGi Communications

See Full Story on pressoffice.mg.co.za

Tokio Marine Travel Insurance Promotion 4th May 2015 to 30th June 2015

4 May 2015 By Alex Tan 1 Comment

Planning to go on an overseas trip during the school holidays? Tokio Marine is glad to announce a 1o% discount for ALL travel insurance policies with travelling period from 4th May to 30th June 2015. While travelling during the school holiday season can be costly, don’t let it hinder you from being insured against travel risks. Refer to the chart below for pricing. Prices are quoted before discount. Email sales@credence.agency for more details.

Premium rates at a glance

Coverage at a glance

China Taiping Motor Insurance Benefits Enhancement

4 May 2015 By Alex Tan Leave a Comment

With effect from today, 04 May 2015, China Taiping will provide FREE NCD Protector to all customers with 10% & 20% NCD. In other words, all customers with NCD will enjoy FREE NCD PROTECTOR in future. The NCD (No Claims Discount) Protector is an extension of your motor insurance car policy that protects your NCD status. It allows you to make a claim without losing your NCD status. As for renewals, it will apply for policy commencing on 01.07.15 . Benefit does not apply to existing customers who has claims history in the preceding year.

Furthermore, China Taiping will also reduce premium rates for both commercials and private vehicles. To find out how much competitive are their rates, click here to submit your details for quotation.

Travel Insurance is Now a Prerequisite for a Worry Free Vacation

4 May 2015 By Digital Curator Leave a Comment

Image via Flickr user bass_nroll

Every traveler begins her journey with a complex web of connections, coupled with dreams of blue skies, unlimited horizons, fair weather and unlimited upgrades.

But, as in everything in life, risk and reward live together and in this complex fine print driven world, we all live and travel while the “devil truly is in the details.”

Practical Drivers for Taking the Plunge and Buying Travel Insurance

Most travelers have a tendency to buy insurance if they believe their may or could have a problem out there on the road that’s unforeseen and significant.

For many of you it’s the smart thing to do — your dropping some serious money on a trip and spending $100-$200 in travel insurance is really not a significant cost vs. the level of protection you will receive.

Critical Option You Should Weigh Prior to Boarding

As above, dear traveler, the devil is in the details. So, don’t multitask this with a carrier on a land line and your smartphone logged in to Instagram.

Go Deep and Long if You are out there on the Frontier: You can get unlimited medical coverage from some providers and a lower cost policy might just cover up to $1M.

Know if you are Covered with Reciprocal Healthcare: Some countries have agreements with other countries, you may be entitled to free or reciprocal coverage if their is reciprocity between the countries.

Are All or Some of Your Belongings Covered? If your iPad falls into the Thames, are you covered? Is your luggage covered for theft and damage of any kind, are electronic devices covered — get the details from your provider, they are obligated to walk you through the fine print.

What does “Cancellation” Mean? With many providers you can define the amount of coverage based on a specific event that prevents you from traveling — look for a policy that covers the full cost of your trip and any incremental costs. Like all things in business, a higher amount triggers a more costly premium.

Provider Insolvency: If your provider goes out of business while you are traveling make sure you have a minimum of $250K in coverage and this can be an exotic clause for some providers and your airline should be factored into this coverage.

Car Rental Coverage: In most cases mainstream coverage bundled with the car rental may not cover all of your costs if you are involved in an accident.

Personal Liability Coverage: This should be $2-$3 million at a minimum and you want blanket coverage that prevents someone from suing you for any type of exotic or weird happenstance.

Be Prepared for Challenges: Travel with emergency numbers and contacts and keep a copy of these on you physically in case you are injured and unconscious and don’t rely on information backed up on a device, paper is better.

Keep Your Paperwork: If you have a problem be diligent in keeping all receipts, police reports, hotel records, whatever else you need to substantiate a claim.

Be safe, have a great time and shop around for travel insurance and make sure you get localized comprehensive coverage that fits your travel plans.

See Full Story on huffingtonpost.com

Insurance Agency Singapore | Commercial Insurance and Personal Insurance