Insurance Agency Singapore | Commercial Insurance and Personal Insurance

Some travellers don’t need the level of coverage in a package plan – they need a travel medical plan instead – and they can avoid the extra expense that comes with a package plan. The following explains how to determine what type of travel insurance plan you need.

1. You need a travel medical plan when …

… your travel is domestic, relatively cheap, or outside your health insurance network.

Travel medical insurance plans cover your emergency medical care when you’re traveling outside your health insurance network. Many U.S. based health insurance plans do not cover their members when they leave the U.S. and they apply out-of-network charges for travel outside the health insurance network area, which means the traveler pays a higher portion of the bill.

Essentially, you need a travel medical plan when you’re not worried about recovering your non-refundable trip costs, your trip is relatively inexpensive, and you know you will be outside your health insurance network area (and therefore won’t have coverage for medical care).

2. You need a package plan when …

… your travel is expensive, once-in-a-lifetime, or you’re on a budget.

Travel insurance package plans cover a wide range of travel risks, including trip cancellation, travel interruption, emergency medical care, baggage loss, and evacuations as well as features like travel delays, car rental, and more. Cancellations can occur for a number of reasons, and when you want coverage for trip cancellation, you’ll need to buy a package plan.

See Full Story at www.travelinsurancereview.net

Yet it is cheap and easy to get cover, which could save you thousands of pounds in medical bills should anything go wrong while away.

It also helps protect you against lost luggage and cancelled flights.

Sun Savers brings you top tips for travel insurance.

• Buy as soon as you book. Travel insurance doesn’t just cover you while you are away, it protects you in case you can’t go on holiday. If you have to cancel, you should be covered for the cost of your trip.
• Shop around. It’s not just about price but the level of cover. Insurance can cost as little as £5 for a single person or £10 if you are travelling as a family. Use comparison sites such as Compare The Market, which is currently offering two-for-one meals for a year at thousands of restaurants if you take out travel insurance with it.
• Cheaper with more holidays. If you are going away twice this year and pay for two single-trip policies, it would cost £51.88 with Aviva. But getting annual cover would cost £42.18 from the same provider. Save even more money by using cashback sites. At TopCashback.co.uk you can get £15.75 back on annual travel policies with Aviva, and as much as £20.45 on policies with Virgin Money Travel.

by Sophia Moir

See Full Story at www.thesun.co.uk

Travel is a special gift to give to yourself and your family, and can do wonders for mental and physical health. But lack of proper preparation can totally derail a perfectly planned vacation. Once you’ve made it away, definitely spend time decompressing, but do remember to be aware of the usual ways to become ill or injured on vacation so you can do your best to avoid them.

Things to Do Ahead of Time to Stay Healthy

• Check in with your doctor to find out if your vacation destination requires you to be vaccinated ahead of time. Common vaccinations include those against typhoid, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, cholera, yellow fever, rabies, and influenza. Your doctor can also help with advice on avoiding infections such as Japanese encephalitis, cholera and traveller’s diarrhea.
• Pack a travel health kit. Hopefully all it does is take up space in your suitcase, but if you end up needing it, you’ll be grateful you have it. This Government of Canada page has a comprehensive list of items to bring, which includes first aid supplies, medications and additional items such as water purification tablets or a filter, sunscreen and ear plugs. It is also recommended you carry a card with the contact information of a friend or family member at home, the name of your health care provider, your travel insurance information and where you are staying.

Things To Do While at Your Vacation Destination to Avoid Illness

• Keep your hands clean. This is by far the best way to avoid illness. Wash thoroughly with soap and water as much as possible for at least 20 seconds, and don’t forget between your fingers and under your nails. Keep a healthy supply of hand sanitizer and hand wipes with you at all times, too, for when there isn’t a sink available.
• Stay away from tap water and stick with bottled water when traveling in areas such as Mexico, South America, Asia (although Brunei, Israel, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Singapore all have safe water) and Africa. Illnesses that can be found in bad water include typhoid, hepatitis A, cholera, and traveler’s diarrhea. To be very safe, even use bottled water when brushing your teeth and ask for drinks with no ice in them. If bottled water is unavailable, boil tap water for at least 60 seconds before drinking.
• Watch what you eat. Be wary of uncooked foods such as salads, and although it’s very tempting, it’s best to avoid food from street vendors as well.
• Be very careful in the sun. A sunburn can really derail a vacation, plus make you sick with headaches, the chills, fatigue, and, yes, pain. Use a waterproof sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30, and apply often.
• Also take care to regulate your body heat. Those of us from Canada can forget just how hot others countries can become. It’s imperative to protect your head from the sun with a hat at all times, wear loose, light-colored clothing and stay hydrated by drinking lots of (bottled) water.
• Insect repellant is also a must. Mosquitoes pass along illnesses such as dengue fever, malaria, and the Zika virus, and ticks, fleas or flies can also pass along diseases.

See Full Story at www.lanesinsurance.com

Travelling the world can be one of the most fulfilling aspects of later life. When you have the time, freedom and means to experience new places, there should be nothing to stop you taking the trips you may have always imagined.

Even if you have a pre-existing medical condition or disability, here at Free Spirit we believe age should be no barrier to travel, which is why we specialise in providing medical travel insurance for people over the age of 70, in fact, people of any age.

With specialist travel insurance tailored to your age and any existing conditions or disabilities you may have, you can jet off abroad with peace of mind and enjoy your holiday to the fullest.

Here are our top tips on finding medical travel insurance when you’re over 70 years of age.

Planning more than one trip? Multi-trip travel insurance could be better value

It’s wonderful having extended periods of time to dedicate to travel, which is why retirement is such a perfect opportunity to plan those overseas adventures. You could find yourself planning more than one holiday at once, or you may be looking to visit friends and family who live abroad, as well as taking a separate trip elsewhere.

If so, don’t forget that it may be cheaper to opt for Annual Multi-trip specialist travel insurance. As long as your trips all fall within the period of 12 months and you are planning to return home between each one, you can take as many holidays/trips as you like. Our Multi-trip travel insurance also covers most pre-existing medical conditions or disabilities.

The only other main caveat* is the number of days we can insure you to travel for. But don’t worry, you can still plan that month-long trip. Duration of each holiday/trip depends on the level of cover you go for – with our ‘Super’ cover each trip can last up to 31 days and with our ‘Super Duper’ cover, each one can last up to 45 days.

Please note, when you purchase an Annual Multi-trip policy, your cover will start on a date of your choice, provided it no more than 31 days in advance. If you have already booked your trip, we recommend starting the policy immediately to ensure you are covered for cancellation.

See Full Story at www.freespirittravelinsurance.com