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How (and Why) to Buy Travel Insurance

30 June 2016 By admin Leave a Comment

travel insurance

Picking the best travel insurance to buy for your coming vacation can be a daunting task, said Stan Sandberg, the co-founder of the trip insurance comparison site TravelInsurance.com. “There are literally hundreds of plans out there, and they are all steeped in complex legal language that can be hard for even the savviest consumers to decipher,” he said.

A good travel insurance plan, he said, gives you peace of mind that the money you’re spending on your trip isn’t lost if you end up not going and costs, on average, from 4 to 10 percent per person of the total cost of the trip per person.

Here, he shares his top tips on buying a travel insurance plan.

Figure Out What You Want to Insure.

Are you looking to protect an investment in nonrefundable airfare, hotel or cruise costs? Or do you need travel medical protection? Mr. Sandberg said that many travel insurance plans bundle both types into a single plan, which may be unnecessary but definitely costs more.

Check Your Health Insurance Before Hitting the Road.

Many travelers assume that their health insurance will cover them for any medical services, Mr. Sandberg said, but that is not always the case. “Most health plans today are based around in-network-only coverage, which means that you’re not covered if you see a doctor out of network, unless it’s for emergency or urgent care,” he said.

By SHIVANI VORA

See full story at www.nytimes.com

Fake travel insurance cases rise

26 April 2016 By Digital Curator Leave a Comment

Image via Flickr user Henri Bergius

While motor insurance fraud has traditionally been a huge worry for insurers, companies are seeing an emerging trend – dubious travel insurance claims.

The General Insurance Association (GIA) said the sector is growing fast as more people go overseas and also because of heightened awareness of the need for coverage.

Along with personal accident and health, travel insurance accounted for 21.6 per cent of the total general insurance business last year – up from 19.8 per cent and 18 per cent in 2014 and 2013, respectively.

Although the GIA has not collated figures, it set up a workgroup last year to tackle the relatively new problem.

Its president, Mr A. K. Cher, told The Straits Times: “We have people who are now travelling at the expense of insurance companies.”

“But one of them still somehow had a credit card to pay for their way home,” he said. “When we checked, we found they had all bought travel insurance from eight companies here.”

The GIA is now looking to data analytics to help crack down on such cases. Mr Cher said it is working with French start-up Shift Technology to sieve through data to identify anomalies. Fraud aside, “they will be able to see if we have overpaid for a certain type of claims, for instance”, he added.

Insurers have also hired former investigators from the Commercial Affairs Department to go after cheats.

Gross motor premiums collected stood at $1.14 billion, down from $1.19 billion previously.

The general insurance business on the whole – including fire, work injury and marine cargo and hull – posted an underwriting profit of $325 million, 17 per cent lower than 2014’s $392 million.

An earlier version of the story missed out the word “former” in the sentence “Insurers have also hired former investigators from the Commercial Affairs Department to go after cheats”. We are sorry for the error.

by Christopher Tan

See Full Story at straitstimes.com

Benefits of travel insurance

18 April 2016 By Alex Tan Leave a Comment

Image via Flickr user Moyan Brenn

While many travellers spend a lot of time and effort in planning the perfect vacations, they tend to neglect the importance of getting a good travel insurance policy. Especially for travellers visiting certain places for their first time, they are more prone to fall ill and get into accidents despite the climate change in unfamiliarised places.

There will always be unfortunate incidents that might happen during their travels, anything could happen. Although travel insurance cannot help people from avoiding these misfortunes, it does offer support and comfort in terms of monetary compensation, which will be useful in certain situations like medical bills or trip cancellation.

For travel insurance policy, it offers financial recovery for medical expenses that are incurred because of accidents and illnesses. These medical treatment can be very costly in some countries especially for those who get involved in serious injuries. With travel medical insurance, travellers can be assured to get reimbursement for the total amount of money that they spend on medical treatment.

Besides this, they also covers medical evacuation, which travellers do not have to pay medical emergency transportation expenses with their own money.

By having a travel insurance, it provides protection against trip cancellation and interruption. When an emergency arises before or during a vacation, travellers may have to cancel or cut short their trips. Since they have already paid everything for their vacations, they will definitely have to lose certain amount of money if there is any last minutes changes. With this, travel insurance ensures that they will get compensation for their losses from trip cancellation or interruption.

In addition, those who have a travel policy will get coverage for any loss baggage or personal belongings. Other types of coverage include travel delay, tour operator default, personal liability, accidental death, legal expense etc.

Travel insurance policy does not only ensure that you will get coverage for unforeseen losses, it also provide you travel assistance and 24 hour emergency services to help their customers deal with tough situations during their vacation.

Your insurance company will offer you the best advice to solve your problems in the shortest time possible, which this kind of assistance is especially important when you are travelling to a country where locals do not speak your language.

By Damian Tysdal

See full story on USTIA

Travel Insurance Promotion

29 October 2015 By Alex Tan Leave a Comment

The year-end school holidays are just around the corner, I believe many of you would have already made some plans for holidays with your loved ones.

With that, I am glad to highlight that Tokio Marine Insurance is now having a travel insurance promotion which will offer travellers with utmost benefit and a peace of mind.

Right now, there is a 20% discount for Single trip travel and 15% discount for Annual plan travel insurance policy. This promotion will start from 1^st Nov 2015 to 31^st Jan 2016.

While travelling during the school holiday season can be costly, don’t let it hinder you from being insured against travel risks.

You may wish to email to sales@credence.agency for more details. Alternatively, you can also call us at 68978226.

Importance of having a Travel Insurance

24 August 2015 By Alex Tan Leave a Comment

While travelling in overseas country is an enjoyable experience, many travellers tend to neglect the importance of having a travel insurance especially the younger people, thinking that nothing could go wrong and everything is going to be fine. However, risks are always present and there will be times when these risks are beyond our control.

Below is the list of common risks that might occur to you during our travel experience:

1. Cancellation/Postpone of flight/Travel Misconnection

There may be times, due to unforeseen circumstances, that results to cancelling or postponing our trips. Such example could be a recent death of your family member at home, or cases like the bombing incident in Bangkok, where it might not be a good time to travel. It will be a loss if you are not able to get the refund. However, travel insurance allows for such trip cancellation or postponement Hence, it will not only save your worries but also save your money. Besides that, there is also compensation for travel misconnection, if the flight is delayed exceeding 6 hours.

2. Medical coverage

Despite having different climates in different countries, some people have a hard time of adapting the change of weather and may fall sick when they arrive at their destination. Travel insurance has medical coverage for medical expenses incurred overseas. The recent MERs case in Korea could be an example of an unforeseen risk that if struck upon, may need to seek medical attention immediately and it will definitely be costly.

3. Stolen/damage items/loss of travel documentations

Do you know that there are many professional pickpockets around you, they are fast and could steal your stuffs before you even know it. Imagine your valuables or even worst, passport is being stolen during your holiday trips. It will be difficult to deal these kind of situation. Rather than just enjoying your holiday, you end up spending more money to replace the items you have lost.

4. Baggage loss/Delay

Misplaced or delay of baggage happens all the time with most airlines and it is certainly not a happy situation to be in. In the worst case scenario, some of our baggage may get damaged.

5. Accidental damage/injury

Travelling is fun, however there is a risk that we may tend to get ourselves injured due to incidents like traffic accident. Traffic in overseas countries may not be as friendly as those in our own country and risk of accidents are always there and unavoidable. While trying to be careful is one way of reducing your risk, some accidents may just be unavoidable / unpredictable.

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

Insurance Agency Singapore | Commercial Insurance and Personal Insurance