I get a lot of questions about travel-related insurance. Most of the time, these questions are about pre-existing conditions, and whether or not an individual qualifies for coverage while they are away.
However, lately I have had inquiries that come from a different perspective. And my responses usually reference what is clearly not covered, according to various insurance documents.
Given the legalese that is built into the actual policies, sometimes not even another lawyer is willing to give an opinion with absolute certainty. So how are we, as ordinary readers, supposed to come to a conclusion and feel secure enough in how we have defined specific phrases?
On the other hand, there are some clear no-no's.
QUESTION: I understand there is a new entertainment option in Florida that includes driving a NASCAR car around a regulation oval track several times. I assume they take all kinds of precautions, but should I be hurt in an accident while participating in this activity, would I still have full coverage?
ANSWER: Not only would you not have full coverage, it's unlikely you would have any at all. While you might try to launch an argument vis-a-vis the actual wording of the policy, one company puts it succinctly: "Your participation in a motorized race or motorized speed contest, including training or practice for the same, is not covered."
You might want to shape a different argument, but I'm betting you'd lose.
Likewise will individuals who think rock- or mountain-climbing is a fun and interesting challenge.
If you're participating in a professional sport, you'd better be sure your sports body has sufficient coverage because your travel-insurance policy likely excludes such activities as well.
A point I found most noteworthy relates to the insurance companies' recommendation that you be transported home for medical attention.
If something happens to you on your trip which you at first find serious, but think you'll complete the vacation in spite of the insurance company's request for you to return home at their expense, you are strictly on your own. Should your condition worsen, you can't go back to them and try to reinstate the coverage. Once you refuse to be returned, it's gone.
While I have isolated a few areas where travellers would not be covered, for the nth time I repeat: To leave home without travel insurance is sheer folly. There are many stories I could relate where the decision to decline resulted in several thousand dollars of out-of-pocket expenditures.
QUESTION: I want to rent a car in Europe for two weeks in September. When I checked with a number of sources, including CAA, my travel agent, and my credit card's help centre, about third-party coverage for damage done to another person's car or liability for injuring a third party, I struck out.
They all have varying degrees of coverage available for damage to my rental, but not necessarily third party liability.
What is your understanding about this issue?
ANSWER: This too is a very complicated issue. I talked with John McClellan, owner of Discount Car and Truck Rental on Gertrude. Most car-rental companies, in your initial contract, supply only the very basic coverage on their cars, often as low as required by the state or country involved. Also, third-party liability in many out-of-province jurisdictions is not included if the company can get away with not providing it.
If you are renting your vehicle in other parts of Canada or the United States, he recommends travellers purchase coverage from our own MPI, which launched a program a few years ago which does, in fact, provide fairly substantial third-party liability coverage.
We often count on our credit-card coverage to protect us, but most often third-party liability is also limited or not covered. Damages to your car rental will be taken care of, but not necessarily damage to the other car involved in the accident. You need to examine all the details in your credit-card agreement.
The concept of 'no fault' does not exist in other destinations, as we are seeing with Canadians caught in the crossfire of Cuban policy and legislation around vehicle accidents.
There, you have to prove your innocence, not an easy thing to do with language and cultural barriers in your way.
No one likes to pay the extra costs related to automobile rentals when we travel, but the minimal coverage provided by your car-rental company will not likely go far in the event of an accident. Car-rental companies make a good part of their revenues on the supplemental coverage offered.
We may not be happy paying but, in the end, the investment is small compared to the risk of not having that protection if we get into an accident.
McClellan also added some additional good advice when renting overseas. You should not likely rent from local brands with limited storefront locations, but rather from recognized, worldwide names that have universal criteria for insurance coverage at their franchises.
QUESTION: I understand that insurance companies were not providing coverage against trip disruption relating to volcanic ash if going to Europe. Is that correct?
ANSWER: That is correct. They were not. Three months after the volcano erupted in Iceland, you still could not get full insurance coverage against a repeat occurrence. For that period of time, most insurance companies refused coverage in the same way they looked upon pre-existing conditions.
But two days from today, on August 16, at least one of the insurers will be reinstating that coverage. In a memo sent out just a couple of weeks ago, RBC said clients who purchase travel-insurance coverage with trip cancellation/interruption benefits and have a departure/return date on or after August 16 will be considered for coverage under their policy, provided no further volcanic eruptions occur before August 16 and all other policy terms and conditions are met.
วันเสาร์ที่ 14 สิงหาคม พ.ศ. 2553
Policy for Travel Insurance
A spokesman for Axa, one of the country's largest travel insurers, says: 'If a policyholder has fallen ill with a disease or illness which they should have been inoculated against, then they would not be covered under their policy for any medication, treatment or repatriation.'
And a spokesman for Aviva, another major insurance provider, says: 'Where inoculations are needed, and you have not fol lowed advice, we would question why and if there was no medical reason for not complying, then this could mean your medical claim is not paid.' If you have been sensible and followed advice on the correct inoculations and medicines, what should you do if you fall ill? If possible, phone your insurer before you receive treatment.
They use medical assistance companies with 24-hour helplines who will deal with your call. While the assistance company will usually deal with the hospital direct, hang on to any receipts in case you need them to support your claim.
Travellers to Europe should make sure they have an up-to-date European Health Insurance Card (EHIC); they last for five years. This should cover basic hospital bills in many European countries.
But the card doesn't cover you for repatriation: that is covered by insurance. For a full guide on how the EHIC works visit: thisis money.co.uk/ehic. A spokesman for insurer Esure says: 'A valid EHIC may well pick up hospital cover, but not necessarily an emergency doctor, so you should keep as much evidence of everything as you can.
'It is best not to wait until you are back in the UK, as the insurer can get good local help to you via their existing contacts.
'The only time when you don't have to do this is if the total cost of treatment is likely to be under £500, but here, keep receipts, letters and prescriptions to support your claim.'
If you are ill before you go on holiday, you might also need to let your travel insurer know.
For example, i f you are diagnosed with an illness or suffer an injury which means your doctor tells you not to travel, you should be able to claim under the cancellation clause of your policy - although if there is an excess on the policy, it means you won't get all your money back.
If you are ill - but not so bad that a doctor says you are unfit to travel - you can't claim under the cancellation clause. However, if your illness worsens while you are away, you should be covered for medical expenses incurred.
If you have a condition which means you are on a waiting list for treatment when you buy your policy, you won't be covered for that condition while away.
But if you are put on the waiting list after you have bought the policy, you should be covered.
And a spokesman for Aviva, another major insurance provider, says: 'Where inoculations are needed, and you have not fol lowed advice, we would question why and if there was no medical reason for not complying, then this could mean your medical claim is not paid.' If you have been sensible and followed advice on the correct inoculations and medicines, what should you do if you fall ill? If possible, phone your insurer before you receive treatment.
They use medical assistance companies with 24-hour helplines who will deal with your call. While the assistance company will usually deal with the hospital direct, hang on to any receipts in case you need them to support your claim.
Travellers to Europe should make sure they have an up-to-date European Health Insurance Card (EHIC); they last for five years. This should cover basic hospital bills in many European countries.
But the card doesn't cover you for repatriation: that is covered by insurance. For a full guide on how the EHIC works visit: thisis money.co.uk/ehic. A spokesman for insurer Esure says: 'A valid EHIC may well pick up hospital cover, but not necessarily an emergency doctor, so you should keep as much evidence of everything as you can.
'It is best not to wait until you are back in the UK, as the insurer can get good local help to you via their existing contacts.
'The only time when you don't have to do this is if the total cost of treatment is likely to be under £500, but here, keep receipts, letters and prescriptions to support your claim.'
If you are ill before you go on holiday, you might also need to let your travel insurer know.
For example, i f you are diagnosed with an illness or suffer an injury which means your doctor tells you not to travel, you should be able to claim under the cancellation clause of your policy - although if there is an excess on the policy, it means you won't get all your money back.
If you are ill - but not so bad that a doctor says you are unfit to travel - you can't claim under the cancellation clause. However, if your illness worsens while you are away, you should be covered for medical expenses incurred.
If you have a condition which means you are on a waiting list for treatment when you buy your policy, you won't be covered for that condition while away.
But if you are put on the waiting list after you have bought the policy, you should be covered.
Travel insurance: will your policy cover you if you fall ill on holiday this summer?
Holiday season is in full swing and while most trips pass without incident, thousands of Britons face falling ill while away.
And illness abroad doesn't just mean a touch of sangria-induced stomach problems. You, like celebrity Cheryl Cole - who is now on the mend after contracting malaria on holiday in tanzania - could pick up a nasty tropical disease. Most holidaymakers hope travel insurance will cover them.
Insurers paid out £274million for emergency medical treatment for British travellers abroad last year: £5.3million a week. But watch out - if you haven't taken the correct medicines or had the advised inoculations, your insurer might not pay up if you get a disease you could have been protected from.
And illness abroad doesn't just mean a touch of sangria-induced stomach problems. You, like celebrity Cheryl Cole - who is now on the mend after contracting malaria on holiday in tanzania - could pick up a nasty tropical disease. Most holidaymakers hope travel insurance will cover them.
Insurers paid out £274million for emergency medical treatment for British travellers abroad last year: £5.3million a week. But watch out - if you haven't taken the correct medicines or had the advised inoculations, your insurer might not pay up if you get a disease you could have been protected from.
Travel insurance neglected by Brits
Travel Insurance is being neglected by holidaymakers despite research showing that luggage is worth, on average, more than £3,000.
A new study has shown that a fifth of British holidaymakers do not take out travel insurance to cover any items that may be lost or stolen.
And with the average case containing thousands of pound worth of shoes, clothes, electrical equipment and cosmetics these travellers are leaving themselves at risk of losing huge amounts of cash.
The poll, carried out by insurer Shela’s Wheels, shows the average traveller takes £325.09 of clothes, £119.40 of shoes, flip-flops and wedges, and £75.73 of accessories such as scarves, sarongs and hats.
In addition, holidaymakers pack entertainment such as mp3 players, CD players, laptops, and mobile phones, a collective total of £1,207.61.
Jacky Brown at Sheilas’ Wheels travel insurance, said: “The majority of folk don’t give a second thought to the value of the goods they are packing into their suitcase and hand luggage, but in reality the contents are worth thousands.
“And when it comes to the crunch, most holidaymakers don’t even use half of the items they take with them.
“Brits need to learn to pack light – not only would this reduce any implications of excess baggage fees, but it would also soften the blow if the luggage did go missing.”
“For peace of mind, it’s vital for holidaymakers to make sure they get a quote, choose an international travel insurance package and double check what they are covered for, as while you can’t plan for every eventuality, you can make sure you have done everything you can before leaving the UK.”
A new study has shown that a fifth of British holidaymakers do not take out travel insurance to cover any items that may be lost or stolen.
And with the average case containing thousands of pound worth of shoes, clothes, electrical equipment and cosmetics these travellers are leaving themselves at risk of losing huge amounts of cash.The poll, carried out by insurer Shela’s Wheels, shows the average traveller takes £325.09 of clothes, £119.40 of shoes, flip-flops and wedges, and £75.73 of accessories such as scarves, sarongs and hats.
In addition, holidaymakers pack entertainment such as mp3 players, CD players, laptops, and mobile phones, a collective total of £1,207.61.
Jacky Brown at Sheilas’ Wheels travel insurance, said: “The majority of folk don’t give a second thought to the value of the goods they are packing into their suitcase and hand luggage, but in reality the contents are worth thousands.
“And when it comes to the crunch, most holidaymakers don’t even use half of the items they take with them.
“Brits need to learn to pack light – not only would this reduce any implications of excess baggage fees, but it would also soften the blow if the luggage did go missing.”
“For peace of mind, it’s vital for holidaymakers to make sure they get a quote, choose an international travel insurance package and double check what they are covered for, as while you can’t plan for every eventuality, you can make sure you have done everything you can before leaving the UK.”
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