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The key to buying travel insurance is, ‘Compare, compare, compare’. Many times travellers can be caught up on the notion that the cheaper the travel insurance the better it is. However, what it really boils down to is that if you can’t afford the correct travel insurance needed for your trip then you really can’t afford to travel. Scrimping on travel insurance may mean that you are actually wasting your money on something that will not adequately cover you in a real situation.
What is most important, when looking at travel insurance, is to consider the following four things in relation to your personal situation:
- Where you will be travelling. The Insurance Council of Australia recommends having unlimited medical cover for trips to the US, Japan and Europe because of high repatriation costs and their extremely high hospital and medical fees. Also things as simple as changes in altitude, humidity and temperature, or poor accommodation, hygiene and sanitation can have a huge effect on your health and wellbeing and your policy may not cover illnesses brought on by these conditions.
- How long you will be travelling. Some insurance policies will only cover you for a certain amount of time - this is the case with some free credit card related travel insurances.
- What time of year you will be travelling. Will you be travelling to a country in the middle of winter where regular flight delays may be an issue? Are you visiting somewhere that there will be huge crowds of people and the risk of personal theft is higher?
- What you will be doing when you travel. Your intended activities, while away, may not fall under the terms of your policy. This is particularly relevant if you are intending to participate in many extreme sports such as bungy jumping, parachuting, rock climbing and even some water sports.
Recently the World Health Organisation produced a brochure for public release where they strongly suggested that , "All people planning travel should become informed about potential hazards of the countries they are travelling to and learn how to minimize the risks to their health". So it is clear that careful consideration of the finer details of a travel insurance policy is important when planning a trip away to ensure you will be adequately looked after in an emergency.
It can be daunting when choosing the correct amount of insurance coverage for your trip away. But it is recommended that you always check the ‘product disclosure statement’ of any travel insurance policy before you make a purchase. All insurance companies are obligated to provide a copy of this for any product they sell. Don’t just compare each option on face value, but always check the fine print for what they will cover and what they won’t and then consider it in relation to your specific situation.
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