Travel Insurance – Traps For The Unwary

While visiting Spain Stan decided to participate in the Pamplona bull-run.  Unfortunately a bull caught up with Stan and he suffered a crushed pelvis and severe internal injuries resulting in a very long stay in a Spanish hospital.

Stan had failed to check his policy before the run to see if he was covered for participating in such an activity.  Surprise, surprise he wasn’t covered and the tens of thousands of dollars of hospital bills are now a major difficulty for him.

In some countries you will have great difficulty leaving if you have unpaid debts, so it can be a major problem to not have cover or appropriate cover.

When purchasing travel insurance make sure you know what it covers you for.  If you are planning an adventurous holiday, make sure the provider is advised what activities you need to be covered for (such as white water rafting, skiing, rock climbing or diving, etc).  If they don’t know what they say are important things they will usually deny liability to pay you.

Travel insurance can be obtained through a travel agent, your airline, online through travel insurance companies or medical insurance companies.  Your credit card company may offer complimentary travel insurance when you use your credit card for purchasing your travel – it would pay to check and to check again what the free cover actually covers.

When purchasing travel insurance:

• ‘Shop around’ – policies vary greatly in price and in scope of cover.
• Does it cover the things you want?
• Take note of any excesses imposed.
• Do they have a 24-hour toll free contact number?
• Check whether the policy will cover you when you’re in transit in a different country.