Secure Your Overseas Trip
- Posted by Salsberg
- 29 July 2013
- News, Travel insurance
According to a recent survey by TNS Research, almost 31 percent of New Zealanders did not take out travel insurance before going on a holiday, even risking huge medical bills in case of emergencies. 43 percent of the people who were willing to travel uninsured did not mind risking medical costs, while 25 percent did not take insurance cover as they were banking on the country’s health system. Such travellers are depending on reciprocal on reciprocal health agreements that New Zealand has with countries such as Australia and the UK. However, it has been seen that such reciprocal agreements offer travelers a false sense of security, as they might not cover all the medical costs in the unfortunate event of an accident or an emergency medical situation.
Travelers need to ensure that they are not paying for unnecessary or illusory benefits when they buy travel insurance. Travelers need to decide their coverage limits and benefits required. For example, a number of insurance providers are offering personal liability cover to the tune of millions. In reality, there has never been a personal liability claim that has been more than $100,000. Some insurance providers give generous benefits to their consumers, but at the same time, many consumers have had to bear additional costs as their insurance plan did not provide sufficient benefits to cover travel delay. After the recent volcanic eruptions in Iceland and Chile in 2010 and 2011, a lot of insurance companies reduced their travel delay maximum to just $1,000 or $2,000, barely enough to cover such major events.
Travelers need to be careful about another potential ploy used by insurance companies; quite often, insurers offer a basic policy at a low cost, but augment the cover by offering add-ons that cover specific activities. All buyers need to have is one simple policy offering a good cover instead of confusing options in plans that are designed to make the policy appear cheaper. Statistics show that the most expensive claims that were paid were all medical related, which shows how essential medical coverage is when you travel abroad. Fortunately, international travel insurance takes care of all your overseas medical expenses, so you can travel in peace anywhere in the world.
