Avoid middlemen
Travel agents and airlines offer insurance cover for their customers and they will often advise the travelers to buy the cover from them. This is usually much more expensive than if you bought from the insurer direct.
Try to compare the many different Insurance providers
It does not matter what brand the insurer is working under, it could be QBE, Lloyds, American Home Assurance Company, Allianz or any other company. Each provider will have different policy and they could have different things that they cover. As such one should try to get an insurer with cover that will include all that is crucial to them and a policy that is also affordable.
Always take time to read the policy cautiously
Reading through the entire policy is usually a very boring task but it is very important as it may save you a lot of problems in the future. Insurers realize that many people do not go through the policy carefully and in here they hide many clauses and loopholes that put them at an advantage and leave the policy taker at a disadvantage. For example an insurance provider may claim to be providing cover for electronics but then go ahead in the policy to say that they do not cover for broken or scratched brittle objects which obviously includes some electronics.
Always declare any medical condition
When applying for medical cover, which is important for any traveler, it is always important to remember to declare any medical conditions that you might have. It is often that insurance providers have refused to pay a claim due to this.
Check for medical exclusions and age limits and any other limits
Many insurance policies have exclusions in their cover. For example many health policies will not cover people who have chronic diseases. Some may for example not provide cover for any respiration ailment for an individual who is asthmatic. Also some insurance policies do not provide cover for people of a certain age and you should always look out for this. For example you might take annual travel insurance which you renew every year. The insurance policy may have an age limit of 50 for a particular risk but you could continue renewing it without realizing that you are not covered for this particular risk.
Be cautious when dealing with bikes and cars
Any form of transport attracts considerable risk and these are some of the things we usually get insurance for. However transport policies have a lot of complicated clauses. For example your policy could claim that you are covered for riding vehicles and motorbikes; however, the insurance provider may refuse to pay a claim if you are involved in an accident in a country where you do not have the license for that particular country. Also you might not get compensation for expenses due to an accident in a taxi whose driver was not licensed.
Consider getting an European Health Insurance Card (EHIC)
An EHIC provides one with state health care for all the European countries that have this service. This means that you can get health services at a lower cost in any of these countries. As such if you travel often to the European countries you might want to get this wonderful offer. If you have an EHIC many insurance companies will waive the excess charged in the health cover.
Be sure what is covered in the policy
Many times travelers assume that the common travelling activities are covered in the policy. This is wrong. For example dangerous activities such as bungee jumping might not be covered in your policy. Other activities may include high risk skiing, scuba diving, horse riding, surfing and other risky activities that are associated with travelling. If you want cover for these activities you might want to apply for them as extras. Some items are also not usually covered or they are covered with a special approach, this includes valuables such as jewelry and electronics.
Avoid insurance features that are unnecessary
There are some risks that are very unlikely to happen and you could avoid them to reduce your premiums. You should also avoid getting cover for things that are also covered in other insurance plans you have. For example credit card providers offer baggage insurance cover and there is no point of applying for the cover twice.
Carefully decide on the excess to pay
The excess is the amount of money that one pays when there is a claim, for example, if you have a claim of $1000 and you had declared an excess of $400, then the insurance will pay $600. By paying a high excess one can hugely reduce the amount of premiums to be paid. However you should only opt for higher excess when the chances for having to make a claim are low.
These are only some of the top 10 travel insurance tips. One can, however, get more from a professional insurance advisor.
