Please take out Travel Insurance

[dajop]

'fluff' until you need it A friend's mobile phone slipped out of their pocket while in a taxi in Hong Kong. $900 odd to replace it. The phone was never handed in, but with a police report the money for a new phone was paid in full.

Yes exactly ... “fluff”. Who really cares about making sure everyone travelling can cover a loss of $900 ... people probably aren't going to turn to "gofundme" for this sort of issue, it’s the $90000 that is the problem.

I am quite certain that (for someone who can afford a $900 phone to begin with and can afford to travel to Hong Kong for a holiday) is almost certainly not going to be financially ruined by having to pay $900 to replace a mobile phone (maybe inconvenienced, maybe struggle a bit to get the money, but it ain’t going to ruin someone with the financial means to take overseas holidays). 3 weeks in a US hospital could though.

 

[dajop]

Most important are IMO:
1)Unlimited medical
2)Medical retrieval to home country
3)Travel Companion reasonable living allowance while unable to travel due to illness
4)Personal liability
5)Rental vehicle coverage
6)disruption of journey due to act of god
7) maybe cancellation cover due family emergency at home causing termination of journey

Agree, except for 5). A lot of people don't rent vehicles overseas either, so irrelevant to many.

And on 6) depends on destination and complexity of journey, and financial means. Someone with a simple return to Bali or NZ may quite easily and relatively cheaply - deal with disruption to journey, those on complicated multi hop trips to the other side of the world, maybe not. But yes 6) for most people.

 

[Quickstatus]

Many cover for permanent disability and death.

That’s fluff. Why cover for this when it’s not covered while home. And when it’s covered at home then it does not need to be covered overseas

 

[harvyk]

Yes exactly ... “fluff”. Who really cares about making sure everyone travelling can cover a loss of $900 ... people probably aren't going to turn to "gofundme" for this sort of issue, it’s the $90000 that is the problem.

I am quite certain that (for someone who can afford a $900 phone to begin with and can afford to travel to Hong Kong for a holiday) is almost certainly not going to be financially ruined by having to pay $900 to replace a mobile phone (maybe inconvenienced, maybe struggle a bit to get the money, but it ain’t going to ruin someone with the financial means to take overseas holidays). 3 weeks in a US hospital could though.

You assume a lot

1. The employer might be paying for the trip
2. The phone (but not a replacement) might be being paid for under a plan.
3. Yes, 20 years ago we traveled the world without instant access to everything, but times have changed.

Not everyone who travels has a lot of money just sitting around.

 

[Quickstatus]

You assume a lot

1. The employer might be paying for the trip
2. The phone (but not a replacement) might be being paid for under a plan.
3. Yes, 20 years ago we traveled the world without instant access to everything, but times have changed.

Not everyone who travels has a lot of money just sitting around.

That’s true, and there should be add ons to the basic travel insurance product (which at a minimum covers unlimited medical) for those who need it.

 

[tgh]

I am "trying" to buy a policy atm, the exec summary is that it's a freaking minefield.
Each pds needs to be examined word by word.
Some of the gotcha's are interesting , ie no rental excess cover for that benz the nice rental agent offered you as it's a "prestige" vehicle.

 

[Quickstatus]

There should be no fine print in insurance policies

 

[ontheaisle]

The really important thing for Cuba is to ensure the printed policy clearly mentions coverage for Cuba and medical evacuation. As you know its mandatory to have TI policy which includes medical evacuation in order to enter Cuba, and to have it at hand on entry.

I'm that annoying person who carries two copies of every ticket, hotel booking, etc. in their hand luggage and checked bag (including the full PDS and medical assessment for TI) We have separate insurance policies anyway because I have an annual policy. But I will make sure he has a set in case we get separated at immigration, thanks for the heads up.

 

[ontheaisle]

We use Covermore for same age reason.

Edit: The age bracket is a big deal for us as dad in law was 94 when passed and mum in law currently 84. Death of family member on other policies was being capped at a particular age that both inlaws had exceeded.

Gosh, I didn't even think of that! I better check the fine print on my own TI as it's due for annual renewal before my next trip without my Dad.

I'm dreading the day I have to tell him he can't travel overseas anymore because he can't get travel insurance...

 

[ontheaisle]

That’s true, and there should be add ons to the basic travel insurance product (which at a minimum covers unlimited medical) for those who need it.

Covermore has a medical only product where you can just tack on the extras you need but if you don't have any pre-existing conditions that need covering it's not price competitive with an all-inclusive product from someone like 1Cover or TID

 

[Quickstatus]

Exactly compare apples with apples. If 1cover took out some of the fluff, it may be cheaper

 

[harvyk]

That’s true, and there should be add ons to the basic travel insurance product (which at a minimum covers unlimited medical) for those who need it.

I think it should be an opt-out type situation, for example you're automatically covered for everything, but if you tell your insurance company that you're not going bungee jumping then they can offer a discount based on the lack of that activity. Opt in means that you need to think of every situation yourself. Opt out means that you're prompted into thinking "nope, not going to need that".

Last thing you want is if the proverbial hits the fan is wondering if insurance is going to cover you. We recently needed to make a claim on one of our insurances, whilst I was pretty sure that the situation was covered it wasn't until I was told for sure that we where covered that the little niggling voice in my head went away.

I also think that TI should be one of those things that is mandatory. When you turn up at the airport or seaport, you present your passport, boarding pass and proof of TI. Whilst it wouldn't stop those people who get say a 3 day policy to simply let them leave the country, it would stop those who just didn't think about it.

 

[Quickstatus]

Opt in or opt out I don’t really mind so long as there is an opt “xx”

TI sometimes have optional extras such as amount of rental vehicle excess cover, winter sports cover, scooter options

But it’s the current inclusions that mostly need to be in the optional section.

Does the “fluff” inclusions cross subsidise the medical cover?.

 

[tgh]

One enhancement that affects higher value travellers is the improved cancellation process.
In quite a few cases there is no cancellation cover unless you nominate it , a few tests gave me amazingly high premiums.
So far I have found only one annual 70+ 60day with a quite open style wording policy and almost no nasty bits.

 

[flying_duck]

This certainly isnt the case on Amex - the Qantas Ultimate Amex card (which is a premium card with $450 annual fee) caps medical coverage at $2.5M which sounds like a lot until you understand how crazy the charges are for US hospital stays.

Cards included cover varies and one should always check that the you meet the spend criteria for it to apply and whether it is sufficient for your destination.

One lot of antibiotics at a hospital emergency department one night - when it was empty - was over $1000USD. And I still had to go fill the script. Unlimited is the only way to be sure you're good to travel.

 

[flying_duck]

Covermore is generally a lot more expensive than the usual TI but I often wonder if it's because they will cover a lot of pre-exisiting conditions that other insurers won't...

I travel a lot with my now 79 year old father (and he travels on his own too) and I've found Covermore are the only insurer who will cover his pre-existing heart-related conditions. I just recently bought his TI for a 2.5 week trip to the US and Cuba in December, and at $900 it's not cheap, but I'd rather pay for it and never need to use it

I will only ever travel with Covermore. I have year round insurance up to 45 days per trip anywhere 250km or more from home. I have TI on multiple credit cards but never use it.

They're also one of the few insurers that cover skydiving (not as a profession). Most will cover a tandem ride at best or exclude it completely. If I can spend $2000 four times a year getting to the USA, I can spend $900 on travel insurance to make sure I get home.

 

[Lynda2475]

The other thing is to reread the terms/pds every time you take out a new policy. I always used to use TID, and it used to cover tandem paragliding,now it doesn't. A lot of people stay loyal to a policy type forgetting that the insurance companies change the terms almost monthly.

 

[flying_duck]

The other thing is to reread the terms/pds every time you take out a new policy. I always used to use TID, and it used to cover tandem paragliding,now it doesn't. A lot of people stay loyal to a policy type forgetting that the insurance companies change the terms almost monthly.

Luckily (or unluckily) almost everyone I know is with covermore and theres regularly people claiming If they changed it, I'd probably hear about it before Covermore told me.

 

[dajop]

I think it should be an opt-out type situation, for example you're automatically covered for everything

I still think it would be better if there was a basic medical emergency product - maybe with opt-in or opt-out for specific activities that me or may not be covered medically. Whatever it needs to be simple. As I mentioned rebranding away from just "Travel Insurance", psychologically might work better for people who don't bother with "Travel Insurance" but may feel more compelled to take out "Emergency Insurance". I'm sure the behavioural scientists would have an idea how to maximise uptake.

I also think that TI should be one of those things that is mandatory. When you turn up at the airport or seaport, you present your passport, boarding pass and proof of TI.

That is going to be difficult to enforce and will add costs to everything, at the moment on more than just one or two carriers, you don't even have a personal interaction until someone checks your passport prior to boarding, as check in and immigration is all done via computer. So who will check your insurance document? I suppose the industry could come up with some form of IT integration - but still add costs.

Also there's complexity of foreign travellers, include foreign residents travelling on Australian passports who may not have TI, because they have medical insurance where they live, there's credit card policies with high burdens of proof, there's people on company travel who have group policies etc etc. And why single out travel insurance for overseas travel, there are so many things that can financially ruin people, where do we start ...?

 

[dajop]

Not everyone who travels has a lot of money just sitting around.

I agree, but even for those travelling overseas who don't have any money sitting around, an unexpected $900 cost may well cause some of those people to undergo significant financial strain, but there's a big difference between that financial ruin. A $100,000 medical bill could definitely cause the latter.