Buying travel insurance can be tricky. Complaints have risen twenty percent in the last year, according to the UK Financial Ombudsman. The problem appears to be that too many people buy travel insurance without actually reading their policy carefully enough to know what is actually covered!

Travel Insurance with Medical Cover

A few areas have proven particularly problematic. Medical cover, which typically will offer medical treatment worth up to AUS$4.5m and above, might sound like exactly what you’re looking for. However, if you have a pre-existing medical condition, the insurance you paid for may not cover you at all. Read the fine print on ‘pre-existing conditions’ or you may find yourself in trouble. Alcohol is another problem. Insurers may refuse to pay out if the loss or accident happened whilst you were under the influence.

Loss of Personal Effects

Generally, one thing you expect your travel insurance to cover is loss and theft. Chances are you will only be refunded the current value - that is, the second hand price of the item that has been stolen from you or that you have lost. If the item is classified as valuable - and this includes travel essentials like cameras - your claim may be limited to AUS$500 or some other arbitrary number. Worse, this number will cap the reimbursement on all valuable items, not on a per-item basis. These tricks might seem like they’d only be a problem with bargain basement policies but they actually happen in more expensive policies also.

Be Thorough & Read Your Travel Insurance Policy

One thing you must do is read the entire policy carefully. If it doesn’t explicitly mention the cover you require, do not assume it is included; it almost certainly will not be. For example if you are going skiing and you have travel insurance, you must make sure it covers winter sports or you may find that you are unable to claim anything skiing-related. The last and most important rule of buying insurance is ask before you buy - you can always save your quotes and come back later.

While his core interest on a day-to-day basis is personal finance, Tom Becker is also a keen traveller. He writes at MoneyCompare.com.au, which is a comparison website that compares travel insurance, holiday insurance and business travel insurance online.



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