Travel Insurance – few bargains for the over 65's
When taking a long haul journey, it's important to ensure that your travel insurance policy meets all of your needs. With grandkids and elderly parents in the household, you will have to take special care when selecting the best product for you. You don't need to be a mathematician, but making sure you are covered up and down is always a good idea.
The advice offered here is from personal experience with an over 60s family member and includes some new policy ideas for seniors who are travelling.
1. Include a Return Flight Back Home
This is an important option to ensure that you will have a return ticket back home after your holiday and to cover any medical emergencies which may arise whilst you are out of the country. Normally, should you need to come home for an emergency, your existing insurance policy will pay for the cost of your flight as long as it is within the terms and conditions stated on your policy. Be aware however that some policies will not cover travellers for pre-existing medical conditions – so read the policy carefully before purchase.
If you are travelling in Europe, many policies often offer free flights back to your original departure airport if you are ill or injured out of country. If you have any doubts as to whether your policy covers a return flight, check with your insurance provider to verify this.
It is also important to remember that travel cover can be used on flights booked through a travel agent (which will generally not be covered under the policy) unless specifically stated otherwise. Whilst these cover policies will pay for the flight in full, it may not always be insured as a medical emergency return flight and you may have to pay excess charges if you do need one.
2. Consider Cashing In on Points
When buying a travel insurance policy, you might wonder whether to go for the policy which offers the most value for your money based on product features, or the one which provides more points bonuses. Here again, there are differences between products. If you are planning a long trip and have enough points saved up to cover your holiday, then take advantage of the offsetting benefits offered by simply cashing in on your accumulated points.
These policies will often offer special discounts such as cashback if you use their partner banks to purchase travel services and make full use of their points system.
3. Check for Medical Evacuation Cover
This is a highly important feature to look out for. This will normally cover you for journeys of up to 30 days. It will buy you the medical services needed to get you back home or any other destination where local healthcare is more advanced than that in the country you are visiting. A good example would be if an elderly person suffers a fall whilst on holiday and needs a hip replacement – most countries outside of Europe do not have the medical facilities to perform this procedure and so they would be flown home by private ambulance after surgery.
The medical evacuation will usually cover the cost of the flight, but you may have to pay an excess fee for the service.
4. Check for Pre-Existing Medical Conditions
Make sure that any pre-existing medical conditions are covered or you may find out that your policy is null and void should you need it most. This means that you need to check the small print on your policy before purchasing, especially if you have any medical problems which might need instant medial attention whilst on holiday. The same applies if a member of your family has a medical condition – you will be liable for any costs incurred should they require treatment out of country and be flown home again due to a pre-existing medical condition.
5. Make sure you can make Direct Payments
This can save you a lot of money as the policy company will usually pay for the medical evacuation or treatment upfront. However, this may not always be covered under your policy and so you will need to check with your provider that they cover this before making any purchase.
6. Check for Multi-Elimination Modules
Multi-elimination modules offer greater value for money when it comes to travel insurance and are also more likely to pay out if you are in an unfortunate situation whilst travelling. Therefore, ensure that you go for one with a multi-elimination feature especially if your holiday involves taking several different journeys within the same year.
7. Pay up front for the Best Cover
Medical expenses charged by hospitals and doctors are often extremely expensive, therefore it is best to pay up front for the best cover available. This will take a lot of financial strain off your shoulders should you need medical attention while travelling. If you have a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), you can use this to make free medical emergency appointments in Europe with an EU doctor or get free treatment at a state hospital, although only if you are from one of the countries that signed up to the EHIC scheme (see http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Healthcareabroad/EHIC/Pages/about-the-ehic.aspx).
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When travelling abroad, it is important to be doubly aware of the dangers posed by potential crimes against you, your belongings and even your family. You can do a lot to make yourself as safe as possible but there are low-risk steps and high-risk steps that you should take when looking out for safety...
A low-risk step is to have a local phone number on you at all times. Should anything bad happen in an unfamiliar land then you can call your friends and family back home for advice on what to do next.
Conclusion
Low-risk steps include wearing a money belt or a neck pouch with your passport and travel cash inside it. This can easily be hidden under your clothes. Also, try to make sure that you only take out what money you need for that day and leave the rest inside a hotel safe. Finally, keep an old wallet in your bag so that if it is stolen at least you can cancel your credit cards and not lose all the money within it.
High-risk steps involve taking unnecessary risks by going off into areas of the city where you don't know anyone.