Important tips on travel insurance that you should not miss

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Important tips on travel insurance that you should not miss

When signing up for travel insurance, you will be asked to put in the start date and the end date of the journey. 

Travel insurance usually covers from the time you step out of your house to the airport, to any number of oversea destinations; and back to the doorstep of your house.

Hence the date for the last day of the journey is not necessarily be the date of the return air-ticket.

Here is the reason why:

You may have boarded the plane on that date but arrived home the next day. OR

The return journey span more than a day, especially those with layovers OR

If you are crossing the international dateline from the east to the west, it is possible that you will lose another day in the process.

You will not be able to extend the coverage duration once you are overseas.

So if you think there might be a possibility that you would extend your stay, it is better to make allowance for that at the time of signing up.  This is especially likely if you are on a DIY vacation or on a Business leisure trip to explore new markets or visiting trade expos.

The best solution to this is of course is to get an annual travel insurance plan.

An annual travel insurance plan, saves you the hassle of getting a policy each time you want to travel and can avoid the risk not being covered if you wish to  extend your stay. 

The same goes with Sports Option.

You will have to include it at the point of signing up. You can’t add it during the trip.  

Personally, I will add on the sports option if I am travelling to places  where these sports are the main attractions.

“Visiting Cappadocia without experiencing a hot air balloon ride is like  watching others eating durian without eating it on your own for the first time. 

So, even if I might chicken out due to a fear of heights, I would still want to have this coverage just in case I decide to go for it Do you know that “To make theft, robbery, and accidents you will need to support them with a police report from the local police station.

Sometimes it can be quite a challenge to get a police report,  as it can disrupt the original travel plan. In some places, the police officers may not understand English at all. Insurance companies may need an official translation of the police report if it is not in English.

Same goes with medical expenses claim you will need a medical report from the attending doctor.

So it is important to refer to the insurance policy or check with the insurer if you need to get any extra reports or documents that you need at the location where the incident happened before you move on to another place.

Sometime it will not be practical or costly to go back to the place to get those reports.

Any insurance claims involving airlines will require confirmation from the airlines.

Airlines usually send out email notifications regarding flight delays, luggage delays, travel overbooked or flight cancellations to their customers.

If you have not received such notification, you will have to follow up with the airline as you will need them to substantiate your insurance claims.

Though it may sound silly, it can happen.

Once you obtain the travel insurance, save a copy of the policy and the emergency hotline number in your phone.

Personally, I would post it in my family Whatsapp group, so that they know. I will also print out a hard copy to bring along just in case technology fails. This is one of the most important tips, if not the most the important.

Which is to keep all documents such as copies of passports, travel insurance policies, boarding passes, purchases invoices, and tickets in digital copies as well as hard copy.

Personally, I will create a Whatsapp group for the trip, and post all the pictures of the documents there. All the hard copies will be kept in a document pouch placed in my hand carry bag.

This is because if any travel insurance claims you will need be able to find these documents to substantiate the claims. 

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