Author Topic: Travel Insurances  (Read 3760 times)

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Offline Dutchie

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Travel Insurances
« on: August 25, 2015, 09:04:59 AM »
A few tips that might be worth considering when taking out a travel insurance.

1. Declare all existing conditions and medicine use. There is no point in hiding because in case of a claim the insurance company will check and they may refuse the claim if you have “forgotten” to inform them about your health issues.

2. Check the excess of the policy. There are cheap policies around but some have an excess as high as 250 pounds.

3. Most insurance companies have several coverage options, eg bronze-silver-gold. It might be worth checking the difference in price and coverage and to opt for the better package.

4. Read the fine print in your insurance policy. Some companies only cover treatment in state hospital and not in the private hospitals. Medical care in state hospital isn't bad but the care in private hospital is definitely better/quicker and much more comfortable. Another issue is that state hospital quite often doesn't work with the insurances directly so you would need to pay everything yourself and you can claim it back after your return to the UK. Examples of insurance companies that were covering state hospitals only are:  Get Going, Insurewith, Clear Sure, Holiday Safe, Alpha Travel Insurance. These companies are all using the same assistance company called Emergency Assistance Facilities (EAF) / Travel Claim Facilities. There might be more companies using EAF so check the policy wordings for the assistance company.
Staysure and ERV also prefer patients to go to state hospital but sometimes do cover private hospitals.

5. Some banks offer insurances to card holders and their families. Most of these insurances tend to be good but you still need to inform the company about your pre existing conditions. Provide personal details of the family members to the company. If you need hospital treatment, you need to know your account number and sort code.

Procedure
If something happens in resort and you need to seek medical help, bring your insurance papers, passport and flight details with you.
Relatively small (read: cheap) problems need to be paid by the patient first. The patient is expected to pay bills up to approx. 500 pounds and can claim the refund when back in the UK.
In case of a hospital treatment with higher bills, the patient will have to pay the excess and normally insurer will take over the remaining costs.

Disclaimer: no rights can be derived from the information provided   ;)



Offline Dutchie

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Re: Travel Insurances
« Reply #1 on: August 25, 2015, 09:08:16 AM »
Now you're probably wondering which insurance I would recommend but I don't want to recommend any since I don't want the responsibility.

However, if I was from the UK and if I was to go on holiday myself, I would take out a policy from either Insure &Go, Flexicover or Saga.
We've not come across any issues with them but of course performances in the past don't give any guarantees for performances in the future.

Offline JohnF

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Re: Travel Insurances
« Reply #2 on: August 25, 2015, 09:39:35 AM »
All excellent advice.

One to add as it's the overseas claim handler for those with bank travel insurance through the RBS group (Nat West, RBS etc) and is likely to be fairly common is Europ Assistance.

From experience, they also deal with the private hospitals and on the basis of two claims in the past few years we can't fault them. 

Another "tip" that is very important.

Check your policy document (the booklet/pdf that no-one ever reads) for their definitions in regards to "hazardous activities" as your level of cover can change dramatically in the event of an incident.  Locally, this could include no personal accident or personal liability cover when going further than the restaurants at Saklikent as it can be considered bouldering or canyoning (both excluded from many policies).

JF

Offline Dutchie

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Re: Travel Insurances
« Reply #3 on: August 25, 2015, 09:50:39 AM »
The bank account insurances are generally very good as long as you have a certain amount of money coming in the bank. Once we had a patient who thought he was covered by his bank but he wasn't since he had changed the bank for his salary to be deposited into.

You're right about the hazardous activities and of course quad bikes are not covered (but I assume that is common knowledge by now).

Offline Colwyn

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Re: Travel Insurances
« Reply #4 on: August 25, 2015, 09:56:56 AM »
fairly common is Europ Assistance.

From experience, they also deal with the private hospitals and on the basis of two claims in the past few years we can't fault them.
That it the company that dealt with my medical problem. As you say, excellent.

Offline sadler

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Re: Travel Insurances
« Reply #5 on: August 25, 2015, 10:05:49 AM »
Very helpful Dutchie and JohnF. Thank you.  :)

Offline JohnF

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Re: Travel Insurances
« Reply #6 on: August 25, 2015, 16:21:39 PM »
fairly common is Europ Assistance.

From experience, they also deal with the private hospitals and on the basis of two claims in the past few years we can't fault them.
That it the company that dealt with my medical problem. As you say, excellent.

I'm glad they did the business for you.

They're the only insurer I've ever come across who actively tried to persuade us to use a private hospital instead of a state hospital.  My OH broke her arm in Malaga and the treatment at the state hospital was excellent - speaking to the insurers the next day, they wanted us to go to a private hospital in Marbella to have it looked at and any further work that may have been needed carried out.  They seemed surprised when we said we were happy with the state hospital, and the treatment received there.  The irony of it all is that the final outcome would have been much better if we'd carried on with the local hospital in Malaga, as opposed to the prestigious university teaching hospital in the UK.

JF




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