Let’s try not to be a holiday statistic this year, shall we?

December 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment

holiday health risksThe Christmas holiday season is full of gatherings, traditions, once-a-year treats, and more. Unfortunately, it’s also a season for visits to the emergency room. According to one hospital report, more than 12,000 people are treated in hospital emergency rooms each year due to falls, cuts, shocks, and burns from holiday decorations and holiday decorating activities.

In a 2004 American Health Association report, cardiac mortality rises around Christmas and New Year’s to rates higher than any other time of the year. According to the report, the spike in daily mortality has multiple explanations, one of which may include the patient waiting to seek treatment because of holiday.

See this list of health tips aimed at keeping you safe during the holiday season:

  1. Keep fires in the fireplace. Secure lighters away from children and completely extinguish burning candles in unoccupied rooms.
  2. Clear snow and ice from pathways. It’s not only your aging Aunt Margaret and Uncle Robert you have to worry about, eager children rushing over icy walks can flip and hurt themselves too.
  3. Frostbite and hypothermia are not a joke. As the temperatures drop and people travel to unfamiliar areas, they may be unprepared for the severe cold, but frostbite and hypothermia can land someone on the hospital very quickly.
  4. Watch out for distracted drivers. It’s a crazy time with too much alcohol, noisy distractions, and far too many errands. Focus carefully when you’re driving and watch out for other who may be more distracted.

If you’re traveling this holiday season, take a minute to verify the range of your health insurance coverage and have the medical and dental protection you need on your trip. That way, if you do have to visit the emergency room, you won’t have a big unexpected bill as a result.

Spending your holiday in a Danger Zone?

April 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Spending your holiday in a danger zone?A number of global travel destinations have become embroiled in political chaos or suffered natural disasters lately. As you look toward scheduling your future trips, it’s important to have the right travel insurance coverage – especially if you are considering spending a holiday in an area that has recently experienced trouble.

Some travel insurance plans will not provide coverage for certain regions of the world. Many travel insurance companies won’t sell you coverage if the destination is the subject of recent U.S. State Department travel warnings.

Options for Travelers

So, what are your options as a traveler?

Depending on the circumstances, you and your travel supplier may be looking at the situation differently.

  1. If your  travel supplier plans to continue travel, but you are unwilling to travel due to the situation – your travel insurance plan should include ‘cancel for any reason’ coverage. In this situation, the travel supplier isn’t expected to provide a refund because they are holding up their part of the agreement.
  2. If your travel supplier is not going to travel, but you are still willing to go – then the travel supplier should offer a refund. In some cases, however, travel suppliers refuse to refund or want you to reschedule as an alternative. In these situations, trip cancellation coverage that includes covered reasons such as political unrest or terrorism can help you cancel your trip with a refund.

Some travel insurance plans provide coverage for non medical evacuations as well. A non medical evacuation, sometimes called a political evacuation, is arranged by the travel insurance provider and used to extract insured individuals from places of political unrest or increased violence.

As always, it’s important for travelers to understand the dangers and keep informed of happenings at their destination. Understanding the risks and understanding the specifics of your travel insurance policy can go a long way toward ensuring you enjoy your trip.

Travel Insurance Companies explain post-earthquake for Japan

March 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Japan earthquake travel insuranceTravel Insurance Review extends deepest sympathies to everyone who lost loved ones or is otherwise affected by the recent disasters in Japan.

A s a result of the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear plant worries, many travelers are scrambling to figure out whether their travel insurance plans provide coverage for current and future travel. Travel insurance companies consider the earthquake and tsunami to be natural disasters and will provide benefits to the extent natural disasters are covered in their policies. You can read the insurance provider position statements here.

For travelers already traveling

As of Friday, March 11, 2011, the tsunami is no longer considered an unforeseen event; therefore, insured travelers in affected areas may be eligible for trip cancellation, trip interruption, and trip delay benefits as well as emergency medical and medical evacuation coverage depending on their travel insurance plans. Some travel plans provide coverage for non medical evacuations when government-issued warnings are in place.

For travelers with future travel plans

Travelers who have purchased travel to Tokyo prior to the earthquake and have not yet departed may have valid reasons to request trip cancellation benefits, but travel that is scheduled to take place later in the year may not be covered once the travel advisory is lifted. For those who purchased ‘cancel for any reason’ coverage, it’s important to cancel within the number of hours prior to your scheduled departure in order for coverage to be effective.

As always, refer to the specific terms and conditions of the policy you purchased to understand coverage terms and exclusions.

 

Overseas Travel Insurance While Volunteering Abroad

October 2, 2008 By

overseas-travel-insuranceVolunteering overseas can be an incredibly rewarding experience

It’s a chance to step out of your normal surroundings and become part of something much bigger. Although making an impact through volunteering is great, it does carry some extra risks, so it’s helpful to have overseas travel insurance while volunteering abroad.

Volunteers sometimes work in particularly volatile environments, so it can be important to have coverage for emergency evacuation in case the situation in the country becomes overly hostile or dangerous.

Some volunteer organizations provide overseas travel insurance

Depending on the type of volunteer work you are doing (for instance, if you are a medical volunteer or if you are engaging in construction projects) you may be particularly vulnerable to illness or injury.  The program that you are volunteering with may offer some type of travel insurance, but read all of the information carefully to make sure that it meets your requirements.

Sometime the countries that need the most help from volunteers are those that are the most dangerous or volatile to volunteer in. Whether a country is undergoing political change or unrest, or some sort of natural disaster relief it is always good to have coverage for emergency evacuations when heading into such environments.

It’s sometimes hard to know just how volatile a situation really is. Perhaps a country may seem perfectly stable before the trip, but suddenly it takes a turn for the worse. Many types of overseas travel insurance for volunteers have coverage for these kinds of possibilities.

Of course, the other common threat that comes with overseas volunteering is illness and medical emergencies. Overseas countries are not only a different world culturally, they are also very different in terms of viruses and bacteria that cause illness. It is important to have travel insurance for overseas volunteers that covers possible medical expenses.

Even with warnings not to drink the water,  volunteers may forget and get sick from the local water. A volunteer’s immune system often isn’t equipped for the many new kinds of disease and illness it can be exposed to.  In some areas, the right kind of medical care may not be easily available, but travel insurance will often cover medical evacuation.

Volunteering vacations are an increasingly popular option for travelers of all ages; it’s important that potential catastrophes can be alleviated with travel insurance.

Photo by: dlbezaire

SCUBA diving on vacation? Discover which travel insurance is right for you

December 7, 2006 By Leave a Comment

screenshot_3.pngScuba diving guarantees an exciting adventure on your tropical vacation, but comes with risks

Many vacationers who head to the warmer weather decide to take up S.C.U.B.A.(Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus) diving. Many destinations specialize in scuba diving, offering many tours, equipment rentals, and guides.

With the adventure of scuba diving comes additional risk. Any time you are dealing with activities such as this, you are at a higher risk for injury. Even with proper training and diving conditions, it is still riskier than sitting in a chair reading a book (for instance).

Travel insurance is available, but make sure your policy covers scuba diving

Travel insurance is a good idea for most trips, whether you are insuring against the cost of a canceled trip or for medical emergencies while away from home. But how do you know if your travel insurance will cover scuba-related incidents?

All travel insurance policies have a list of exclusions. These are situations in which the policy would not pay. For activities, travel insurance typically excludes injuries resulting from:

• Mountaineering requiring ropes/guides
• Hang gliding
• Parachuting
• Bungee jumping
• Horse, vehicle, or motorcycle racing
• Snowmobiling
• Water skiing
• Snow skiing
• Snow boarding

For scuba diving, different companies have different policies. Some cover scuba diving completely, some cover scuba diving in certain conditions, and others exclude scuba diving all together.

Some travel insurance companies will cover scuba divers. Discover which ones in the table below

Here is a helpful table listing major travel insurance companies and which plans provide coverage for scuba diving. Two companies offer complete scuba diving coverage, Travel Guard and Travel Safe.

Company Product Name SCUBA Diving coverage
Access America All products If accompanied by a dive master and not more than 130 feet deep
CSA Travel Protection Freestyle Not Excluded*
HTH Worldwide TravelGapTrip Protector Limited coverage amounts, must be PADI or NAUI certifiedNot Excluded
IMG Patriot Extreme Covers recreational diving up to 50 meters
M.H.Ross All products Not Excluded*
SRI Liaison Covers scuba diving if PADI or NAUI certified
Travelex All products Must be PADI or NAUI certified or accompanied by a dive master
Must not be more than 130 feet deep
Travel Guard All products Covers recreational scuba diving
Travel Insured All products Not Covered
Travel Safe All products Covers recreational scuba diving

*Not listed under “exclusions”, also not specifically addressed as being covered
Where can I get travel insurance quotes for my scuba diving trip? (see How to Compare Quotes with a Travel Insurance Comparison Site)

Family of dead Irishman get a huge Thai hospital bill

November 19, 2006 By Leave a Comment

Here is a story of a family receiving a 50,000 euro hospital bill for their family member, who died after a fall. The hospital will not release the body to be flown home until they pay the bill, and even the repatriation of the mortal remains will cost an additional 5,000 euro.

The man did not have travel insurance, so the family is stuck with the bill.

This is a perfect example of the need for travel medical insurance. Travel medical, also known as international medical, is cheaper than trip cancellation insurance and can provide very basic medical and evacuation coverage.

As you can see in the example above, the costs can be huge. The last thing you want to worry about in such a terrible situation is how you’re going to pay the bills.

Get a quote for travel medical insurance at Insuremytrip.com.

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