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.

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.

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.

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

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.

*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)

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.

First of all, if you are reading this and spending time researching travel insurance, there is a reason. Maybe the weather has you worried. You booked a nice week in Florida, but in the back of your mind there’s the thought of a hurricane ruining your trip.

Maybe you are concerned about your health while away from home. You know your insurance does not cover you outside the US, and you don’t want to risk an accident or injury in a foreign country.

There are also simpler concerns like lost baggage or delayed flights. Either one could be a major nuisance, and make your relaxing vacation a nightmare.

Here are a few “rule of thumb” situations where you probably want some travel insurance:

Expensive trips-The more potential loss, the more need for insurance. If you are planning a big trip, consider the total costs and ask yourself if you are willing to lose that amount.
Trips planned several months in advance-There is more potential for something to happen and cancel you trip. In the time leading up to the trip, you can get sick, lose a job, have a home fire, etc. There are also added benefits to purchasing close to the time of initial trip payments, such as Pre-existing Condition Coverage and financial default of travel companies.
Extended trips-For a week in Europe you might not worry about travel medical coverage, but imagine a month spent in South America without any coverage. Longer trips or certain destinations require travel medical coverage.

Many travelers purchase insurance for their vacations. The travel insurance provides benefits for cancelled or interrupted trips, lost baggage, and medical expenses. As with all insurance policies, there are exclusions. Policy exclusions are circumstances under which an insurance will not pay a claim.

Common travel insurance exclusions include:

• self-inflicted injuries
• injuries resulting from dangerous activities like skydiving, etc
• injuries suffered while committing a felony or illegal activity
• injuries suffered while intixicated

Trip insurance is meant to cover expenses for unexpected and accidental injuries. When you consume too much alcohol it is not exactly an accident when you fall down and hurt yourself.

It is common knowledge that alcohol affects our judgement and motor skills. Drivers are arrested everyday for consuming too much alcohol and operating a vehicle. When drinking and driving, they are at a higher risk of injury to themselves and others.

For this same reason, travel insurance companies will not pay for injuries suffered while intoxicated. If they did, trip insurance premiums would be higher and travelers would have to pay more to protect themselves and their financial investement.

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Previous TravelInsuranceReview.net article about drinking exclusion
Story from Manchester Eveneing News

Most credit cards do not offer any coverage for travel medical expenses, evacuation costs, or trip cancellation expenses.
These are the most common reasons people purchase trip insurance. They want to be sure their trip investment if protected against cancellation. Travelers also want to know if they get sick or injured while on vacation, they can get the help they need and any necessary evacuation.

You can argue that the coverage provided with your credit card is better than nothing, which is true. If, however, you are looking for actual trip insurance with the best coverage, check with some reputable travel insurance companies.

As always, read the policy certificate thoroughly. You can even do this after you have made the initial decision for travel insurance, since there is a “free-look period”. This means that you coule decide on your policy and make your purchase. Then, depending on the company, you have a “free-look” period of time in which you can review the policy and return it for a full refund. This also assumes you have not departed on your trip.