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Top Mistakes to Avoid When Buying Travel Policy

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Getting ready for a much-awaited trip? Tickets – check, toothpaste – check, phone charger – check! Well, we all have a checklist to follow, before we head out to enjoy that holiday we had been planning for a while now. But most travelers are clueless about the checklist of their travel policy. Merely buying travel insurance is not enough, as you have to be careful about a lot many things and avoid common pitfalls. Remember that your travel insurance policy could prevent you from going into an awful debt when things go wrong. So, here is a list of top mistakes to avoid when buying a travel policy.

1. Buying insurance at the eleventh hour: The worst decision you can make is to not buy travel insurance at all, just because all your trips have gone by without any mishap till now. This is because someday your luck might run out and you may suffer during an emergency because you don’t have insurance. Another mistake that comes close is buying the insurance plan at the last minute. This disturbs the budget altogether and the lack of time and research means that you will most likely get a below-average deal. The solution is to buy a decent annual plan well in advance instead of buying single-trip policies.

2. Not reading the exclusions properly: The travel insurance policies are full of exclusions, depending on the activities you are going to do or accessories you are carrying. The policy providers put a lot of dos and don’ts in the plan. If you want to do adventure sports but your policy doesn’t cover treatment costs in case of an injury or you wish to carry your swanky laptop, but your policy covers gadgets only up to a certain limit, you need to upgrade your policy. Always read the terms and conditions before taking the policy.

3. Buying a cheap or extremely costly coverage: Travelers either buy insurance with high coverage limit (maximum sum of money an insurer will pay per claim) or a cheap one, believing that it’s just a waste of money. The best choice lies somewhere in between. Sometimes, a reasonably-priced policy covers major damages and you need not go for higher coverage for additional perks. Similarly, a cheaper policy might not be of much help in cases of big claims.

4. Forgetting to renew your policy: So, imagine you are well-covered by the policy when your trip begins. Now you wish to stretch the trip and cover one more destination before returning home. Suddenly, your baggage with valuables gets lost. You inform the insurer but the claim gets denied because the policy has matured. To your utter dismay, you find that your coverage ended 24 hours ago and you forgot to renew the policy. This happens a lot because while you are busy having fun, you might forget that your policy is nearing its expiry date. So, always remember to renew it on time.

5. Not informing the insurer on time: A tragedy in a foreign country with a language barrier can be an overwhelming experience and most likely you may forget to inform the policy provider on time. But this mistake could add to your woes. Policies clearly state that if the insurer is not informed within 24 (or in some cases, 48) hours, no coverage will be provided. So, always opt for a provider with 24x7 helpline or who responds on mail. Before going on the trip, check your travel policy papers and note down important contact numbers and email Ids.

It can be challenging to find that one travel policy that will take care of all your emergencies. However, you can always anticipate your losses according to the risk involved in the cities you are visiting and the luggage you will be carrying, amongother things, and then take a policy that covers most of your requirements. The success lies in doing a thorough research before taking a policy and then adhering to the rules and regulations to make a successful claim in case of emergency.

The above information is for illustrative purpose only. For more details, please refer to policy wordings and prospectus before concluding the sales.