Travel insurance can be tricky if you don’t know your way around it. Things get worse when you don’t read your terms and conditions because you won’t know the penalties of breaking a norm. Therefore, get yourself together and learn what you signed up for! Following, we are giving some real insights into how travel insurances work.
Learn the Difference between Insurance and Waiver
There are cases when tour companies or cruise line offer travel insurance. However, their offer is not proper insurance. Instead, it’s only a cancellation waiver. This waiver lets you cancel your trip within a given time window.
You don’t lose your money, but neither get it back. You are only allowed to rebook without any penalty. This insurance is more of a collision damage waiver on a rental. The exemption is your chance to cancel the flight a few hours before taking off if you were going to miss it or cut the trip short if you feel sick.
Do the Paperwork
If you bought travel insurance and filled a claim, you will need to collect paperwork of your travels including:
- Receipts of Hotel
- Coverage for Travel Delay
- Medical Bills
Etc. Travellers don’t do a good job when it comes to fulfilling their claims. You can’t afford laziness; you need to stay up to date with the paperwork and come prepared. When you have the right documents, you only need two or three pieces of paper. Most claims take a week or two to resolve.
Therefore, having your paperwork ready helps the claim resolve fast.
Don’t Get Drunk
Travel Insurances have become very consumer friendly. But, they still don’t tolerate alcohol content in your blood. Therefore, if you get hurt, arrested or end up in a pickle and you are found drunk, you will lose the claim. In such case, you won’t be able to cancel the trip. Committing a crime or violation is not a valid reason to cancel your trip.
Buy Insurance When Booking
When you book the trip, your insurance gets in effect because of the following preexisting conditions:
Medical Issues: These rules are not strict, at least not if you buy the coverage. You have a purchasing window for the preexisting condition with some other exclusions.
The window is 15-21 days after you make the first deposit on the trip. If you buy insurance after making this deposit, your future claim will get a rejection. It will be the same case with preexisting medical conditions as any health crisis would require you to cancel the trip.
Natural Disasters: If you buy trip cancellation or delay package to somewhere exotic, a place prone to natural disasters, then you should be covered. There are different regulations for different natural disasters, so make sure you read the terms and provisions while making travel insurance comparison.
Don’t buy if not needed
You don’t need travel insurance when you travel domestically, and there are no penalties for cancelling reservations. If you book trips too early, then you need protection. Otherwise, you are better off without it.
