It’s the June holidays once again! What this might mean for some family is that it’s time to travel. That said, have you purchased your travel insurance? If you think it is unnecessary, boy are you wrong.
Do you know what travel insurance covers?
Majority of the people who purchase the travel insurance might not know the full extent of its coverage, which might also indicate that they are missing out on claims that they didn’t know they are entitled to.
By getting travel insurance, you are covered from the minute you purchase your policy till you arrive home back from your holiday destination. If anything unfortunate were to happen that prevents you from travelling out of Singapore after you have booked the flight, you might be able to claim compensation, depending on your coverage.
Even after your vacation, the protection also continues when you are back in sunny Singapore. For example, if you were to catch a cold while you were away, you may claim your medical fees from the insurer. Also, if the airline lose your luggage while on the way back, you may claim compensation as well, even though you could simply go back home to where all your necessities are waiting for you.
The Coverages
There are several ways where you can make a claim, ranging from catching a cold, to getting robbed off your belongings. Following are some examples of claims you could file for:
1. Medical Coverage
One of the more common reasons why we purchase travel insurance is because of the medical coverage. None of us wants to be caught in a situation where we need to worry about the finances when we need to seek urgent medical help while in a foreign land. This coverage allows you to make claims for medical costs incurred, such as being evacuated back in the event that you need to be rushed to Singapore for urgent medical help. As mentioned earlier, it also allows you to file for medical expenses incurred in Singapore as long as the cause is due to an accident sustained while overseas. For example, there’s the risk of food poisoning if you were stuffing yourself silly with all the street food before your flight back.
2. Personal Accident Coverage
Not cursing you but hey, who knows what might happen while you are having your vacation? Travel insurance have a personal accident component where they offer payouts in the event you encounter an accident and becomes handicapped, both temporarily or permanent; as well as when you die, in which case the payout will go to your next of kin. The payout amount is usually indicated in the policy document, hence be sure you read through the different levels of payouts before you decide on your travel insurance.
3. General Coverage
Apart from the medical fees, you could also claim for flight cancellations or delays. How much you get is typically dependent on the hours of delayment. Other general coverages includes lost or damaged items. However, the route to making a claim for these items are usually tricky as you might need to submit the receipt at the time of purchase, which most of us might have already thrown away. Whether you are a global jetsetter or an occasional traveller, travelling is definitely more enjoyable when you know you are properly covered against any emergencies, be it falling sick or flight delays.
