travel insurance

[kpcronan]

Looking for advice on purchasing a travel insurance policy over here. Looking to travel to Europe and the US as a family, but also plan trips within Asia over the year. Any cheap plans?

[QRM]

No such things a cheap plans you normally get what you pay for. There are so many permutation on insurance what appears to be cheap may have to many onerous clauses.

[aster]

You might want to get a good credit card and charge all flights to it. The higher end ones appear to have some decent insurance included...

Banks also sell insurance themselves if you want a stand-alone product.

[Girl_Next_Door]

I bought TravelJoy from Tenet Insurance. Its an annual plan and cost $231 for me (but my company has a "special" arrangement so I probably got 10 or 20% off rack rates).

My bf also bought from the same company, after we did some comparison together. We travelled every alternate month, sometimes every month. I took the deluxe one instead of the elite, and it includes Europe, US and Asia.

From what I understand, credit card travel insurance does not cover everything and the maximum liability from the insurer is usually quite minimum. In addition, if you are traveling budget, I don't think credit card travel insurance covers any travel delay, trip curtailment, etc. But I didn't check/verify. You might want to check the details.

I understand that AIA also have pretty decent travel insurance but it can get quite expensive when you add up all the different zone/region.

[Girl_Next_Door]

A bit off topic but relevant. One of my friend's friend bought some "special travel cum body-guard insurance".

Apparently, that guy is fairly senior in his company (a bank) and was in Taj Mahal Hotel during the Mumbai attack in 2008. After the company found out that Taj Mahal Hotel was attacked, they called the insurance company. A group of "body-guards" apparently break into Taj Mahal Hotel, managed to grab him, put him onto a helicoptor and sent him back to Singapore.

I'm just curious which insurance company is that.... and what kind of insurance policy is that. The only thing I know is the premium is not cheap (5-figure and its not on the low end of 5-figures per annum).

Guess that is what they meant, when people say, "Money can buy many things..."

[wickedom]

The "body guard" could be a Red24 service and it is definitely not a typical travel insurance coverage.

If you intend to travel to Europe and USA, you would need a worldwide cover. Most insurers would have their travel insurance details posted online, so you be able to access them easily.

Things to look out for would be terrorism cover and unlimited emergency medical evacuation.

[oliviaoliver]

i had bought an annual travel insurance, a program specially design for citibank customers and unwritten by A** insurance.

i was force to cancelled my scheduled trip to Thailand that was scheduled on 09 April 2010 which was booked on 22 Feb 2010, due to the unrest in Bangkok,

The following sections of the Policy Wording came from the interpretation of the policy:

PART 7 - BENEFITS
SECTION 5A – TRAVEL CANCELLATION
If, during the Period of Insurance, an Insured Person is forced to cancel any part of a planned Journey prior to the commencement of that Journey as the direct and necessary result of any Specified Cause, the Company will indemnify the Insured Person in respect of Cancellation Expenses occurring up to thirty (30) days prior to departure, up to the Benefit amount as specified in the Certificate of Insurance subject to the terms and conditions of this Policy, provided always that this coverage is effective only if this Policy is purchased before the Insured Person becomes aware of any circumstances which could lead to the disruption of his Journey.
ADDITIONAL DEFINITIONS
Specified Cause means
(i.) the Insured Person dying or becoming ill or sustaining Bodily Injury rendering the Insured Person unfit to travel in the opinion of a Physician;
(ii.) the death, of the Insured Person’s Family Member or Bodily Injury or Sickness of such person necessitating him to be Confined to a Hospital;
(iii.) compulsory quarantine, jury service, subpoena or hijack of the Insured Person;
(iv.) cancellation of scheduled Public Conveyance services consequent upon Strike, Riot or Civil Commotion;
(v.) the Insured Person’s residence becoming uninhabitable following fire, storm, or flood occurring such that the Insured Person’s presence is required on the premises on the Scheduled Departure Date;
where, for paragraphs (i) to (iv), the events mentioned occur within thirty (30) days before the Scheduled Departure Date, and for paragraph (v), the event occurs within seven (7) days before the Scheduled Departure Date.

My insurer inform me that I was the one who decided to cancel my scheduled trip to Bangkok and there was no prior notice from the airline that the flight was cancelled, therefore not meeting the terms and conditions highlighted above, their advise that the Policy will be unable to respond to the claim for Travel Cancellation Benefit.

What will you do if this happen to you?

[sundaymorningstaple]

i was force to cancelled my scheduled trip to Thailand that was scheduled on 09 April 2010 which was booked on 22 Feb 2010, due to the unrest in Bangkok


My insurer inform me that I was the one who decided to cancel my scheduled trip to Bangkok and there was no prior notice from the airline that the flight was cancelled, therefore not meeting the terms and conditions highlighted above, their advise that the Policy will be unable to respond to the claim for Travel Cancellation Benefit.

What will you do if this happen to you?

Who "forced" you to cancel your trip? If nobody forced you to do so, e.g., the airline, then you are out of luck. You canceled of your own accord so there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. Next time, you will remember to read the policy details more closely "before" you jump the gun.

[Saint]

i was force to cancelled my scheduled trip to Thailand that was scheduled on 09 April 2010 which was booked on 22 Feb 2010, due to the unrest in Bangkok


My insurer inform me that I was the one who decided to cancel my scheduled trip to Bangkok and there was no prior notice from the airline that the flight was cancelled, therefore not meeting the terms and conditions highlighted above, their advise that the Policy will be unable to respond to the claim for Travel Cancellation Benefit.

What will you do if this happen to you?

Who "forced" you to cancel your trip? If nobody forced you to do so, e.g., the airline, then you are out of luck. You canceled of your own accord so there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. Next time, you will remember to read the policy details more closely "before" you jump the gun.

The Insurance doesn't provide coverage just because you don't feel like going, it covers cancelation of flight, your flight wasn't cancelled. Can't really see what you are moaning about to be honest.

[QRM]

Its a bit like taking out fire insurance then deciding to set fire to your house and wonder why the they wont pay?

Its tough enough trying to get them to pay out on a genuine claim. I would say no hope on this unless you can prove the hotel had to shut because of the riots which is why you canceled or maybe if you had a "DO NOT travel" warning from your embassy?

[booey]

i usually buy mine from ntuc income. fast and alright from online.

but i don;t know whether they do pay out smoothly or not.

any feedback or ideas?

[fiveniner]

i usually buy mine from ntuc income. fast and alright from online.

but i don;t know whether they do pay out smoothly or not.

any feedback or ideas?

One thing I found out if you have an infant and you buy online on NTUC it will be slightly more.

Good thing my iphone didnt work well with their website, which made me call them up and I managed to get my policy slightly cheaper.

[blanque]

I have a soft spot for Tenet as well because their claims service are so efficient! They are also good in customer service.

Most banks offer travel insurance underwritten by Ace insurance. Their annual plans are quite cheap but as for their quality of service, well it's a little questionable.

[QRM]

I have a soft spot for Tenet as well because their claims service are so efficient! They are also good in customer service.

Most banks offer travel insurance underwritten by Ace insurance. Their annual plans are quite cheap but as for their quality of service, well it's a little questionable.

And you can stand hand on heart and say you have nothing to do with them?

[Saint]

I have a soft spot for Tenet as well because their claims service are so efficient! They are also good in customer service.

Most banks offer travel insurance underwritten by Ace insurance. Their annual plans are quite cheap but as for their quality of service, well it's a little questionable.

And you can stand hand on heart and say you have nothing to do with them?

Bloody obvious who the poster works for and pretty cheap to down your competitor. Taking all your renewal business are they