Travel Insurance Mistakes You're Making - Tips to Stay Covered!

TRAVEL INSURANCE RECOMMENDATIONS

MONTHLY RENEWABLE INSURANCE FOR LONGER TRIPS

EVACUATION COVERAGE
If your policy doesn't have beefy evacuation coverage, you'll want it from one of these companies. They get you home with no questions asked.

GLOBAL HEALTH PLANS FOR EXPATS AND FULL-TIME TRAVELERS
These are full health plans that cover not only medical emergencies, but also routine healthcare needs around the world.

WRITTEN RESOURCES

Thanks to Dave & Deb from ThePlanetD and Mitch from Project Untethered for sharing their stories! More from them:

ThePlanetD

Project Untethered

Note! Do your own research to ensure you get a policy that suits your needs.

00:00 - In
01:11 - What is travel insurance?
01:39 - Types of travel insurance
03:37 - Mistake #1
04:24 - Mistake #2
05:25 - Mistake #3
06:45 - Mistake #4
08:35 - Claims Tip #1
11:47 - Claims Tip #2
14:42 - Claims Tip #3
15:57 - Planet D’s story
20:41 - Project Untethered’s experience
22:06 - How to choose the right policy

#travelinsurance #insurancemistakes #insuranceclaims #traveladvice

____________________
Greetings! I'm Nora Dunn, aka The Professional Hobo. I've been a digital nomad since 2006. I help people design their lifestyles and arrange their affairs so they can travel long term while working remotely. (I also have a ton of crazy travel tales to share from almost two decades of lifestyle travel).

And let's connect on my other social channels!

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[NoraDunn]

TRAVEL INSURANCE RECOMMENDATIONS


MONTHLY RENEWABLE INSURANCE FOR LONGER TRIPS


EVACUATION COVERAGE
If your policy doesn't have beefy evacuation coverage, you'll want it from one of these companies. They get you home with no questions asked.

GLOBAL HEALTH PLANS FOR EXPATS AND FULL-TIME TRAVELERS
These are full health plans that cover not only medical emergencies, but also routine healthcare needs around the world.

WRITTEN RESOURCES

Thanks to Dave & Deb from ThePlanetD and Mitch from Project Untethered for sharing their stories! More from them:

ThePlanetD

Project Untethered

Note! Do your own research to ensure you get a policy that suits your needs.

[kovie]

We went on an international trip to several countries last fall, and got travel insurance, the one that we were offered on our airline's purchase confirmation page (Delta & Allianz). It came out to just over $50 each, which seemed reasonable given our itinerary and that our US-based health insurance was very restrictive for overseas use. It covered the usual things, health emergencies, lost luggage, canceled flights, etc.

One thing that it didn't cover, which hadn't really occurred to us when we purchased it although in retrospect it probably should have, was war. Namely, in the event of war or conflict, it didn't cover anything that was affected by it, like canceled flights, hotel reservations we couldn't keep, trains we couldn't take, etc. And, what do you know, but a war did in fact break out when we were there.

I won't get into the details although you can probably guess (and it was just as scary as you can imagine), but it led to our flight back being canceled and our being unable to make some of our hotel reservations on the way back (we had planned on stopping in the other countries on the way back), which, being cheapskates, we had purchased at their lowest non-refundable prices (another lesson learned).

Thankfully, we were able to get full credit for the missed flights from the airline itself even though the flights were technically not refundable, due to the circumstances, and for one of the two hotel reservations we were forced to miss. And we ended up finding alternate flights out several days later on another carrier, for which we ended up paying way more than for our original flights, but which enabled us to make use of our remaining hotel and train reservations and flight back to the US.

So the moral of this story is, research the places you're traveling to, to determine the various risks involved in traveling to them, both generally and at any given time as circumstances can be fluid, in terms of conflict, ethnic strife, crime, natural disasters, disease, etc., spend a bit more for flight, hotel and other reservations that can be canceled for a full refund, and get insurance that covers extraordinary situations that pertain to your destinations such as war and ethnic and political strife.

And, in case someone thinks that the way to avoid the need for all this is to just not travel to potentially risky places, well, basically the whole world is risky these days for all sorts of reasons, and even the more risky places tend to be relatively safe most often, if you're careful and take prudent measures, and they can be some of the more interesting places to visit.

And, in our case, we had to be in the country where the war broke out, being from there originally and having business to attend to there, plus wanting to see family, enjoy the holidays, etc.

Sorry for the long comment, but I thought that our experience might help others.

[ckg]

In my experience, Insurance companies will often deny a claim, at first. It's a business decision. If you are a "nice" pest, calling daily, things will get to a point where they pay it because you are costing them more in professional time than the claim is worth. If you are nasty with them they will block you and deny permanently and cancel your policy. It can be a fine line. (Used to work in insurance...the break even decision thing is real).

[vanisle]

My son was studying in Taiwan and did something to his back while on a visit to Hong Kong for a weekend. He ended up in a hospital in Taiwan and needed back surgery. There was no option to bring him home for surgery. I went to Taiwan for a month to be its him during the operation and early rehabilitation. Although he was well insured (his home university had years of experience organizing such studies abroad), we had to pay for services as they were rendered. The total was about $5, 000 for surgery, hospital stay and medication. DO check the prevailing costs in the country in which you will be traveling - like us you may not have an option to ‘go home’. If you can’t afford to pay those costs before you are reimbursed by your insurance company, have a plan to deal with that.

Another thing to be prepared for is hospital release forms in a language you don’t understand. The ones I signed were in Chinese and there was no one to translate them. Even if there as a translator, the chances of changing them is negligible. Be prepared to live with terms that exempt the service provider from liability and must be litigated in local courts.

There was a good side to this experience. The doctor was excellent - I found through the medical grapevine that the surgeon had been trained in the US and was known for his skill. If you find yourself in a foreign country in a high risk situation, contact your doctor at home to see what they might know about the medical system in that country. The information may help you to deal with the anxiety of the situation.

[lisawinders]

Your video is well done! I have traveled a lot and in the past lived overseas for years but learn something new from each of your videos. Thank you!

[dinnes]

EXCELLENT VIDEO. Thanks for your research and clear presentations.❤

[knottynumbers]

Thank you to your "guests" for mentioning Medjet. I had never heard of this particular company. I looked them up and one of the options will provide an Emergency Cash Advance up to $60, 000 to medical care that requires a cash payment (with stipulations, of course). Having heard the "cash only and in advance" issue as part of several overseas medical emergency stories from travelers, that's a wonderful resource to have. The prices for Medjet's policies are fairly reasonable compared to other companies I've priced as well. Thanks for sharing.

[therahughes]

THANK YOU!!! You made me check our travel insurance policy and realize we need to up our basic coverage. I never gave our travel insurance the scrutiny it deserved. Once again THANK YOU?

[susanstadtlander]

Great video Nora, as usual! The pre existing condition section perked my ears up because before my next trip in October, I am having a full knee replacement. The first question I asked when booking this trip with insurance was about this possible denial of a claim if I somehow injured the new knee. Luckily, with my policy, I have nothing to worry about, but I did double check it to be on the safe side. Safe travels✈😊

[nicolewilson]

Thank you Nora for sharing. This is great information. 😁👍🏿👍🏿

[kimward]

Thank you for this information. The personal examples were very helpful. I always travel with insurance but you have given me a couple things to think about for our next trip. I have only ever had to use cancellation insurance due to surgery before a trip (which was fully covered).

[AnzaHelp]

tip: download all the conditions of your reservations as you make them. Insurance companies need a copy of to prove they were not refundable. Table of contents and numbered pages are necessary. I also try to pay for everything with credit card. That way all payments are in USD - no confusion with exchange rates which will change . I black out other information on credit card as its number and other charges unrelated to insurance. I am always happy when I didn’t have to use the insurance and never go bare .

[javierwa]

Very informative, well presented information!!

[BruceM]

Thanks, Nora. That was a nice combination of information and personal experiences. One addendum I would offer is that, at least in my experience with different companies, pre-existing conditions are usually COVERED if I purchase travel insurance within a couple weeks of making the first payment toward a planned trip. In recent years, I have had an annual policy that i have renewed annually, so pre-existing conditions are always covered.

Regarding experiences with the insurance company, I have very good international coverage on my regular US health insurance policy, so when I have had expenses (all relatively small), I have just filed the claim with my health insurance, and they have paid very well. The one time I remember reaching out to my travel insurance company, Allianz, was when I was experiencing fairly serious pain on one side of my lower back. I called to have them recommend a doctor or clinic for consultation in Sydney, Australia on a Sunday. To my utter amazement, they had no suggestions for Sydney and I ended up getting advice from my hotel's front desk. To give Allianz the benefit of the doubt, perhaps since Sydney is an advanced location for health care and is English speaking (as am I), they felt I could easily find my own place for treatment. Still, it made me wonder about Allianz.

[phalgunisharma]

I loved your video! Kudos to the effort made. Every time you were talking about travel insurance I was thinking about this insurance I came across, Sitata travel insurance, it kinda had medical benefits too. World nomads to is a great one !

[dstewart]

Money Saving Tip - Single Trip Insurance
When calculating the cost of your trip for insurance, don't include anything that can cancel (or cancel last minute) for no charge, and I don't include the cost for no change fee flights.
This greatly lowered my Insurance cost.
Having filed two claims on my last Asia trip - save everything, persistence and patience. Great Video!

[robertnicholson]

Thank you. I enjoy the way you present information. Also, the rock wall behind you is beautiful. Where is it? Do you have a picture of the entire wall?

[stMrSoundguy]

I love your videos very well informed I use the info as i travel to visit my wife inh PI and travel with her froim there great in fo

[susanjoy]

Lots of valuable information. I had a bad fall 3 years ago in Indonesia and I needed xrays and an overnight stay in hospital. I had to pay up front which was about 5oo euros I kept all receipts hospital reports etc.. and was reimborsed on my return home. It's so important to be insured because you never know when you may need it. The only problem is the company to choose from, but, after watching this video I have a clearer idea what to look for. thank you Nora

[wannaknit]

I would have described myself as a fairly experienced traveller, and I always buy insurance, but there were several points in this video that really made me think. Luckily my current policy seems up to scratch, but it hadn't occurred to me that I might be unconcious. I will email a copy to my husband (staying at home) and put his emergency contact details in my daypack.