When taking out any sort of insurance cover it is important to know exactly what you are buying. For instance, you may think you are covered for flood damage but come to learn that the knee deep water in your living room is actually storm damage, ruling you out of any cover.
So while it may seem like a hassle, reading the fine print of a policy is definitely worth doing and could save you a lot of money.
One of the main areas with ambiguous, quirky or even misleading fine print is travel insurance. Here are a few to look out for on your next holiday:
– Try to think of all the activities you will be doing on your trip and make sure they are all included in the policy. A lot of the time you will have to specifically mention high risk activities such as skydiving, white water rafting, bunjee jumping etc.
– Many insurance policies grossly over insure a certain area to make their policy seem more comprehensive, but it is often just a ploy. For instance, some companies offer 10 million pounds in medical coverage. While this may seem like the deal of a life time, it is very unlikely you would ever need more than 1 million of medical cover.
– If you plan on hiring a moped make sure that it, like other high risk activities, is covered. More and more companies list motorbike accidents as an exclusion so make sure your completely covered.
– If you’re bringing along any expensive luggage like a computer or camera don’t think it is safe just because of a high ‘personal belongings’ cover. Check the individual item limit. Often it is limited at around £150 – £250 so unless you change this your something-thousand pound laptop is now worth just £200.
– If you’ve been to hospital in the last two years this can sometimes exclude you from certain types of medical cover.
– Make sure you are aware of the implications of not getting travel vaccinations. If you travel without the recommended jabs, chances are you wont be covered for any treatment. This exclusion hidden in the term ‘Vaccine Preventable Diseases”.
– Lastly, don’t pay for anything before finalising the policy. Many companies will exclude items that were purchased or ordered before the policy was completely finalised.
These are just a few of a long list of things which can leave you uncovered. The most important thing is to read the fine print and speak with someone in the company to clarify what you think you know.
