Outdoor Vacation – Taking A Beach Trip

Author: Jean Andrews
Source: ezinearticles.com

Taking out adequate travel insurance should be the first thing on your list after booking a trip. Having insurance in place in caseanything goes wrong between the time you book your holiday and the actual departure date is important.Why risk unwelcome financial losses on top of the disappointment if you have tocancel your holiday.

When purchasing Annual Multi-trip travel insurance many people try to save money and ‘extend’ thelength of validity of the policyby making the’start date’ the same as their holiday departure date. This is false economy because it means there is no cover in place in the interim period for any unexpected events which may cause cancellation.

Most travel insurance policies cover cancellation of a trip for a variety of reasons, including unexpected illness, accidental injury, or death relating to you, your travel companion, a business associate, relative, or the person with whom you were planning to stay on your trip.

Other unexpected reasons which might occur to cause cancellation include:

Being called for jury service, called as a witness, or for compulsory quarantine

An accident involving your vehicle occurring within seven days prior to the date of your departure – if going on a self-drive holiday

Being posted overseas or unexpected urgent requirements of duty in the case of those in the armed forces, police, fire service, nursing or ambulance service (Note: does not normally extend to being posted abroad due to an act of terrorism, war, or invasion)

Redundancy – if the event happens during the period of insurance which qualifies for payment under the Redundancy Payments Act

Accidental damage to your residence, making it uninhabitable, or if the police should require your presence after a burglary at your home within seven days prior to the departure date of your trip

Pregnancy:Where the birth is expected within 14 weeks of the departure or return date; or where complications of pregnancy occur prior to the 26th week (if no prior history of complications)

For students and backpackers, those on a gap year, etc. some policies include cover if cancellation of a trip becomes necessary because of having to re-sit exams – but only where the date of the policy being issued is prior to all exam dates relating to any need for a re-sit

If you have not taken out travel insurance, or have delayed the start date of the period of cover, an unexpected cancellation may mean that you will be left to bear any financial losses for flights, transfers, rental car, accommodation, organised tours, ticketed events, etc. As you can see from the above, there are all kinds of problems which could arise,affecting you, or someone close to you. With insurance in place your losses should be confined to payment ofany excess due on the policy, which would be minimal compared to the alternative.

Ensure that you obtain all the necessary visas for your trip, as well as inoculations and vaccinations. There have been reports of travellers arriving in the United States and being denied entry because they did not register with ESTA within 72 hours of travel. If you are travelling to the U.S. under the visa-waiver programme it is vitally important to make sure you comply with the new ESTA requirements. Be warned: Travel insurance does not normally coverclaims forfinancial losses due to failure to obtain necessary visas!

Insurance policies can be daunting in their complexity, but it is worthwhile taking the time to read and understand the terms of your policy to avoid any unexpected or unpleasant surprises. If we could be certain of what the future holds there would be no need to purchase insurance at all – for anything.Unfortunately,that is not the case in the real world! Happily, most holidays go ahead as planned – with no serious problems – but why take a chance?

Jean Andrews is a freelance writer living in the UK. She regularly contributes articles for Travel Insurance Agencies Ltd who offer great deals on UK Travel Insurance and Travel Insurance for residents of Eire.

Author: Alan Rivers
Source: ezinearticles.com

You remember when you were under 25 years old; paying your car insurance was the equivalent of more than a month’s wages. The Army would recruit you alright to go and fight for your country, but you were not safe, according to the insurance companies, to drive on the roads. Why should the insurance companies penalise you for being under 25? Isn’t that age discrimination? Old enough to die but too young to drive! Then when you were 30 years old, the house had to be insured, and the mortgage that was buying the house had to be insured.

Even your income that was paying the mortgage had to be insured. Just when you start to congratulate yourself that you have even survived for 65 years, the insurance companies are trying to get their pound of flesh again. Over 65 travel insurance! When will it all end? Well you know the answer to that – and you have even got that insured!

You are just looking forward to having some time for travelling, just you and the wife. The family have all moved on and are now supporting the insurance companies on their own. Now you have time to relax and enjoy the finer things of life. Now you can complete those plans to visit Singapore, Australia, and all the other places on your “things-to-do-before-I-die” list. But now it’s going to cost an arm and a leg just to get insured.

You think back on all the insurance you have paid over the years. You are probably the only guy in the world with 45 years of no claims. No accidents in the car, the house did not fall down, you never missed a monthly payment on the mortgage. Well, OK, there was just the one claim, when the kids decided to sleigh down the stairs on a mattress and took all the banister rails out and the ceiling collapsed. But apart from that, nothing.

Why should the insurance companies penalise you for being over 65? Isn’t that age discrimination? Travel insurance should not be just for the wealthy. After all, It is the holiday that is supposed to be the luxury! You may protest that you are as fit as a fiddle. You can jog five miles and swing the grandchildren around. You have just finished digging your garden and you can still play a good game of chess. That is not going to impress the insurance companies. You are too old to travel and too young to die!

Maybe you could skip the insurance. You have got the best track record in the world for no claims. Just save that money, or perhaps, use it to upgrade the hotel rooms, or get a limo to the airport. But somehow that does not sit right. Maybe it is time for the averages to work out? What if your baggage ends up in Mumbai when you are visiting Kuala Lumpur? It would be just your luck if you fall over and break a leg, or maybe worse. What if you had to sell the house to pay for the medical bills?

Let’s look on the bright side. Most of those premiums you have paid out over the years have been re-distributed to all the people who made claims. It looks like the insurance companies have done a better job of re-distributing your wealth than the government has done through the tax system.

Being over 65 is not the end of the world – it is a new beginning. There must be some affordable over 65 travel insurance out there somewhere. There are so many people looking for travel insurance for over 65s, that there must be a few good rates available with all that competition. Why not book that trip now, take the insurance (make it an annual multi-trip insurance), and cross another item off your ‘to do’ list!

Alan Rivers (who is over 60 – and loving it) has been online since 1998 with Rivers Travel http://www.riverstravel.co.uk If you are a resident of the UK or the European Union, then check here for good value over 65 travel insurance