What’s the best travel insurance?

Regardless of what any one travel insurance company will tell you, there is no one “best” travel insurance policy or company that fits everyone. The mark of a great travel insurance company and policy is the ability to adjust and customise the policy to fit your unique needs, concerns and holiday plans. To determine what the best travel insurance is for you, take a few things into consideration:

What activities are you undertaking?

If you are planning on including some adventure activities during your holiday such as water-skiing, white water rafting or parachuting, you may want to consider an insurance policy that will cover these activities. If you end up in the hospital and need to be airlifted home with a physician and nurse, the costs could easily surpass a quarter of a million dollars.

How much excess do you want?

Much like your car insurance policy, travel insurance plans generally include an excess. In the event you need to make a claim, the excess is the amount you will pay before the insurance policy covers any damage or loss. See what the policy offers and then, consider the amount of out-of-pocket expenses you are willing to pay in return for a lower travel insurance premium—if any at all. As always, review the policy documents carefully as in some cases the excess may only apply to specific benefits. Work with the travel insurance agency to ensure the levels of excess you want are actively being applied to your policy.

Double-check what your current policies cover.

In some cases, travel insurance cover is offered by credit cards. However, the levels of cover available through your credit card may not apply or may not be sufficient for the activities you’ll be doing abroad. As we mentioned above, it is very important to carefully read through policy documents to fully understand what the company will and will not cover. Then, once you have this information, you can determine the gaps in your coverage and adjust your travel insurance policy accordingly to remove duplicate cover and increase needed cover to fill in the gaps.

Are your pre-existing medical conditions covered?

If you are a traveller with pre-existing medical conditions, the very first thing you should do is look at the product disclosure statement and other policy documents to review and understand which pre-existing medical conditions are covered by the company and under what circumstances claims can be denied. With this understanding, you can quickly weed out the companies, and therefore policies, that would not be beneficial to you and focus on the companies that provide the services and protection you need.

There are many considerations to take into account when determining the best travel insurance for you and your holiday. While there is no easy answer for the best policy, there is plenty of information and assistance available to help you make an educated and unique-to-you decision. Customize your travel insurance plan online today with youGo Travel Insurance and contact our customer service representatives with any questions or concerns you may have.