Travel Insurance
Summer 2009/10 Travel Health Alerts
Nobody wants to get sick on an overseas holiday! Much as travel insurance has freed us to truly enjoy other countries, including their rivers, food and people without the risk of coming home tens of thousands of dollars in debt from medical bills, prevention is always better than cure. The health landscape worldwide is constantly changing, as new strains of disease evolve and find resistance to current treatments, so it is important to check out current events in the world health arean before you leave the country. Today we look at what you should be aware of, for travel insurance and vaccination purposes, if you are travelling overseas during summer 2009/2010.
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The History of Travel Insurance
Sometimes it seems that insurance cannot be more than a hundred years old … after all, before 1900 there were few people that owned cars, most built their houses by hand and did not take out an enormous bank loan for it, and there was almost no overseas travel (after all, many people had to walk for a full day just to get to the nearest town!). In fact, insurance in general (and even travel insurance) has been around for literally thousands of years. We travel from ancient Mesopotamia to the 21st century, exploring how insurance has changed.
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Is Insurance a Form of Gambling? The Ned Flanders Approach to Travel
For those of us that have grown up with the concept of insuring important or expensive things, the idea that it is a form of gambling is usually quite foreign. After all, there is a world of difference between the glazed eyes and bad decisions that fill pokies venues, and the sensible mainstream idea of insurance. Actually, insurance can be likened to gambling – but only in a very abstract sense. Today we explore the Ned Flanders approach to travel and travel insurance … and why for most of, his ar-diddly-arguments just don’t hold up!
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Working Overseas and Travel Insurance – What You Need to Know
The cost of going overseas is enormous compared to the cost of your everyday life … when you factor in flights, paying for accommodation nightly instead of monthly, the cost of eating out many nights, renting a car rather than owning it, and incidentals like travel insurance and passports, the bill is staggering. Working overseas is a great way to not only meet people and learn about other cultures, but may be the only thing that makes it possible for you to live overseas. If you’re planning on backpacking around the world, we have some tips on working overseas, and how it may affect your travel insurance.
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Inform Yourself as a Form of Travel Insurance, with Smartraveller
Taking an overseas trip will always engender equal parts excitement and panic … and that is not necessarily a bad thing! That nagging fear of the unknown is what prompts us to take measures to inform and protect ourselves, like making inquiries, taking out travel insurance, and being vaccinated. Making assumptions when you are overseas can be a quick route to hospital, jail, and in extreme cases, a coffin. When it comes to informing yourself, nobody has better, more comprehensive and trustworthy evidence than the Smartraveller site run by the Australian government. Here we look at the site’s main sections and features, and why they create a form of primary travel insurance for you!
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Travel Insurance as a Social Service
Travel insurance has been called many things since it was invented. It has been named a ‘necessary evil’, and has often been called ‘another gosh-forsaken bill to pay’. However, insurance has also been called the handmaiden of industry, and many people don’t actually realize how much the conveniences and technologies we enjoy today are due to that crazy concept, engendered many decades ago, to help spread risk and loss in the case of adverse events. In its own way, the concept of travel insurance has helped you sit on your computer right now, on the internet, live in a house with heating (possibly your own house), have a job you enjoy, and come home with delicious Indian takeaway to sit in front of the television and watch amazing documentaries and informative news. And the bonds between insurance and these phenomena are not tenuous … let me explain!
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Travel Insurance Policies – Do You Have One Already?
Every different type of insurance is necessary, or at least advisable, for different categories of people. Homeowners should take out home and contents insurance, car owners will need third-party damage cover at a minimum, and sole income earners in a family should have income protection insurance. Overseas travelers should have travel insurance – however, if you are a generally well-insured person, you may not need as much travel insurance as the general spiel would have you believe. Today we are looking at the insurance policies you may already have that cover adverse overseas events and the associated costs. We also look at the events that travel insurance is the only way to cover, and the circumstances when you should still get more than the base level of cover. Please note that in all of the following, you should speak with representatives of your current insurers for assurance that you have cover.
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Paying Too Much for Travel Insurance? Overinsuring versus Underinsuring
Looking at information from many travel insurance companies, you can see a visible push towards the highest level of cover. You are urged to be careful, not to take chances with your health, and to put in just that little bit extra to get a lot in return. It is very true that comprehensive travel insurance plans often give customers much more value than the extra cost represents. You can increase the number of adverse events you are covered for by 100%, for only a 20% greater charge (over and above basic travel insurance). But do you really need that extra cover? Today we are looking at the risks of over-insurance and excessive caution, as well as the risks of underinsurance.
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Travel Insurance for Medical Tourists
Medical tourism often sounds too good to be true on paper. Even in Australia, with an excellent public health care system, the cost of elective or cosmetic surgery can be enormous. Comparing the cost of a breast augmentation, hip replacement or experimental stem cell treatment in Australia versus Thailand looks extremely tempting. Today we are looking at why you need to develop a much fuller picture of costs, risks, insurance and the legalities of medical tourism, with a focus on travel insurance.
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Travel Insurance and Travel Vaccinations – Best Friends or Casual Acquaintances?
Just as with travel insurance, if you can’t afford the cost of travel vaccinations, the conventional wisdom is that you can’t afford to go overseas. Australia is quite a lucky country in disease terms. We have little in the way of hepatitis, typhoid fever, and mosquito borne disease like malaria. Overseas these diseases are rife, and can affect you for the rest of your life. If you are planning to travel overseas, here we look at the interaction between your travel insurance and travel vaccinations.
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