| Hospital Costs - Who pays? | | | | that you are able to claim for anything that you |
| When you are overseas and need to receive | | | | are able to and will get the total amount back. If |
| medical treatment at a doctor or hospital your | | | | you are going for a budget or medical only travel |
| travel insurance doesn't always pay upfront. Quite | | | | insurance policy the excess may be of less |
| often you'll need lodge a claim when you get | | | | importance as you will likely only claim for high |
| home. Before seeing a doctor, or as soon as you | | | | cost events where the excess is just a small |
| can if it's an emergency, call the insurance | | | | percentage of the total amount. |
| company and tell them what is happening. They'll | | | | Sports and adventure activity coverage |
| be able to tell you if they have preferred medical | | | | Certain adventurous sports are automatically |
| providers and what you need to do to claim the | | | | covered by travel insurance companies, these are |
| costs back. | | | | usually low risk sports or activities such as hiking, |
| Ideally the insurance company will pay for your | | | | snorkeling, and water skiing. Higher risk sports like |
| hospital or doctors costs upfront as this saves | | | | scuba diving, bungee jumping, and mountain biking |
| you from putting the costs on your credit card or | | | | may be covered for an extra fee but some |
| trying to organise more money from home, | | | | companies do cover these normally. You should |
| especially if it's an expensive accident. | | | | check directly with the insurance company if you |
| International Emergency Assistance - Who to call? | | | | are considering these sports. |
| All travel insurance companies have a process for | | | | Pre-existing conditions |
| notifying them in case of emergency events and | | | | Many of us have certain medical conditions that |
| how to handle them. Always look for a policy that | | | | could potentially cause problems when on holiday. |
| offers local phone numbers that you can call in a | | | | Conditions like asthma, arthritis, allergies. |
| large number of countries. This will make it simple | | | | Sometimes these will be covered by the |
| to contact them if you encounter problems. | | | | insurance policy, other times they will not and |
| Reverse charge numbers don't work in all | | | | some with stop you from getting the travel |
| countries so should be avoided if you are travelling | | | | insurance policy. These are detailed in the PDS and |
| anywhere slightly off the beaten track. Phoning | | | | you will need to contact the travel insurance |
| back to your own country can end up being very | | | | company directly if you have any concerns due |
| expensive depending where you are. | | | | to these medical conditions. |
| Always ensure you have the emergency | | | | Reviews |
| assistance contact information handy at all times | | | | Reading customer reviews is very helpful as it |
| while travelling and keep an additional copy in your | | | | provides an overview of the claims and |
| baggage and in an online storage or email account. | | | | assistance services that you can't get from |
| Excess | | | | reading the travel insurance PDS or from the |
| A low excess is very useful for comprehensive | | | | company website. Pay particular attention to the |
| travel insurance because it allows you to claim on | | | | ease and speed of claims and whether the |
| more low cost items. Many policies offer an | | | | company tries to get out of settling claims where |
| excess buyout for a fee (reduces the excess to | | | | ever possible. |
| $0). This is often a very good idea as it means | | | | |