Most of us going on long-haul journeys to exotic locations
realize that it is prudent practice to take out some form
of medical travel insurance. But with such wide and varied
products available today, what can you expect from your
travel health insurance coverage?
Buying Travel Insurance for Costa Rica
The first thing to note is that regardless of how many
names they may go under, all travel insurance policies
breakdown into one of three product categories, namely:
bundled travel insurance policies
custom travel insurance policies; and
flexible travel insurance policies.
As you might be able to imagine, each of these also
has a difference in cost. Finding cheap medical travel insurance
coverage requires a bit of shopping and determining your exact
needs.
Bundled Travel Insurance
Bundled travel insurance is the type of insurance policy
that most insurance salesmen try to sell you. The premium
for this type of insurance typical costs between 6-8%
of the vacation price; and the insurance policy generally
covers such unexpected events as:
medical expenses - usual maximum liability is $10,000
emergency evacuation - under a bundles policy there
is usually a maximum liability of $25,000 for any emergency
evacuation policy
accidental death insurance
trip cancellation or trip interruption - which can include
such precautions as trip cancellations due to your being
laid-off
baggage claim loss - which may also include emergency
monetary assistance provision; and in the event that you want to take out a bundled travel
insurance policy, you are usually required to do this
a week to 10 days after you have purchased the trip in
question.
Custom Travel Insurance for Costa Rica
Similar in nature to bundled travel insurance, Custom
travel insurance however allows you to customize your
travel insurance to cater for your exact travel needs.
In effect this means that if you are off to hike the Inca
Trail, surf in Costa Rica, or dive in the Caribbean you
can increase your medical expenses and evacuation coverage
for such a specialized trip. In most cases custom travel
insurance allows policyholders to double the limits that
are usually found in bundled policies.
Flexible Travel Insurance
Flexible travel insurance is a hybrid policy that is becoming
increasingly popular. In effect a flexible travel insurance
policy allows you to pick and chose parts of a bundled
travel insurance that you want, and to discard parts that
you don't want. The premium of the insurance policy is
then set according to your needs. The reason why flexible
travel insurance policies are becoming increasingly popular
is because travelers are becoming more aware of the fact
that they may be covered for certain circumstance under
other pre-existing policies they already hold. For example,
if a traveler already has health insurance, which covers
any emergency health needs they may have when traveling
they are unlike going to need this; as such, the elect
to discard this part in their flexible policy.
...And Finally
Regardless of which medical travel insurance policy you decide to take
out, give very careful consideration to what you think
your needs are going to be during your holiday. Whilst
none of us plans for unforeseen events whilst we are away
from home, the old adage of "it's better to be safe than
sorry" has a rind of truth about it!
Underwritten by Allianz Australia Insurance Ltd (ABN52097227177, AFS Licence No.245631) with emergency support handled by Mondial Assistance, the world's largest travel assistance company.
