How to Avoid Travel Insurance Claims Getting Denied?

You have been reading the stories of people trapped in the emergency situations while traveling.  It can be a tragedy which needs immediate medical attention. Getting stranded on airports or cruise ships, unexpected events and accidents which have become part of the life and needs to be dealt with insurance coverage.  Most of the travelers think that, once if they buy an insurance plan, they are covered against anything that will go wrong while traveling.

But travel insurance is a common legal document having well-defined exclusions and limitations that you have to understand completely to feel confident about the insurance coverage.

Let us understand 6 basic steps to avoid the travel insurance claims getting denied:

Buy the insurance plan on time:

The travel insurance is a cover which can protect you from the tragedies and events happening during the travel. So you need to get the insurance well in advance and even before you start making your travel plans.  Most of the plans required you to purchase the plan certain number of days before you start your first journey. The travel insurance covers for following:

  • The pre-existing medical condition
  • Unexpected events
  • Cancellation due to a valid reason
  • Interruption for a specified reason

Insurance pre-paid trip expense

Most of the travelers first plan their trip, buy the tickets for journey and then decide to purchase travel insurance policy by estimating the cost of travel expenses. Keep in mind that it will not cover your non-refundable travel expenses or the trip cancellation.  Even the plan of the policy will not be active for the part of tour which did not cover under the insurance plan. You need to make sure that the insurance coverage offered for the total expenses of the trip is valid.

Find out about pre-existing medical condition

The pre-medical existing condition is defined in travel insurance policy – as the injury, weakness or any medical condition that has been part of your life prior to the travel plans. The diagnosis, medications and the treatment should be effective before the date of scheduled travel plans. Even when you are not aware of the pre-existing health condition and found out about it later, it will still be considered as pre-existing medical condition.

If you had medical check-up within 60-180 days and do not have the results of diagnosis then you can hold on buying the insurance till you are clear with diagnosis. If you buy the travel insurance and later you had diagnosed of a disease which is pre-existed then you can cancel the trip but only if you had purchased pre-existing medical condition coverage.

Read clearly and understand the reasons covered for cancellation

Most of travelers think that once if they have travel insurance, they can cancel the trip at any point of time. But it is not true. The reasons for the cancellation of the tour are specifically given by the travel insurance providers, which allow either to cancel or to reimburse the non-refundable payments.

Read the Policy wording documents clearly when sent to you before purchasing it. Every plan is different. Never ignore the instructions and the reasons given in the policy.

Identify the exclusions clearly

The insurance plan that you want to purchase has set of exclusions which are the part of the policy. Identify the exclusions clearly before you purchase the travel insurance.  Anything can go wrong while you are traveling and one has to think of all the possibilities before purchasing the plan. Make sure that you understood the exclusions given in the insurance document which are easy to understand and follow.

Always get the required documentations

Travel insurance companies always look for the documentations when the claims are made.  Travelling is full of uncertainties and you cannot expect the travel insurance agencies to believe your words while you make the claims. If your passport was lost or the luggage got misplaced, flights got cancelled then in order to make claim, you need to get written documentation which will prove the fact. Even when you feel sick while travelling then get the diagnosis in writing from the doctor. It helps while proving the facts and making the claims.

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