I’m looking for good cheap travel insurance. I have a week before I leave for my holiday and I need to get a policy quick! I’m going to write about my experience trying to find a policy that will cover 2 adults for a 36 day trip. It’s a long holiday I know! If you ever have to look for insurance I hope that you can refer to this article and learn from my experience.
For every trip that I take I spend quite a bit of time organizing. I usually do a bit of pre-holiday shopping, get a haircut so I will look good on the beach and make a list of the items I need to pack. Before I start packing I get my travel insurance!
I am going overseas for an extended period of time and I’m hunting for comprehensive travel insurance package to keep me covered for any nasty eventualities on my trip. I like to start the process by writing down a few of the problems I am most worried about on my travel. This can vary on the type of trip that you are doing and the destination that you are going on.
If I was taking a ski holiday I might priorities cover for personal injury or damage to my ski equipment. This trip isn’t an action filled holiday, I might do a bit of snorkeling but my main concerns are:
1- Making sure I get to my destinations and home again in one piece (with all my luggage).
2- Cover for health/accident related problems that might occur.
3 -Having cover for any theft, loss or damage to my possessions while I’m away. Travelling for a month
means that I have a lot of luggage. I don’t want to worry about my precious laptop and camera!
Now that I have a few priorities I’m going to start my search.
Internet comparison websites really do make life a lot easier. I’ve carried out a couple of searches on Confused.com and MoneySuperMarket.com. The lowest prices for a travelling couple on a holiday longer than 30 days is about £40 pounds up to a maximum of £230 pounds for luxury travel insurance! I’m not going to consider the policies as I can see that the luggage cover values are too low.
Later I’ll need to check out the maximum single item cover limit for baggage as expensive single items such as laptops and camera might fall outside of some of these policies.
I’ve decided to use quotes from Confused.com only as I am pushed for time and they offer the largest comparison of insurers at the moment. If I had more time I would look at hitting up MoneySupermarket and others comparison sites as then I could get a larger comparison.
So here are my chosen runners -
TRAVEL INSURER Premium Medical Cancellation Baggage Excess
Travel Insurance Genie £57.20 £10 Mill £2K £1.5K £65
Travel Plan Online £57.50 £10 Mill £5K £1K £100
Swift Cover £62.19 £10 Mill £2K £2K £75
Direct Travel Insurance £72 £10 Mill £3K £1.5K £50
There is a £15 difference between the most expensive and least expensive policies. Looking at them closely it is going to be interesting to see what I can get for my money’s worth.
MEDICAL COVER
Medical cover for all the policies is pretty similar at £10 million. You might think that this is a lot of money but you have to keep in mind that it can be expensive paying for doctors and hospitals when abroad. Just as you don’t get to go to the Grand Canyon for free the US aren’t going to pay for your stay at the local hospital. Breaking your leg in other part so the Continent can be very expensive especially if you have to abandon your holiday and pay for alternative transport home.
CANCELLATIONS
UK weather has been pretty temperamental recently. I am not counting on a nice day for my departure so I’m keeping one eye on the forecast in case I have to set out a few hours early to make it to the airport. I haven’t noticed too many news items about flight cancellations but another bout of snow and ice could make trains and buses a trial. To be sure I want a decent amount of cover for cancellations.
Travel Plan Online has the largest provision for cancellations of the four with £5000. The first leg of our trip London to LA and I don’t think that a replacement flight would cost more that £2000. If you are planning on travelling business or first class you would need to have a higher cover amount for cancellations. For my purposes £2000 is just fine as my flights for the whole trip didn’t cost that much!
So looking at the competition so far the policies are level pegging, price aside.
BAGGAGE
It is difficult making a figure for the value of your suitcase contents…especially when I haven’t packed yet! Having written a list of what I will pack I think that if I lost all of my clothes, toiletries, camera, laptop and other gadgets I would be looking at over a £1000 to replace everything. The policies under investigation cover between £1000 and £2000 for baggage. So at the baggage hurdle Travel Plan Online has tripped up and fallen out of the race!
As Travel Plan Online didn’t provide a high enough value on baggage I am casting them aside. Interestingly enough Travel Plan Online had the highest excess £25 -£50 more than their competitors. If a customer have to make a claim for contents over £1000 the maximum pay out would amount to only £900!
Something to keep in mind for later is whether the survivors provide cover as new for old or 2nd hand value.
EXCESS
So the competition is down 3 insurers now with excesses ranging between £50 and £75. At this early stage I’m not swayed towards any one company so I’ll consider excess later in the piece if the running is close between contenders.
JUDGEMENT SO FAR
Here is my competition table after looking at the basic offers from comparison tables.
TRAVEL INSURER Premium Medical Cancellation Baggage Excess
Travel Insurance Genie £57.20 £10 Mill £2K £1.5K £65
Swift Cover £62.19 £10 Mill £2K £2K £75
Direct Travel Insurance £72 £10 Mill £3K £1.5K £50
I’ve considered price and checked if my basic requirements for travel insurance would be covered.
Travel Plan Online has been crossed out of the competition as in hindsight they would not be able to cover the whole value of my baggage.
If I had to pick a winner at this point it would be Travel Insurance Genie. Based on the bare facts their price is good, they offer a decent amount of medical cover, pretty good cancellation and baggage cover amounts too with a competitive excess at £65.
Next I want to do some research into the service and history of these companies and see if I can dig up any dirt on their performance! Stay tuned for more on my adventures shopping for travel insurance.
Archive for March, 2010
Pack Your Bags! Get Some Travel Insurance With Me
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010Options in Selecting the Right Life Insurance
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010The city supplies applicable companies numerous types of life insurance policies for employees receiving an income, not limited to accidental death or dismemberment coverage, basic life insurance, and commuter and motorist life insurance. These programs are entirely funded by the City of Mesa, Arizona. Supplemental life insurance is also offered at a premium cost that the employee is responsible for funding.
Basic Life Insurance
Basic life insurance is provided by standard life insurance to full-time employees at no cost. The benefit is equivalent to the employee’s yearly salary rounded up to the next $1,000. When hired, the employee is asked to designate a beneficiary for the policy. It is highly recommended to verify the beneficiary every few years, particularly if a major life event occurs, such as marriage, divorce, or the birth or death of family members.
Accidental Death or Dismemberment
Similar to the basic life insurance policy, this kind of coverage is granted through standard life insurance to full-time employees. It is entirely funded by the city. The benefit is also equivalent to the employee’s yearly salary rounded up to the next $1,000. The beneficiary for this policy is the same individual that that is designated for the Basic Life Insurance described above.
Commuter Life Insurance
Provided through CIGNA Life Insurance, this type of policy provides a $200,000 death benefit to a beneficiary if the holder of the policy is killed as a result of an accident that happens during the commute to or from work using the normal route. This kind of policy does not cover travel by aircraft, however. If an employee travels by air on a regular basis for work, they may want to look into specialized life insurance that covers travel by air. The beneficiary for this policy is the same individual that is designated for the Basic Life Insurance described above.
Supplemental Life Insurance
Supplemental, also knows as voluntary, Life Insurance offers the opportunity to enroll in added life insurance coverage for the policy holder, their spouse, and/or any dependent children. Coverage for the policy holder and their spouse is available in $10,000 increments up to the total sum of the amount of life insurance that the City supplies in addition to what the employee obtains for supplemental life, but cannot exceed a total of $300,000. As an example, if an employee makes $30,000 annually, the City will provide a $30,000 policy at zero cost to the employee. If the employee chooses to then purchase $100,000 in supplemental or voluntary life insurance, the employee’s spouse can procure up to $130,000 ($30,000 granted by the City in addition to the $100,000 supplemental/voluntary purchased by the employee). Premiums for this type of coverage are the policy holder’s responsibility and will be withheld by payroll. The City does not monetarily contribute to this coverage.
To add or increase coverage and for more company life insurance basics the employee will need to complete an application form, which can be found at http://www.mesachip.org (click on “Benefit Forms”). If the employee does not wish to make any changes at this time, they do not need to re-enroll.
If previous enrollment in Supplemental Life Insurance has not already been completed, or if an employee wishes to increase coverage for them self or their spouse, they are forewarned that their application will be subject to underwriting and authorization by the carrier administering the plan.
This coverage may be transferable should the employee terminate employment with and/or retire from the City of Mesa. However, the coverage must be active at the time employment ends. If the employee does not meet the eligibility requirements to transfer coverage, the employee may choose to convert their policy instead. Please refer to the Life Insurance Certificate of Coverage.
the Finest Holiday Cards Ever!
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010We make cards fun and easy to search for online. Surely you recall trying to locate that perfect card on the chain store’s endcap. Some are too silly, others are too bland; sometimes you want one that doesn’t play a tinny song. Making cards yourself is the option many take up, but in this rushing, busy world, such a thing is rarely viable. That’s why InvitationBox makes it easy to browse thousands of cards with just a few clicks. You can find exactly what you need with no hassle. Even your kids could do it!
Holiday Invitations of the highest caliber are right around the corner. Don’t settle for a card that ‘mostly works’. People notice details, and they’ll notice the care you’ve put into picking out a card for your event. Whether it’s a birthday or a baptism, a nice invitation can make up your would-be or will-be guest’s mind whether they know it or not. Invitations are classy advertising–don’t forget that, and don’t settle for anything but the finest invitations for your events! Let your family know you care with a properly classy invitation that shows thought, care and social prowess. Send only the best Holiday Invitations and get the best turnout! The best Party Invitations get the best parties going! Social lives may not be quite so aristocratic and complicated as they once were, but the landscape of the culture is changing, slowly but surely, bit by bit. In the age of digital communications and instant messages, written words are growing fewer and far between, especially for purposes such as invitations. With that said, a written invitation is more and more likely to stand out as unique, with each passing day. Whether your stationary stands out as good or bad becomes the decision you make with what stationary you select. Choose nothing but the best!