hope this isn't too late!
you MUST have travel insurance; the worst case is that you severely
injure yourself, need major medical care and an air ambulance home.
That will bankrupt you and/or your family if you are not insured. (much
cheaper to die!) The Aussie medicare arrangement only covers basic
emergency stuff such as ambulances and some hospital care.
there are lots of online travel insurers so do some internet research
on reliability,(a cheap policy is no good if no-one has ever managed to
claim) but we like insureandgo and direct travel. Countries visited do
indeed affect the cover, but the main one to avoid is America which
really bumps up the cost. Try not to buy from standard travel agents as
their cover is very expensive.
Extending and changing as you go also needs research; we got caught on
our first trip when we wanted to extend and had to buy a new policy for
the extra time at a much higher daily rate because it was a shorter
period. Adding extra activities doesn't make too much difference so I
really would stick on anything you feel likely to do; things like
yachting, scuba etc don't add much as long as you are
supervised/trained/within certain distance limits off shore. What they
don't like is motorised sports - and you also need to check they will
cover you when you are working.
also consider curtailment (what are you going to do if a relative dies
and you are needed at home?) and postponement/cancellation (you break a
leg the day before you leave) If you are under 35 policies are good
value, we are in our 40s and it is quite hard to get long term cover -
it's also difficult because we are constantly on the move and don't
spend much time in the UK. Make very sure you've read all the small
print and declared absolutely everything they might possibly need to
know. Check the single-article limit if you are taking any expensive
toys, and read the rules about leaving stuff unattended, not in safes,
in cars etc. None of this is generally onerous and even if you're
staying in hostels you should be able to meet the rules.
and finally (as if you would) please don't make false claims. They
*will* catch you and it bumps up the premiums for the rest of us.
this is a boring subject and it will take a bit of work, but in the
hopefully unlikely event that anything happens you'll be really glad
you made the effort.
have a brilliant and claim free trip!
Helen
bissatch@yahoo.co.uk wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Can anyone tell me a little about travel insurance. I plan to go to
> Australia at the end of the year on a Working Holiday Visa for up to 1
> year from here in the UK. I am guessing that I will be best also to get
> travel insurance.
>
> I am not 100% about the activities that I am doing over there, I take
> it that your will need to get additional cover for more extreme
> activities (rock climbing, bungee jumping, scuba diving etc). Is it
> possible to take out extra insurance on a one day basis (or something
> similar) when Im over there? That way I could just take out a basic
> cover and expand it if I choose to do something a little less ordinary.
>
> Also, I plan to possibly fit in thailand on my return. Does the
> countries you visit change the cost? How does this work?
>
> If someone could recommend a good provider and maybe a break down of
> the costs involved that would be great.
>
> Cheers
>
> Burnsy
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