Travel Insurance: Travel Insurance - Reasons They Will Not Pay

When travelling abroad we have been told that we need to have travel insurance to cover us if anything goes wrong whilst we are away, but just purchasing a policy does not mean that you will be covered and get a payout from the insurance company for your claim as you may have fallen foul of one of the common insurance pitfalls.

Here you will find some of the most likely reasons that the insurer may use to say no to your claim. Most of the reasons are buried in the small print of the policy wording, it is worth reading all of the policy wording before you purchase the policy instead of finding that you are not covered as you have done something which you are not covered for, forewarned is forearmed.

Activity exclusion

There is a long paragraph buried in the policy wording listing all of the activities that you are not covered to do, as the insure classes them as to high a risk. Some of the activities that are excluded from cover are obvious such as skydiving and are not likely to affect most travellers. However some of the activities listed are not so, they are common activities which the younger travellers enjoy doing whilst they are away such as bungee jumping, white water rafting and some types of mountain trekking.

If you are planning to do a number or a specific activity whilst you are away it is a good idea for you to check if the policy you are planning on buying will cover you for all of the activities which you are planning to do.

Drinking whilst on holiday

When you go away on holiday you tend to relax and possibly you drink a bit more than you would if you were at home. This could mean that if you have an accident after having a drink you could be not covered as most policies have a standard exclusion for any incident, which has a connection to alcohol.

Leaving items unattended

When you travel your insurance provider expects you to exercise reasonable care for the safety of your property. So if you have not kept an eye on or have it locked in a secure place like the hotel safe, it is unlikely the insurance company will cover the item if it is stolen.

One of the most common examples of this is, while you are on a skiing holiday and you stop to have lunch in a restaurant and your skis are stolen whilst you are inside eating your insurance provide may contest their replacement.

Non-disclosure of a pre-existing medical condition

This is a common problem especially with the older traveller as they do not think of something they have is a medical condition. The insurer expects for you to inform them of all of your medical conditions no matter how minor you believe it to be.

If you have to make a claim for medical treatment whilst you are away and it is found that you have not declared a pre-existing medical condition, even it does not relate in any way to the medical problem, which you are receiving treatment for. Your insurer could you the non-disclosure of an existing medical problem as grounds to reject your claim.

Less than the excess

Most people understand that a policy will have an excess on it unless they have purchased an excess waiver they tend to believe it is applied to the whole policy and they only have to pay it once no matter what they are claiming for. The excess on the policy varies from insurer to insurer but more often than not it is around the ?50 mark, and it can apply to multiple sections of the policies and multiple diagnosis.

For example, whilst you are away you receive treatment for gastroenteritis you will have to pay the excess of ?50, and then later you fall and break your arm you will also have to pay the excess again as it different diagnosis, which you are receiving treatment for.

Not checking in

When the holiday maker finds out that they are unable to travel due to no fault of their own due to reason beyond their control, such as strikes, severe weather at home or at their destination, they may assume that their insurance will cover them straight out and they do not need to go and check-in as they will not be able to travel, but most travel insurance policies have made it a requirement that you have checked in before you are able to claim under the travel delay section of the policy.

Lack of evidence

This is a major one that the insurers can turn your claim down for. They expect you to have gathered all of the supporting evidence in relation to the claim and provide it to them for assessment. So for example, if you have had something stolen whilst you were travelling the insurer expects to get a copy of the policy report and any receipts for any of the associated costs that you have incurred in relation to the theft.

Source: http://dangerousdans-chromstaehlernemythen.blogspot.com/2012/03/travel-insurance-reasons-they-will-not.html

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