Insurance and the traveller

Press, 1 April 1980, Page 18

Insurance and the traveller

Protected at home from cradle to grave by the Welfare State, New Zealanders frequently fail to recognise the need for adequate insurance when travelling overseas. Anyone who ventures beyond our protective cocoon of free hospitals . and medical care without a comprehensive policy will undoubtedly . be faced with astronomical costs in 7 the event of an accident or illness. Last month, for instance, a young Christchurch man broke a leg while on holiday, in Australia. Hospital and doctors’ fees cost him. almost $1000: fortunately he was insured. Not so lucky was the superannuitant who, after suffering a massive coronary at ' the start of a trip through Canada, required five weeks of intensive care in a Vancouver hospital and who verged on a relapse when told the bill was $14,000. He was insured for only $5OOO. In North America even a simple appendectomy requiring only three or four days in hospital can set a patient back as much as $3OOO. Fortunately travel agents have at their fingertips several first-class insurance packages offering world-wide medical and other protection for as little as $2O for 15 days. That, of course, is only the minimal cover available and provides $3OOO medical and other related expenses, $lO,OOO for personal accident, $lOOO for loss of luggage, $5OO for loss of cash, and $lO,OOO for personal liability. However, for a premium that is only slightly higher at $25, the cover is increased to $lO,OOO, $25,000, and $2OOO respectively. (The loss of cash and the personal liability amounts remain the same). This provides a far more realistic protection for travellers destined in particular for countries such as the' United States, Canada, and Japan.- ' Personally, I never leave New Zealand without the maximum’ cover available —•

By

LES BLOXHAM,

$20,000 for medical and other expenses, $50,000 for accident, and $2500 for loss of luggage, plus the standard $5OO for loss of money and $lOO,OOO personal liability. That premium for 15 days is $4O which, incidentally, I more than recovered once in a claim for laundry lost forever by a Bombay hotel. Sometimes insurance can help ease the pain of tragedy in a foreign land. A Christchurch widow whose husband died accidentally in * Mexico several months ago was able to rely on their policy to meet the $4OOO for medical expenses and the cost of flying his body back home. Under the personal accident clause of most travel insurance policies, a percentage of the death benefit is payable in the event of temporary total disablement for a maximum of 52 weeks up to a maximum of $2OO a week. Commercial Union Assurance, the most prominent travel insurance firm in New Zealand/also provides an allowance of $5O a day (up to maximum of $750) if an airline strike or , even a hijacking forces a traveller to stay in a hotel longer than originally planned. Old age does not necessarily prevent a traveller from being covered, but in most cases the premiums are higher. Persons over 80 are required to pay double the amount and produce a doctor’s certificate of fitness to travel. Those in the 75 to 79 age bracket have to pay an additional 50 per cent of the ordinary premium. Medical and other expenses are limited to a maximum of $lO,OOO for persons 70 years of age and over. But children under 16 accompanied by adults are included without extra charge.

Travellers can also obtain protection against the loss of deposits on ground

travel editor of “The Press”

arrangements and accommodation, and the imposition of penalty charges by airlines when trips are cancelled. This usually involves a premium of $5 or 3 per cent of the cancellation fee, whichever is the greater. But read the small print carefully: these policies are not comprehensive and are valid only where a cancellation arises from “any fortuitous cause outside the control of the insured person . . .” This can include the death, illness ,or injury of the traveller, a

travelling companion, a member of the immediate family, or a close business associate, but does hot cover suicide, pregnancy, financial circumstances, or “a disinclination to travel.” However, a person who is required to serve on a jury or give evidence as a witness in a court case would be covered; but someone destined to appear in the dock would not. A well-considered travel insurance policy is as vital as a passport and travellers’ cheques when going overseas. Never fail to seek your travel agent's expert guidance in determining the cover best suited for your particular journey.