Picture this – after deciding on a trip abroad, brainstorming your options, and doing whatever is necessary, you are finally off to your vacation. A couple of days before your journey, an unexpected event happens in your family or office, making you think – if or not you can go on your trip! After discussing the issue with your family, you planned to reschedule your trip or change the dates.
Out-of-the-blue situations like the above often occur, and you should be prepared to deal with them like a pro. There must be some questions running at the back of your mind in this context. Right?
When you need to alter your travel plans, it is always a good idea to understand the procedure with your Travel Medical Insurance provider in the first place. Therefore, get in touch with your travel health insurance broker beforehand. They work with their clients to correct an error or make changes according to the latter’s needs and convenience.
Read on to learn more about the situations that make people change their travel plans and how you can update your travel medical insurance plan while ensuring that you are adequately covered.
What circumstances usually make travelers change their travel medical policy before flying?
Here is a list of some common reasons why people choose to make changes to their travel health or visitor insurance plan before departure and what needs to be done:
New travel dates: If you plan to change your departure or return date, it is crucial to inform your insurance broker from whom you have bought the policy. Change in the length of your trip – whether shorter or longer – is likely to impact the cost of your visitor’s insurance plan. And, you will always want to be covered when abroad.
Change in the extent of coverage: You suddenly decided that you want to increase or decrease your overall insurance protection amount. You can always do that up to the commencement of your policy. Discuss your options with your insurance broker to avoid hassles.
Change in the number of insured people in a given policy: Reputed insurance broking companies like Visitors Guru help you find and buy travel insurance plans for groups. If you want to add or remove someone from the list of people under your group Travel Medical Plan, you can do that with the help of the seamless assistance of your visitor insurance broker.
Want to cancel the trip: Sometimes, situations go out of control, and travelers are bound to postpone or cancel their trips. If you intend to cancel your vacation, you can do that with most reputed insurance companies. Also, you are likely to get a money-back policy guarantee in exchange for a minor processing fee.
Changes you can make before and after your travel medical coverage starts
Many travel medical insurance plans allow customers to make some changes at any time before the policy start date. These crucial changes may include the following:
- Alterations to the policy effective date
- Changes in the extent of travel medical insurance coverage
- Policy cancellation, along with a full refund
Furthermore, with some customer-centric insurance providers, you may also make changes after the policy has started already. These changes include the following:
- Extending the coverage of your Travel Health Insurance plan
- Changing your personal information
- Early policy cancellation for a cancellation charge
Ensure proper travel health insurance coverage beforehand!
Probably, you are aware that having all-encompassing travel medical insurance while traveling to a foreign country is vital. And most domestic health or travel insurance policies are unlikely to extend protection outside your native country. Therefore, while making changes to your travel health insurance plan, ensure you are adequately covered.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), traveling to a foreign country, especially the USA, without travel medical insurance can be expensive should you come across a medical emergency. Paying out-of-pocket abroad is not a wise thing to do, owing to the skyrocketing healthcare costs.
For example, if you need emergency medical evacuation services in the United States of America, it is more likely to cost you around $10,000 or even more.
If you are covered by a suitable travel medical insurance plan, your policy will pay on your behalf. Unfortunately, if you aren’t covered, you have to pay out of your pocket. You are wise enough to decide what is right for you.
Read and understand your travel medical insurance policy
Industry experts and reputable travel medical insurance brokers like Visitors Guru recommend reviewing your policy thoroughly to confirm your travel dates are correct. It ensures that you are under the protection of your visitor’s insurance from the start to the end date of your trip.
Just like checking the inclusions, it is crucial to check the medical exclusions in your travel medical insurance plan. Although policy offerings and exclusions may vary from one service provider to the other, there is a standard set of exclusions with most insurance providers.
Here is a list of some general policy exclusions. Take a look:
- Routine medical tests
- Pre-existing conditions
- Medical emergencies as a result of participating in extreme adventure sports
- Medical emergencies caused when under the influence of drugs or alcohol
Are you comfortable with your policy deductible?
Make sure to confirm your policy deductible before buying a travel medical insurance plan. In case you do not know what a deductible is, it is the sum of money you pay before your visitor insurance comes to your rescue during a medical emergency. If you think your deductible is not according to your preferences – either too low or too high, talk to your insurance broker and fix it before your journey starts.
The first thing first
As soon as you find something wrong in your policy or want to make changes to your travel medical health insurance plan, get in touch with your insurance broker. They will help you get through this easily.
To learn more about travel medical insurance and related aspects, visit www.visitorsguru.com right away!