Choosing a travel insurance policy that will give you the peace of mind, is arguably the least fun part of holiday travel planning.
But it is a matter not to be taken lightly, with accidents happening at a worrying frequency around the world lately.
To help consumers in their choice, the Consumer Council has conducted a survey of 33 travel insurance plans offered by 14 insurers.
The first and foremost consideration is to choose a travel insurance that will provide sufficient coverage for your individual needs paying particular attention to such items as Medical Expenses, Worldwide Emergency assistance Services and Personal Accident.
Equally important are the inevitable exclusions found in an insurance policy that consumers often fail to pay notice. Highlights of the survey based on the 33 travel insurance plans include:
Insurance premium - for an individual traveling abroad for seven days, it ranged from $80 to $330. In general, the level of fee reflects a trade-off between coverage and premium.
Medical expenses - the maximum benefits could vary fivefold from $200,000 to $1 million, covering medical and treatment expenses reasonably incurred by the insured in Hong Kong within three to six months after return from abroad.
Emergency medical evacuation - the maximum benefits ranged from $600,000 to $2 million with some claiming to be "unlimited" or "actual cost" payment.
The decision for emergency medical evacuation shall be made entirely by the responsible emergency service providers on grounds that it is judged medically appropriate to move the insured to another location for medical treatment or to return to Hong Kong. This includes the means of transportation (air or surface ambulance, regular air transportation or railroad) and the final destination.
Hospital deposit guarantee - 29 of the 33 plans surveyed undertook to provide deposit guarantee (from HK$10,000 to US$6,500) for hospital admission in the event the insured is without means of payment. Generally, the insured or his personal representative is required to provide a valid credit guarantee or repay any sum advanced within 30 to 45 days.
Personal accident - the maximum benefits were from $250,000 to $2 million. Some claimed benefit of double or 1.5 times is payable to the insured who is injured while riding as a fare paying passenger in any common carrier e.g. bus, train, taxi.
But there are age limits to the amount of maximum benefits an insured will receive. For instance, depending on some policies, an insured aged under 16 to 19 or an elderly of over 65 to 75 will be paid only a proportion of the listed maximum benefits - limited to 12.5% to 50% for medical expenses, and 5% to 50% for personal accident.
High-risk activities - those who intend to participate in such activities as water or winter sports, should examine the list of activities to be covered, or excluded. Some insurance plans would limit the maximum benefits from 20% to 100%.
For full details of the survey, consumers are urged to consult the report in this June issue of CHOICE.
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