Singapore - Having adequate tavel insurance is vital when overseas because a host of unforeseen situations can arise, such as flight delays or loss of your luggage. Also overseas medical expenses can be huge and should a serious injury arise during the trip, you then need not fret about hefty medical bills.
I remember recently on a flight from Sydney to Melbourne on Qantas, and my baggage was delayed for 12 hrs - fortunately I had travel insurance and it was reimbursed. But the trouble of waiting anxiously for the baggage to arrival after numerous promises by Qantas that it will be 2hrs, 3hrs and it will be arriving soon...
It is affordable to buy travel insurance in Singapore but travellers should shop around to find a policy that meets your need.
Checklist:
1. Don't wait until the last minue. Buy your travel insurance early, preferably right after booking the trip.
2. Buy what you need. It is important to ensure that the benefits of the plan are adequate to meet your needs, with better benefits offered at a higher permiums. If your insurance does not cover taking part in certain hazardous activities such as mountaineering, winter sports and underwater activities - get appropriate coverage.
3. Single trip or annual trip. If you travel alot, an annual trip policy may be the best value. Also, a single trip usually covers about 6 months or less, while any trip taken using an annual plan will not be covered if it exceeds about 3 months.
4. Note the definition of 'child'. Family policies cover your children as well, but the definition of children may differ across insurers.
5. Automatic extension of coverage. With the emergence of the H1N1 flu virus and recent spate of natural disasters, policy holders can get stuck overseas for much longer than intended owing to transport delays or from being quarantined. Therefore, it is desirable that a policyholder 's travel insurer is wlling to extend teh period of coverage automatically, in certain circumstances, without extra premiums.
6. Check what is not included. A cheap travel insurance policy may seem like a good bargain, but make sure you go through the policy details carefully to ensure that important coverage is not omitted.
7. Premium discount. If you are travelling in a group, you my want to consider consolidating the purchases to be entitled to some cost-savings.
8. Keep your receipts and paperwork. If you should have to file a claim, receipts and documentation will make the process much easier and more successful.
9. Familiarise yourself with the claims process. if you understand the process, it is very easy to file a travel insurance claim.
10. Emergency assistance phone number. It is common for travel insurance policies to include worldwide 24-hr emergency assistance providing various emergency services around the clock. Save the emergency assistance contact number and your policy number in your mobile phone so you do not have to scramble to look fro that insurance certificate in the event of an emergency.
I also wrote a similiar article - http://countrytravel.blogspot.com/2007/05/travel-health-insurance-dont-leave-home.html
Ref: The Sunday Times Dec, 6 2009
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