Am I covered?
The aim of the game is to do as much as you can to keep yourself safe. Having your medical bills paid is little consolation if you are stuck in a foreign hospital or have to cut your trip short.
Here are some general rules:
1. Pretend for a moment that you don't have any travel insurance.
How would you behave? Act as though you are uninsured! This mind-set is a good way not to ever have use of our excellent services.
Keep your belongings safe, and if they really mean a lot to you, don't ever let them get out of reach.
2. Accidents happen: stupidity doesn't
Say, you meet a 'friend', agree to engage in sexual activity and as a result wake up in the morning with no bag, passport and a headache, are you covered? It depends. MAYBE, you are covered for unprovoked assault by a third party, and you would probably be covered for replacement of your personal belongings, but NO, we wouldn't cover you if the "liaison" was illegal under local sex-tourism laws.
3. Is it safe to go there?
While we cover travel for most countries of the world, unfortunately the small print of travel insurance inevitably contains exclusions. The major one is if you go somewhere and you know it's not safe or your government's travel advisory advises you shouldn't go there. Bottom line: if you put yourself at risk or you place yourself in the crossfire, then you are unlikely to be covered.
4. Feeling adventurous and being adventurous are two different things
The adventure sports and activities we cover depends on your country of permanent residence and your particular level of insanity (and more importantly, skill).
If you are wildlife-watching in the extremes of Alaska and are attacked by a polar bear, are you covered? It depends. You see, if the bear attacks you while you were watching them as a part of a wildlife safari or trekking, then YES we would cover you (assuming the bear didn't catch you of course), but if you were chasing the bear having had a beer too many the night before and you thought it would be a laugh... err... then NO, we wouldn't.
If you are skiing and you're caught in an avalanche, are you covered? It depends. For example, if you leap out of a hovering helicopter while trying to pretend that you're in a Hollywood action movie, then NO, you aren't covered.
Got the message? If you are unsure about anything, ask us and we'd rather clear up a grey area before you have a claim
What we don't cover
A good rule of thumb is to remember that insurance is there for things that might go wrong and will not cover extreme risks such as:
- Medical conditions that exist before you travel
You can still take out the insurance for other benefits but you should be aware that costs of treatments that you knew were likely or possible before you travel won't be covered.
- Deliberately put your life in danger
Trekking across the arctic in a t-shirt is not conducive to picking up your pension
- Involve alcohol or drugs
Apart from the risks that you take while off your face in a place that you aren't familiar with, you probably won't get your claim paid.
- HIV or STD's
We know this is a little weird but if you contract STD's or HIV while you are away, these aren't covered. We are working with our insurance partners to review these exclusions.
Policy exclusions
All travel insurance policies have specific exclusions so it's common-sense to take the time to read the policy wording carefully.
Policy wording varies depending on which country you are from.
