When you’re buying something, booking something, or generally agreeing to something, how many of you actually read the small print? You know the drill, that box that says ‘I agree to the terms and conditions’, do you actually read it? Or do you simply tick it and think ‘it’ll be fine’? To be honest, I don’t think I know too many people who actually read those long-winded terms and conditions, but when it comes to booking insurance, it’s always worthwhile checking over the small print, especially when it comes to the limitations on which you can claim.

You don’t want to buy a policy, think you’re covered, have a problem, and then find out that you’re not covered at all, because you failed to read the small print. Scan it, skim read it, but at least make sure you give it some attention!

When you’re buying your travel insurance policy, which let’s face it, is something you should never, ever travel without, it’s imperative that you declare any medical problems you have now, or had in the past. Basically, answer all questions 100% honestly, and don’t miss anything out. You don’t have to tell them that you had a common cold in 1993, but you do need to tell them if you received treatment for a more serious medical condition, because it could have some bearing on your future health, and therefore a future claim.

It’s inevitable that the more medical issues you have, and even the older you are, means the higher the cost of your policy, but there are still some really great value policies out there, and it just takes a bit of searching to find them. Make sure it covers you for every eventuality, and again, be honest. If you need to make a claim for a medical problem and they find out that you weren’t 100% honest, or even that you accidentally missed something out, whether it was for that problem or not, then you could find that your policy isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on. Honesty is always the best policy in this case!

Another area where people can sometimes trip themselves up is the destination. Now, some insurance companies have very odd groupings when it comes to countries, so always make sure your actual destination is covered. You might think you’re going to Europe, but your company might not class your destination as being in Europe! I recently purchased a policy for a trip to Turkey that was called ‘Europe excluding Spain’ – now you might think that sounds odd, but different companies have different rules and different groupings, so never just assume.

Basically, there is always someone on the other end of the phone if you have any questions, and if you’re not sure of something, it’s always better to ask, no matter how silly you think it might be. If you need to make a claim and you weren’t sure of something, and instead just hazarded at a guess, well, that could be the difference between a pay out, and no pay out.

Don’t take the risk, insure your plans, and jet off!

Featured Courtesy of Don McCullough under cc license