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Things You Should Know About Making a Claim

July 26, 2011 By Leave a Comment
This original post was written for Go! Overseas.com and can be found here. You will find excerpts below.
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What you need to know:
  • Travel insurance can give you peace of mind while volunteering abroad
  • If something goes wrong it’s very important to keep any and all receipts and expense reports

THE BASICS:

If you have a problem:
1. Call Travel Guard as soon as possible. The international collect number is provided on the back of the Volunteer Card. Travel Guard will provide personal, situation-based assistance and help you through the claims process.
2. Keep all receipts and documentation.

TRIP DELAY
Experienced travelers know that delays happen much more than we’d like. Most travel insurance plans provide coverage if you are delayed for a certain amount of time – with Volunteer Card, your delay must cause you to arrive 12 or more hours late. You should plan to travel with a credit card to cover your extra expenses up front. The most important thing is to keep your receipts. You can only be reimbursed for proven purchases related to your delay.

What you need to know:
Notify Travel Guard as soon as you discover your trip will be delayed more than 12 hours.

LOST OR STOLEN BAGGAGE

Checking baggage is always a risk, but it’s easier knowing you’ve got some coverage. Before you leave, consider taking a photo inventory of the contents of your bag—this saves you a lot of headache later trying to remember everything you lost. Use TSA-approved locks and keep your most valuable possessions with you. Volunteer Card insurance will pay up to $2500 for baggage and personal effects loss.

What you need to know:
1. Notify Travel Guard as soon as possible.
2. Take immediate steps to protect and recover the property.
3. Give immediate notice to the carrier who may be liable.
4. Notify the police or authorities in the case of theft within 24 hours.
5. You will be asked for proof of loss – this includes police reports or documentation from the responsible party – that must be filed within 90 days.

PASSPORT REPLACEMENT
The last thing you want to lose while traveling is a passport, but it does happen. First of all, try not to panic. Volunteer Card insurance will pay up to $500 for passport replacement costs. You can call the 24/7 assistance hotline and speak to a person who will help you find the nearest embassy or police station.

What you need to know:
Make sure the loss, theft, or damage to your passport is documented by a police report.

MEDICAL EXPENSE
Of course we hope that you never have to experience a serious accident or sickness while volunteering abroad. But if you do find yourself in that situation, you’ll receive help on locating the nearest, safest hospital, and be sent a cash advance if needed. If you receive care for an injury or sickness that occurs while on your trip, follow-up treatment can be covered for up to one year. Physician services, hospital charges, X-rays, and local ambulance services are all covered up to $100,000 for both sickness and accident.

What you need to know:
You must provide Travel Guard with all medical bills and reports for medical expenses claimed and a signed patient authorization to release medical information.

EMERGENCY EVACUATION
Worst case scenario: you need a med-evac. With a Volunteer Card, if you suffer an injury or sickness while on your trip that requires emergency evacuation, expenses can be covered up to $500,000. Note that your attending physician must order this emergency evacuation. All transportation arrangements made for evacuation must be by the most direct and economical route possible.

What you need to know:
You or your traveling companion can contact Travel Guard to help arrange the emergency evacuation.

Filed Under: About Volunteer Card, Travel insurance Tagged With: , ,

10 Tips to Minimize the Risk of Losing Your Luggage

May 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Our friends at Travel Insurance Direct posted a fantastic article with 10 tips to minimize the risk of losing your luggage. We thought it was so helpful that we’d re-post it.

  1. Tags – Ensure all items have clear, sturdy luggage tags that won’t tear off. Record your phone numbers for both home and destination. Some travellers prefer to list their office address to avoid suggesting their home is vacant.
  2. Itinerary – Place your contact details and itinerary inside your luggage, so you can still be located if external tags are lost and your luggage is opened for inspection.
  3. Lock up – Locks and straps provide a deterrent to theft, but remember some destinations like the US only allow TSA-approved locks that can be opened by customs inspectors.
  4. Stand out – A brightly coloured bag, luggage tag or strap reduces the risk of your luggage being mistakenly claimed by another passenger on arrival.
  5. Timing – Arrive at the airport with plenty of time for check-in. A last-minute check-in or tight connection increases the chance of your bags missing the flight.
  6. At check-in – Ensure all old destination stickers have been removed from your luggage and that staff affix the correct destination stickers at check-in. Be sure to keep your portion of the luggage sticker provided at check-in (usually affixed to your boarding pass).
  7. Connections – Don’t book tight connections. Ask at check-in whether your luggage is checked through to your final destination or whether you’ll need to collect your luggage and re-check while in transit at another airport (especially if you booked flight sectors separately).
  8. Carry on – For short journeys, consider travelling with carry-on luggage only. This is especially worthwhile with airlines that charge for checked luggage. Even if you check in your main bags, place valuables and a few essentials items of clothing in your hand luggage, just in case.
  9. Pick-up – Ignore other distractions at the airport and go straight to the luggage carousel once you’ve arrived and cleared customs, keeping a close eye on bags as they emerge. Keep bags close to you and never leave them unattended.
  10. Travel insurance – Always have adequate travel insurance, even if travelling for short periods or domestically. Insurance covers not only loss and theft, but can also provide a clothing allowance if luggage is delayed. Keep receipts for your possessions where possible or consider making a photographic record of luggage contents, in case you need to make a claim.
Filed Under: Tips, Travel insurance Tagged With: , , , ,

Understanding Your Travel Insurance Coverage: Frequently Used Terms

March 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment

So you’ve purchased your travel insurance for an upcoming trip, but as you look over the description of coverage, your mind is spinning and your eyes are crossing. You raise your hands to the heavens and let out a yell:

What does it all mean?!

We deal with insurance all the time at Volunteer Card and even we get headaches from reading descriptions of coverage. Insurance companies don’t like speaking in Layman’s terms. Let us be your interpreter.

Before we get into the description itself, we’ll start by defining some frequently used terms.

*Note: “You” or “your” refers to the individual who has purchased the insurance coverage.

Business Partner – A person involved with you in a legal partnership and active day-to-day management of the business.

Children/Child – Your unmarried, legally dependent children under age 25.

Coverage Effective Date – Your coverage will begin at 12:01 a.m. on the scheduled departure date or the date and time you start a trip.

Coverage Termination Date – Your coverage ends on the scheduled return date for a trip or your arrival at your return destination.

Domestic Partner – Your opposite or same-sex partner who is over 18, lives with you, and shares your financial assets.

Eligible Persons - Any individual taking a trip for the purpose of volunteer organization projects or non-profit organization projects.

Emergency Evacuation - Emergency evacuation expenses incurred if you suffer an injury or sickness while on a trip that requires your immediate transportation to the nearest, safest medical facility or to your home.

Individual Coverage Term – The period of time between the beginning date of the insurance coverage and the ending date.

Injury/Injured – A bodily injury caused by an accident occurring while your coverage is in effect. The injury must be verified by a physician.

Insurance Effective Date – Your insurance will take effect as soon as you have provided proof of affiliation, paid for your card, and receive a verification email from Volunteer Card. (Note: You are not required to have received the card in the mail for your insurance to be effective.)

Insurance Termination Date – Your insurance will end 365 days from the insurance effective date.

Loss – Injury or damage you sustain as a result of an event covered in your insurance plan. .

Medical Expense Benefit - Medical expenses incurred within one year from the date of injury or sickness if your initial treatment was received during the trip.

Reasonable and Customary Charges – Expenses that are charged for treatment, supplies, or medical services medically necessary to treat your condition.

Repatriation of Remains - Transportation to return your body to city of burial if you die during the trip.

Sickness – An illness or disease diagnosed or treated by a physician.

Transportation – Any land, sea, or air vehicle required to transport you during an emergency evacuation.

Trip – A period of round-trip travel away from home to a destination more than 100 miles from your city of residence. (Basic Plan – trip does not exceed 60 days; Plus Plan – 90 days; Premium Plan – 180 days.)

Trip Delay – A trip delay of 12 or more hours caused by a carrier delay, a lost or stolen passport, quarantine, natural disaster, injury or sickness of yourself or traveling companion.

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Hopefully these definitions will help you navigate your description of coverage! Click the links below to see complete descriptions of coverage for all the Volunteer Card plans:

Volunteer Basic Plan
Volunteer Plus Plan
Volunteer Premium Plan

Keep your eyes opened for Understanding Your Travel Insurance Coverage part 2 to come.

Filed Under: About Volunteer Card, Travel insurance Tagged With: ,

More People Buying Travel Insurance

February 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Photo via Chris Hondros, Getty Images

Not long ago, travel insurance seemed like a luxury to many travelers. According to this recent article from the New York Times, more people bought travel insurance last year than ever before. And their purchases paid off.

The article points out all the crazy stuff that occurred over the last year to disrupt travel: earthquakes, floods, volcano ash, blizzards, ice storms, civil disturbances like the one in Egypt.

“2010 certainly raised people’s awareness of the value of travel insurance,” said Dean Sivley, chief executive of the travel insurance company Travel Guard. “Yes, more people are booking travel insurance. But yes, we also paid out more claims in 2010 than would be typical. Hopefully, we won’t have a lot more years like 2010.”

Hopefully not. But the good news for travelers is that paying a little money before you leave can save you a lot of money later.

Even in a quieter year, you simply cannot predict what kind of personal accidents, issues, or crises could occur, causing a swift change in travel plans.

Travel insurance for volunteering abroad is perhaps even more critical. Most volunteers strive to spend as little money as possible while exerting maximum impact. Volunteering abroad often requires more flexibility and tenacity than regular travel – you never quite know what to expect. Going without travel insurance is just silly.

Volunteer Card travel insurance is underwritten by Travel Guard, the premier travel insurance company in the U.S., and is designed specifically with volunteer travelers in mind.

Volunteer Card provides provides three different plans for individuals and families: the Basic plan (60 days of  multi-trip coverage), the Plus plan (90 days), and the Premium plan (180 days).

In addition to medical and accident insurance, Volunteer Card plans provide emergency medical transportation, repatriation of remains, travel delay and assistance, baggage delay, travel document assistance, and more.

Please click here for detailed information on insurance plans and complete descriptions of coverage.

Filed Under: Travel insurance Tagged With: ,