Insurance forum

Thanks.

Im just a little over cautious when it comes to certain things :-) I can ride elephants and play with tigers..... but a mosquito sends me for the hills lol

Yes that's right -- you can get 5% off your insurance by entering "travelfish" in the coupon box on the WorldNomads site. For some legal reason, the discount isn't available for North American residents -- something about not being allowed to offer incentives to flog insurance... I'm not sure of the exact details. But for everyone else, enter "travelfish" and you get 5% off.

Are you being innoculated for malaria?

mark

I just noted down the policy number and contact details (haven't got a printer).

You can join world nomads any time and extend the policy when you're travelling if you like,which is handy if you are a bit vague when you'll be coming back like me.

However, a word of warning about extending.

I claimed for an ear infection once (too much snorkelling) and it didn't clear up so I had to go back to the doctor's the following week just after I'd extended the policy. They didn't reimburse the second doctor's visit as they considered it a "pre-existing condition".

It didn't break the bank having to pay for my treatment out of my pocket but it might have done if the "pre-existing condition" had been something more serious like a bad motorbike accident.

Interesting point SBE -- I'd have assumed you would have been covered second time around, so I took a look at the policy and it says (my bold) -- this is for their Australian coverage:

"An extension of cover is not provided for pre-existing medical conditions previously accepted by us in writing and/or for conditions you suffered during the term of your original policy or if you are over 66 years of age at the time of the extension or where we have not been advised of any circumstances that have or may give rise to a claim under your original policy."
http://www.worldnomads.com/policy_wording.aspx?pid=0fc20863f635401c96c8513eb163b77b

That being the case it seems that with regard to repeat treatments, an extension is really just a new policy that they allow to run from one to the other.

Thanks for the heads up -- as we (and WorldNomads) always say -- read the small print.

Bruce, you've frequently mentioned that you consider WorldNomads to be very expensive -- if you were to share with everyone who you ended up deciding to use it would be a bit more useful. Tks

Stuart

I've just bought a Covermore policy. I previously had a 1-Cover policy. The 1-Cover policy is more flexible, cheaper and preferable.

The reason for the change? My father-in-law is now 91 and we may have to rush back to Australia. The 1-Cover policy only allows payments where the familial relative is up to 84. Covermore has no age restrictions. The 1-Cover policy didn't appear to have trip time limitations as does Covermore. So, all-in-all, one has to make trade-offs.

Just to let you know the differences for a multitrip annual for 2 grey haired ppl (not including US, Japan or Canada):

1-Cover = A$499
Covermore = A$612 (with motorbike cover & trip length to 45 days as extra's)
World Nomads = A$1206

Cheers

Don't give them ideas Somtam!

I don't know about you, but my visa card provides medical cover for the first 90 days anyway.

Exclusions include sporting events, civil war and epidemics (eg swine flu) search and rescue and it doesn't cover non urgent conditions.

However it does offer the basics like medical repatriation, flight and living expenses for a relative to come and see you if you're stuck in hospital for over 10 days etc.

Interestingly, the wording (which is in French) doesn't seem to exclude "pre-existing medical conditions" in a blanket manner like World Nomads does. It only excludes events related to a pre-existing condition diagnosed and/or requiring hospital treatment within the last six months.

Also I'm just wondering if an extension on a house insurance/civil liability policy wouldn't be cheaper than buying separate travel insurance if you travel frequently or for long periods?

Stuart

Like you , I asked the xe'om question.

Each company that I contacted (typically) said the driver should be licensed.

I then said (words to effect of) "If I ask to see the driver's licence, and he shows me a document totally in Vietnamese hieroglyphics, and I haven't a clue what it says, how can I be covered for the 'license' bit".

In each case, I was told that as long as i asked to be shown the license, and I was shown what I perceived to be the license, then that would suffice. One adviser said that if there was any doubt, my Statutory Declaration that I asked and was shown would be sufficient that I took measures to ensure the driver was licensed.

That said, like you, I'm not sure I can totally trust insurance companies to be scrupulously honest. Sometimes one of their 'assessors' wakes up on the wrong side of the bed, and it becomes a bunfight for everyone concerned that day.

I take your point re: Nomads & year long policy. Nevertheless, when I was taking single trip policies, they were more expensive then.

Your point about apples & oranges is also correct. Some insurance companies offer several options. Covermore has three different levels of cover: at differing prices. Another company may offer only one style of option. Clearly, each company chooses to target particular market niche's. So, it always pays to check the fine print before rejecting one over another, or accepting one as cheap (it may be both cheap and nasty).

SBE

As for additions to house or car insurance... I've explored that here in Oz. I was annoyed that car insurance for a hire car within Oz was bloody expensive, and so sought answers. The companies all flatly refused to allow. Seems they enjoy the fat pickings on holiday car rental insurance. I also tried to get travel insurance as a 'package' to my other insurances to assist in premium reduction. Alas, no deal.

Cheers

Yeah - don't get me started on the fine print.

Can't answer your question, though I assume it is "same again" for another 6 months -- I can run it past WN on Monday and will let you know what they have to say.

/s

I can tell you what I paid to extend but I don't know if it would have been cheaper to take out a 5 or 6 month policy.

2008

Oct 4th-Dec 2 105 euros

Extended on December 1st until Jan 31st 89.25 euros (2 months)

Extended Jan 31st to March 13th 62.48 euros (6 weeks)

Extended March 12th to March 27th 22.02 euros (2 weeks)


I extended some more too that trip but that gives you an idea of the relative prices for different periods.

BUT


In spite of having uninterrupted cover (I always extended before the deadline) they refused to reimburse one claim in the middle of my trip.

This is their exact wording:

"Please note that the Otitis was diagnosed on the last day of one insurance period, thus the diagnosis is considered pre-existing and the follow-up visit on the 11th. February will not be covered. Insurance periods are regarded as separate insurances and the injury is therefore considered pre-existing when the new insurance takes effect."

When you extend you get a receipt for the extension it looks like you are extending the original policy... the policy number is exactly the same except for the last two digits and the start date and original purchase date are mentioned.

This is what my 3rd extension certificate looked like.

Extension number: WNXXXXXXXXXXX-04

Starts: October 4, 2007
Ends: March 27, 2008
Purchased on: October 3, 2007

Maybe you could run that past WN on Monday too Somtam. Why do they give you a certificate that makes it look like one continuous insurance when it isn't? Personally I think it's very misleading of them.

@SBE will run it by Nomads this week.
@Cranky Milo - LOL

I'm surprised to hear about the Tsunami victims not being covered. I see part of the policy info for WN says you aren't covered if you blatantly ignore travel warnings from your government and go someplace anyway. Presumably there'd be no such warning PRIOR to a natural disaster occurring.

Didn't see anything about not being insured in the event of an act of God, or something along those lines.

Unless the Tsunami hit, warnings were issued, then people went there anyway and were somehow affected and had to make a claim. Sounds fishy.

I'm mainly concerned about running up some huge medical bill or having my thousand dollar laptop stolen.

I'm sick of reading the fine print on policy documents. I've taken the plunge and gone with World Nomads. I really hope I don't end up with any nasty surprises like you did, SBE, but rest assured you'll hear alllll about it here if I do.

I'll make a point of posting any positive feedback I have too, so if you're listening Nomads, keep me happy~!

Also cheers for the discount Travelfish.

PS Don't know if anybody else gets this but whenever I got a quote from the site, changing the donation amount in the drop-down box would screw up the price total. Like $439.47 would become $439.47.47 - changing it again would just give some garbled junk like $NAL.479Q! Don't what kind of currency that is. I use Mozilla Firefox 3.6.8

@CrankyCarrot I passed both yours and SBE's questions to them on Monday. They said they were going to post a response... so guess it is on the way!

I was looking at World Nomads insurance for a 12 month trip, originating from UK. I can only assume World Nomads isn't intended to be competitive in the UK market.

In order to include SE Asia in your trip you now have to lump it into the bracket that also includes USA and Canada, even though all other insurance companies appear to include it in the 'excluding USA and Canada' policy which obviously makes World Nomads more expensive. So a basic policy for 12 months is then £424! More expensive than any other one I've looked at.

Then I noticed that Scuba diving does not apear to be included in the basic policy, you seem to have to add the level 3 sports policy just to get scuba diving included! This takes the policy price up to....£741.66!! Ouch! Outrageously expensive.

Needless to say I'll be looking elsewhere.

Yes thanks for getting back to us Yael, much appreciated.

My friends who were tsunami victims haven't replied to my email yet but they could well be away travelling at this time of year. Will re-post if I hear from them!

If you don't mind Yael, I have what is probably a very silly question but I'd like clarification.

Supposing someone has a motorbike accident the day before their policy expires and sustains fractures, head injuries etc that aren't serious enough to warrant immediate emergency repatriation but that do require lengthy or repeated hospital treatment and physiotherapy etc.

Would World Nomads only cover the medical fees for a mere 24 hours (until the policy contract period expires) leaving the policy holder with the bill for the rest of the treatment?


Steve81 raises another point I'd like to ask about. Why the disparity in the price of policies depending on where you live? I live in France and like him, when I try and get a quote, there is no opt out box to tick for the US and Canada.

I just got quotes from WN and World Escapade again for my next trip. World Escapade have the exact same underwriters and almost identical policy wording as World Nomads. However they DO give you the option of opting out of cover for the US and Canada and the DO give you the opportunity to get insurance for the exact number of days you require it (unlike World Nomads).

Here are the quotes I got (no discount codes, no donations)

World Nomads
7 months basic cover = 725 Euros.

World Escapade
Exact number of days, basic cover, excluding US and Canada = 273 Euros


Can you explain why should I opt for World Nomads rather than World Escapade?

Typing under the proviso it is Saturday morning and I'm yet to have a coffee, it seems very unusual to bunch SEA with the US and Canada etc for visitors from the UK (and France as SBE notes), certainly makes WorldNomads appear to be pretty uncompetitive on a price basis for those from those countries.

@SBE re the coverage for ongoing issues that arose in the original policy across into an "extended policy" WorldEscapades has the same policy as WorldNomads. I agree it's misleading to call this a policy extension -- seems like a new policy to me.

As have said before, we recommend World Nomads for a number of reasons, one of which is it is who we use whenever we travel. Luckily the cost of insurance for those travelling from Australia and certain other countries, hasn't risen so much, but I have to say I wouldn't pay 700+ quid for a travel insurance policy. Seems very expensive.

Anyway, I'm off to find caffeine, perhaps Nomads will chime in again.

Euro €1,263?!?! Wow!

Firstly, I never meant to cast aspersions on this wonderful site and my apologies if that is what came across I was simply stating my interest in WN originated here (how did you hear about us.. TravelFish..) but once I saw the prices I turned tail and ran, no reflection on Somtam or the site at all. Where I ran to was Flexicover Direct who insured my partner and I as a couple for a yr with a 90 day max trip and one pre declared condition for ... 130 of your English pounds!!!! i must admit I didn't pay close attention to the small print as to whats allowed and I don't dive. I'm british and live in Spain btw.

Following on from the above, I had a Q&A with Katrina Greeves who is the Product Marketing Manager at World Nomads, and ran some questions by her about what was the reasoning behind these changes in price.

My questions in bold. Hope you find it of use.

The following is also on the Travelfish blog

Hi Stuart,

Thanks for the chance to answer some of these tricky questions posed the Travelfish community. We really appreciate the feedback - your community's suggestions will help make our travel insurance better.

What has changed with how World Nomad's organises its country brackets?
The price for travel insurance always changes depending on your country of residence and where you are going. We've recently made some changes just for residents of the UK and Ireland, which has affected the price of our policies if you're going to S.E. Asia. For residents of the other 140+ countries we cover, our country brackets remain the same.

What brought about that change?
When lots of people from the UK and Ireland run into trouble in SE Asia and make a claim on their insurance, eventually, the pricing for everyone else is affected. Unfortunately, this is what has happened over the past 6 months with WorldNomads.com travel insurance, and that’s why S.E and Eastern Asia has been bundled into the same region as the USA, Canada, The Caribbean and Japan for the time being.

So, what you're saying is, the rates are going up because a lot of Brits claim on their travel insurance - but isn't that the whole point of having travel insurance?

Actually the main reason people should consider travel insurance is to provide help if they get sick or injured when travelling. Not everyone needs to make a claim, but the costs involved in helping those that do can be substantial. When you consider that it can cost up to $200 000+ for emergency medical expenses if you're seriously injured, the cost you've paid for your insurance is probably the last thing on your mind.

Let's be straight: In this case, our insurance underwriters for UK and Irish residents have been required to pay out claims in excess of premiums earned and so need to increase our pricing to cover those losses.

To explain, we work with multiple underwriters around the world who price risk (a.k.a travel insurance) differently. Our prices can change depending on a number of different factors:

a) the number of claims made from travellers in a particular region;

b) the amount that is paid out to help people when they get sick, injured or have their belongings stolen; and

c) the number of travellers going to a particular region, their age and how long they’re travelling.

Roughly what kind of increase in price for a traveller heading to SEA for three months does this equate to?
This is a tricky question to answer as there a lot of factors which change a travel insurance quote including: if you’ve bought a policy with World Nomads before, your country of residence, what adventure activities you'll do and if you need extra cover for your laptop or other high value items. For a single, UK traveller, going to S.E Asia for 3 months and who’s not a World Nomads member, the base premium price increased by £32.65.

Other rates, especially for French travellers, seem unusually high - is this for the same reason?
The short answer is yes, over the past 12 months we've had to increase our prices for European residents.

Some people in the Travelfish community have noticed that our product for European residents is similar to other insurance providers. While we can not comment on why their prices are different, how they service their customers or pay their claims, we aim to provide the best value product, 24/7 travel assistance when things go wrong, and useful travel advice to keep our customers travelling safely.

World Nomads have a great brand, closely associated with backpackers and independent travel and they're the first insurer many backpackers think of when they look for travel insurance. But the new rates make WorldNomads significantly more expensive than other insurance providers. What advice can you give to travellers who are trying to decide between WorldNomads and one of the other cheaper providers?

Yes, World Nomads travel insurance was built for independent and adventurous travellers. We don't promise to be the cheapest, yet we'll always add value where we can - like the flexibility to buy travel insurance and claim online (even while travelling), up-to-date travel safety advice, free language guides or offering travellers the chance to donate to community development projects through our Footprints program.

At WorldNomads.com, we’ll continue to choose insurers and emergency assistance partners that can support our customers globally, when they need it most. By all means, choose a travel insurance provider to suite your personal requirements. Whether it’s the price or the knowledge that you’re buying from a reputable company who’ll help you when things go wrong, just remember that insurance policies do differ and can change, and you should read the fine print to make sure you know what’s covered (and not). Our team is always ready to help answer your questions too - askus@worldnomads.com

Thanks Katrina for taking the time to answer the above.

*crickets

Oh well.

hi all,

after much procrastination, im currently undergoing the very time consuming task of sorting out travel insurance for a 12+ month plus trip to SEA. i've finally narrowed it down to either world nomads or covermore's 'travelsure' policy, but having trouble deciding which one to chose.

Before we get into the nitty gritty, something confused me with the world nomads pricing. Pricing provided by their website quotes 6, 12 and 18 month policies as $357, $604 and $1,312 respectively. based on my very limited (ok - non existent) knowledge on travel insurance pricing methodologies, i would have expected the 18 month policy to be around $950 (being approximately the $604 + $357). why is there such a dramatic increase between the 12 and 18 month policy?

Anyway, when comparing the two above mentioned policies side by side with the same excess, Covermore's 'travelsure' option provides significantly increased cover for less. (ie there is no limit on dental, increased cover for luggage and travel documents, and also cover for hikacking, disability, loss of income, accidental death etc which to the best of my knowledge world nomads does not offer). So is it simply that world nomads is overpriced for the level of cover provided, or are there other factors that im missing (such as superior service or an easier claim system) which permits them to charge the price they do (and still receive considerable praise from some members of this website)

cheers!

I don't, and my WN policy is up at the end of Feb, so I'd like to know too so I can consider my option.s

World Nomads does, but if you were with another company or had no insurance at all, you'd be out of luck. Unless there's a co. who allow you to take up insurance while you're already OS.

Mai pen rai!

There are two options now, DUinsure, or True Traveller, both let you insure if already abroad, neither have any residency requirements. TT is the one I'm using.