Ready to travel? Make sure you’re covered for the risks involved before heading out the door

Ready to travel? Make sure you’re covered for the risks involved before heading out the door

The end of the year typically sees an increase in domestic and international travel, with many South Africans using the school holidays and the festive period to discover and explore new destinations. This year, we could see international travel move closer to pre-pandemic levels once again. Because, after several years of travel plans being severely curtailed by pandemic-related restrictions, many are now choosing to dust off their travelling shoes and venture abroad again.

When the travel bug bites, whether you are travelling locally or internationally, it may be easy to forget that travelling comes with its fair share of unforeseen eventualities that may prove costly if you’re not adequately prepared. For this reason, South Africans should make sure that they have travel insurance on their checklist of necessities before venturing overseas or exploring locally.

Travel insurance aims to help clients mitigate the risks that surround travelling, some of which include loss or theft of luggage, flight or trip cancellations, medical costs, death and disability, and personal liability.

Travel insurance policies need to be taken out before embarking on a journey and can be arranged up to 12 months prior to the trip. The pandemic has highlighted the importance of travel insurance and there are some important aspects that travellers should be aware of, as cover is not available in all cases. While some banks provide complimentary travel cover when airline tickets are bought using a credit card, these policies usually only cover a specific scope of travel expenses focusing mainly on limited medical cover and not catering for incidences like baggage loss or cancellation costs. It is therefore recommended that travellers take out additional cover as a ‘top-up’ to cover other eventualities and in particular sufficient medical cover.

A comprehensive travel insurance policy will even cover the cost of airlifting should the individual need to be transported by helicopter to the nearest hospital. The latter form of cover is particularly important in instances where travellers are embarking on trips to outlying areas or regions that are difficult to reach via vehicle – for example, hiking or ski trips as well as island visits and sea voyages.

Generally speaking, however, there are a few standard exclusions that clients need to be aware of, such as costs incurred due to a trip being cancelled because of a Covid-19 outbreak. Furthermore, pregnant women are not covered from the first day of the 26th week of pregnancy, in which case medical professionals may advise against travelling altogether, depending on the health of the individual. Medical claims as a result of pre-existing illnesses of a vascular, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular nature are excluded for travellers aged 70 and over.

The premium will be influenced by a number of factors including whether the travel period exceeds 32 days and whether the destination is local or international. The underwriter will also take into account whether the trip is being taken for leisure or business purposes. In the case of travelling for both purposes, an appropriate ratio will be determined, which will have a bearing on the cost of the premium.

The individual’s health, and whether they have any chronic conditions, will also be taken into account. Although itinerary activities such as swimming and hiking will be included as a standard component of the policy, if an individual is travelling to take part in a competition or extreme sport event such as the Olympics or the Tour de France, this too will affect the price of the premium.

The exclusions as well as the conditions of each policy will vary greatly from case to case. For this reason, it is important for travellers to talk to their advisers ahead of time and discuss aspects like their itinerary, whether family members are accompanying them, and any illnesses that need to be taken into account.