Will Your Travel Insurance Actually Cover You?

You’ve got some exciting things planned for you next vacation. You’re going ziplining, the kids are going bungee jumping, and you’re all looking forward to riding horses along the beach. Of course you’ve purchased travel insurance; you like to have fun but you aren’t one to take dumb risks. But those very activities you are trying to get protected might be the ones that invalidate your insurance.

Acts of “Craziness”

You may not realize that many plans will not cover “high risk” sports such as bungee jumping or scuba diving. Any claim that comes from an activity where you deliberately put yourself in the situation could very well be dismissed by the insurance agency. You will need to read the fine print on that one and, if you do plan on doing any of these more “high risk” adventures, see if your  insurance offers an optional add-on.

Pre-existing Conditions

Insurance companies are thorough. If you submit a claim they will delve into your medical history to determine when the condition initially occurred. Any previous diagnosis or instances can be written off as a pre-existing condition and your coverage will be denied. You may be healthy when you leave for the trip, but your history may come back to haunt you.

 A little too much fun

Vacations are a time to enjoy yourself. As such, you might partake in a few beverages. Now if anything were to happen to you while you were intoxicated, even if you are in no way at fault, your insurance agency may decline a claim. It could have been something completely out of your hands, like an equipment failure or fault of another party, but being under any sort of influence may invalidate your insurance.

Moral of the Story?

You need to read the fine print—or risk taking on the heavy costs of emergency services. You want to make sure your insurance can cover every possible angle, so that some of your more adventurous activities don’t end up ruining the vacation.