Travel Insurance

Introduction...

As a Brit I certainly take our beloved NHS service for granted and I'm sure many fellow Brits reading this will do too. In fact, in my lifetime alone I've certainly had several G.P. visits, specialist visits and a few operations, one of which was an emergency by nature. Now if you multiply that by everyone ever entitled to the NHS and ask the question: How much did it cost? Then your answer is obviously Free, Zilch, Nada, Nil. -- Hooray for the NHS!

If you were to hop over the pond, however, you'd quickly see that citizens of the United States aren't as fortunate in this regard and thus it is necessary for trainees to insure their health. Cadets travelling to New Zealand are not exempt from health insurance but as a U.S. aligned cadet it would only be appropriate for me to comment on cover for the United States. If you have an enquiry about cover for New Zealand then I'd advise you contact a specialist insurer, such as the one mentioned below.

Did I shop around?

In truth, no. Why, I hear you ask? Well, quite simply the whole concept of health insurance is so alien to me that I'd much rather leave the finding of policies down to the experts - the insurance broker. Yes.. yes.. I appreciate that there is stigma around insurance companies in the sense that they're always out to con you, but on this occasion my preferred insurer have been nothing but brilliant.

During our conversation the broker even highlighted that most generic policies won't include cover for the purposes of flight training. So, having worked in the insurance industry before i can't stress enough to you how important reading the policy documents is! The last thing you want is to have an aviation related injury for your insurer to then say: "Sorry.. it's in the small print", especially when something such as an X-Ray in the U.S. could cost in excess of $500 alone!

Which insurer did I use?

I returned to Paul Jones (now known as Finch Commercial), providers of my Life Insurance & Loss of Training Expenses (Medical) Insurance.

How much did it cost?

The insurance policy cost £312.08 for eight months of cover. Unlike the loss of training expenses and life insurance policies, this one had to be paid in full which is certainly something to bare in mind when budgeting your costs. This was inclusive of insurance taxes and even provided the £6,000 personal effects cover as mentioned below.

What am I covered for?

The insurance policy provided covers me for the below bullet points. Monetary values are correct at the time of this post and will vary with time.

• £10,000,000 Medical & Emergency Expenses
• £2,500 Flight/Trip Cancellation & Curtailment
• £2,500 Flight/Trip Delay Cover
• £50,000 Personal Accident Cover* covering
  • Death
  • Eye Sight
  • Limbs
  • Disablement
  • Hearing
• £6,000 Baggage & Personal Effects (Like-For-Like)
• £1,000 Money Loss
• £5,000,000 Personal Liability 
• £2,700 Additional Expenses

*Pay out amounts for Personal Accident Cover are supplementary to other insurance policies. Thus death would be covered by both your Life Insurance and Travel Insurance policies, with the loss of your eyesight or limb etc being covered by your loss of training expenses (medical) insurance.

Are there exclusions?

Yes, you may not undertake winter sports although this can added if you so wish for an additional premium. 

What are the excesses payable?

The excess are quite reasonable as follows and are per claim:

• £35 Travel Insurance Excess
• £50 Baggage & Personal Effects