Top 10 Tips to Successfully Submit a Travel Insurance Claim

Travelling is refreshing if everything goes according to plan. However, even the smallest inconvenience when abroad can spoil your vacation royally. This is why we get travel insurance protection before we leave the comfort of our home to explore what’s out there. Although, at least one or two travel insurance claim denial news almost always makes it to the forefront every tenure, discouraging a lot of travelers to opt for it. Claim submission is an important step towards getting your due share and it needs to be done with utmost mindfulness since it involves some paperwork. Not having proper information of your benefits, submitting a claim for the wrong thing, not having supporting documents for a loss are just a few reasons for travel insurance claims to get denied. So, one may end up with a rejected or denied claim even when their loss is covered by their travel insurance plan. This article has a few tips and tricks that will help you file a successful travel insurance claim, with minimal to no trouble. You will be able to learn how to claim travel insurance ideally by the end. Let’s get started.

Become Familiar with the Terms

When it comes to travel or any other kind of insurance, the very first thing you can do to help yourself is getting one with the terms of the plan. Every travel insurance plan is going to have different terms and conditions. There are limits, sub-limits, exceptions, and exclusions in every plan. One of the biggest reasons for claim denials is that people file claims for services and benefits that are not covered by their plans. So, if you are well aware of all these elements of your travel insurance plan, you can not only easily submit your travel insurance claim but get it approved immediately as well.

Get a Thorough Understanding of the Limits

Almost every benefit in your travel insurance plan comes with a sub-limit. Let’s understand this with an example. You are aware that your travel insurance plan offers the baggage loss benefit but you do not know the sub-limit of this benefit. For example, if you happen to lose your baggage at the airport at baggage claim. You will be rest assured that your insurance plan will cover this loss of yours, true. However, your travel insurance provider will not compensate you for the exact price of whatever you lost in your baggage. The claim benefit will be limited to the sub-limit mentioned in the plan. This is why it is very important to know the sub-limits of each benefit that your plan offers before you file a travel insurance claim.

Contact Your Insurance Provider Immediately and Delegate Everything

Reaching out to your insurance provider when you are stuck in a situation like this or when you’re faced with a loss can help you greatly with the claim process. Inform them promptly, so that they can initiate the claim process for you and begin the administrative work. Do not hesitate to tell them the complete story. Mention all the dates properly so that the provider can easily track the validity of the claim. Hiding important information related to travel insurance claims from your provider can result in claim rejection. So, try to be honest, thorough, and swift.

File a Formal Police Complaint Immediately

Many benefits offered by your travel insurance plan may need a proper police complaint to get reimbursed in the claim. For example, theft of personal travel documents, loss of personal money, bail bond, legal fee cover, personal liability cover, emergency medical treatment cover (in case of an accident), etc. If you find yourself in a situation that deals with theft or accidents, do not hesitate to file a police complaint right away. Keep a proper copy with yourself and contact the insurance provider as well.

Keep Your Emergency Contacts Updated with Policy Terms

It is not enough for just you to have a proper understanding of your travel insurance plan and the contact details of the provider. Make sure that your close relatives or emergency contacts also have a fair understanding of the plan as well as the emergency contact number of your insurance provider. If you are stuck in a situation where you cannot file claims against your travel insurance plan or even contact the provider, your emergency contact would be able to do so in your place. This arrangement can come in handy when you have a medical emergency at hand and are unable to operate anything at the moment.

Keep Receipts – All of Them

Every little loss that you plan to get reimbursed against your travel insurance claim will need a supporting document. If you are claiming loss of personal items, you will need documented proof that you owned that item and brought it on the trip with you. This documented proof can be the item receipt from when you bought. If you are planning to submit a claim for a medical or non-medical expense during your trip, you will need the receipts. This can include trip activities, hospitalization period, medicines and diagnostic reports, flight tickets, hotel bookings, etc. So, always keep every receipt related to your trip.

Take Notes on Pre-Existing Ailments

Many people get confused when it comes to pre-existing illnesses. Health insurance plans in the UAE are mandated to offer cover for a pre-existing condition, even after applying for a short waiting period. But that’s not the case with travel insurance plans. Even though you are liable to receive emergency medical treatment that can be covered by travel insurance claims, pre-existing conditions are not a part of it. If you get sick and have to get hospitalized due to pre-existing disease, the travel insurance claim will not get approved.

Be Familiar with the Claim Process

Each benefit offered by your travel insurance plan can have a different claim process. Some benefits can be claimed directly using the direct billing or cashless claim process while others may need to get reimbursed. Every travel insurance provider offers a detailed account of what to do when filing a claim for every benefit separately. Give your policy wording a thorough read before you set out on your trip. This information is generally available online on the provider website as well. So, make sure that you are aware of who to contact and what documents to gather depending on the benefit for which you want to file the travel insurance claim.

Do Not Wait Long to File the Claim

You have all the right documents, filled the correct form properly, and submitted the claim as per the policy coverage but it still got rejected. The reason for this rejection would be that you were too late to file your claim. Every insurance provider has a set period for policyholders to file a claim against the plan that they bought. If you miss that deadline, your claim will get rejected without review. Yet again, you can gather information about this deadline from your travel insurance contract documents. Make sure that you file the claim well before the set deadline so that you have enough time for revisions as well.

Always Proof Your Claim Documents

Claim documents are susceptible to get rejected if they have even the slightest administrative error. Make sure that you have filled the claim form with utmost care and attention. Read the instruction on the claim form and then start filling. When collecting the documents, make sure they are either in English or Arabic only. Claim documents like receipts, payment invoices, and cash memos that are in any other languages need to be translated in either of the above-mentioned languages. Make sure that you do not miss out on any of the required documents asked by the insurance provider for your travel insurance claim.

Do Not Hesitate to Challenge Wrongfully Denied Claims

If your claim gets denied because the benefits or services you claimed for were not covered by your travel insurance plan, there isn’t much unfairness about the proceedings. Mostly denied travel insurance claims are because of this one particular reason. However, claim settlement executives at your insurance company can often misinterpret the information provided in your claim documents. If you think that you denied a travel insurance claim in case of misinterpretation, file for a revision. Challenging a denied claim is not something to shy away from, especially when you can support your case with additional documented proof. Weigh things properly and take a step after you are sure that your travel insurance claim has grounds and asks for legitimate covered benefits.

Conclusion

Simply learning how to claim travel insurance may not be enough every time. Dicey situations can arise and may add confusion to the situation. Always remember that your insurance provider and their customer helplines will be there to guide you through any difficulties you face when filing the claim. Just be thoroughly familiar with your travel insurance plan, its content, limits, and sub-limits as well as the exclusions. In addition to that, keep these tricks in mind and you will be able to file a successful travel insurance claim in a matter of minutes.

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