Travel Insurance

[dragon]

I read recently that lots of Travel Insurance companies have started using alcohol as a way of refusing to pay claims. In the small print apparently are clauses excluding claims if the person has drunk any alcohol. Some use the word 'reasonable' amounts of alcohol but the problem is interpretation of reasonable, I don't think that a few bottles of Efes is unreasonable seeing as you're on holiday but some companies say that if you drink any alcohol then you're not covered. They get their information of any alcohol drunk from doctor and hospital records apparently so that they can turn your claim down.

So when I arrange my Travel Insurance I will be asking what their policy is on reasonable amounts of alcohol so as to avoid any problems, better safe than sorry. If they have a no alcohol policy then I'll just have to go elsewhere

[adewolves]

I hate the way this is going, when you go abroad you normally drink, I don't mean in excess, but you drink, and yes I have heard that if they smell drink on you now you won't be able to claim. I might go out 1 night and have a raki and slip on a bad piece of paving.... can i claim, I probably stink of that Raki, I doubt it. Theres more holes in insurance policys than fish net tights.

[Eatock08]

Insurance companies have always used alcohol as as an exclusion within their policy wording i'm affraid its nothing new.

[Katiehutchinson_1991]

i think you watched a programme that i did this morning
yeah it is unclear what the airlines and travel companies term as reasonable but i can see their point when it comes to alcohol
as long as your not drunk and are still in control of yourself then they should pay out
xxxx

[lostsoul]

I to have noticed many insurance policies now state under the influence of alcohol which in my mind is very vague, the policy I took out has this wording

Alcohol abuse
You drinking too much alcohol, or any form of alcohol abuse, where it is
reasonably foreseeable that such consumption could result in a serious
impairment of your facilities and/or judgement resulting in a claim. We do
not expect you to avoid alcohol on your trips or holidays but we will not
cover any claims arising because you have drunk so much alcohol that your
judgement is seriously affected and you need to make a claim as a result.

[Eatock08]

Its amazing how much some people don't know about travel insurance, for example a lot of people think they should just get insurance for the days they are away but you should have it from when you book your holiday to when you return home. Always get an annual policy, check the small print and when you receive your douments always read them. Personal belongings are sometimes not covered as standard and need to be added on, check your contents insurance are some personal belongings covered anywhere in the world, if so why pay for insurance again on your travel insurance?

[dragon]

In my case I don't arrange my travel insurance until I pay for my accommodation. My travel Insurance costs a lot more than my flight so until my accommodation is paid for, I'd only lose the cost of the flight if I had to cancel. This is the problem when you have pre-existing illnesses. Annual policies are great as well, provided you can get one. If you're fit and healthy its simple and straight forward.

I don't want to sound morbid but another thing I check in the Travel Insurance is that on death abroad they pay to return your body home. A woman living locally was on holiday a few years ago with her husband when he died. She thought that she had a good travel insurance but her insurance only covered returning the body to the airport, she had to pay to return him home. She had to to pay an absolute fortune. So this is another thing to check as it can happen to anybody.

Insurance companies have always used alcohol as as an exclusion in their policies but what has changed though is that they have become much stricter where in the past they were more flexible when there were 'reasonable' amounts of alcohol drunk by the claimant. Some companies are now refusing to pay out if any alcohol has been drunk which is not how they applied it in the past. Its definitely something I'll be double checking before taking out the policy not something I'd be checking in the small print after receiving the documents, as by that time it's too late. If a company has a 'no alcohol' policy I'll go elsewhere to a company that is more reasonable. It's something that I want clarified before taking out the policy.