insurers declare eruption act of God Sydney Morning Herald
19.04.10
''There's a nebulous dividing line and no one knows where it is marked,'' he said. ''For this [event], had they wanted to, the insurance companies could have pulled the ''act of God'' defence out of their bag of tricks but most have said they won't.''
A spokeswoman for the Insurance Council of Australia said insurance providers could use their discretion when determining claims from disasters such as the volcano and that ''no two policies are the same''.
The managing director of 1cover travel insurance, Eddie Feltham, said any claims on policies issued by 1cover before April 16 when the volcano erupted would be fully covered. Covermore said customers had to ''take all reasonable steps'' to minimise their claim.
Travel Insurance Direct promised to cover all expenses and the company's general manager, Ian Jackson, said there should be no distinction with regards to flights delayed ''due to these sort of natural disasters''.
The Travelscene American Express general manager, Jacqui Timmins, said many travellers had not fully acquainted themselves with their insurance policy and were now finding themselves without sufficient cover.
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Choosing the best travel insurance
The economic downturn is old news now, but the effects of it are still being felt and will continue to be for a while yet. The pressure is on to try and save money however possible. But unlike choosing cheaper food products or using the phone less, its not so easy to save money on travel insurance. It certainly cant be skimped on or cut out entirely.
If you think it is bad having to pay £30 for something you are unlikely to have to use, try paying foreign hospital bills running into thousands of pounds. If you’re uninsured abroad and things go wrong, you really can find yourself in big trouble.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t minimise the cost of travel cover. We in the UK spend more on travel each year than anyone else in Europe, and as you would expect there are an appropriately large number of insurance options available.
Picking the most appropriate cover package will save you money – and more importantly, paying much less in the event of an accident abroad. When shopping for your travel insurance, you might want to consider some of the following options:
Single Trip Travel Insurance. Most likely, are you going to travel abroad more than once in the coming year? This is a question we all should be asking ourselves before we choose a policy, as it is the easiest way of saving money. as you would expect, single trip cover is more economical than a yearly or multi-trip package but would work out more expensive should you buy two single trip policies within a year. But that doesn’t mean this type of policy can’t go a very long way. Practically, you can probably stay away for up to six months.
especially if you travel often. There is generally no limit on the number of trips you can go on, however the duration of any one trip may be less than the length under a specific Single Trip policy. You are unlikely to get much more than a months cover on a single trip.
There are also tailor-made, specific policies out there. These really depend on the situation, for example backpacking has insurance policies built specifically to protect those who travel in this manner. Because a standard policy has many exemptions, the activities covered here usually extend the range of cover into usually uncovered areas.
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