If you’re not a regular traveler, you need to know how to manage your travel insurance if an incident occurs. It is extremely important that you know what to do in an emergency. The quicker you’re able to get things moving, the better. Travel insurers can usually deal with issues pretty quickly, so the time factor can work in your favor.

What to do when you’ve got a problem

The best travel insurers have a 24/7 claims an emergency service. You can access the service online, ask questions and get help when you need it.

Make sure to check out an insurer’s arrangements for managing claims before taking out a policy.

These are the services you should expect to see for your travel insurance:

• Provisions for payment of medical bills
• Provisions for return home after major illness or accident
• The option to reschedule your travel plans after disruption
• Replacement of tickets and important personal documents including ID
• Family contact provisions and facilities
• Assistance for other members of the travel group, like children
• Provision for interpreter services in hospitals

You can see how important these things are. You don’t want to be guessing about your cover in an emergency.

You also need to know:

• What is not covered by a travel insurance policy. In practice, travel insurers do make every effort to provide comprehensive cover, but not all policies are equal. Some are much better than others, and some travel insurance policies will be much better suited to your needs than others.
• Timeframes. Your insurer should be able to tell you the basic timeframes for dealing with covered situations. These are actually standard procedures for the insurers, and unless there are major complications, they should be able to tell you how long will it take to get something done when you need it.
• Special issues. People having existing medical conditions, older people, and others with special needs may need specific types of coverage. If you or a member of your party has any issues like this, it’s advisable to explore with the insurer what can be done to deal with all possibilities if an incident occurs.
• Reporting requirements. Many incidents covered by travel insurance have specific reporting requirements, which may include things like notification of lost baggage to carriers and reporting lost property to police. It is extremely important to make sure that you understand those reporting requirements. Your claim may be invalidated if you don’t make those reports. Check with your travel insurer regarding reporting requirements.

Now the good news

As a matter of fact, taking out travel insurance is pretty simple and cheap, provided you know the basics. You can get good cheap travel insurance online which will do most of the things you want it to do. All this type of insurance requires are some minor modifications to cover any specific areas of concern, and you’ve got everything you need.

Just make absolutely sure you understand these very fundamental issues. Check your coverage, talk to your insurer and you won’t have any problems.