Article Sphere Logo

Am I Covered? Travel Insurance and Acts of God

By Expert Author: Patrick Chong | Article Abstract
Word Count: 528 words | Views: 141 view(s)
Cheap annual travel insurance is hugely popular amongst UK holiday goers, allowing them to travel when and where they wish without having to worry about booking travel insurance for every single trip. Many people assume that their cheap travel insurance will cover them against every eventuality, but this isn’t the case. There are plenty of exclusions in the average travel insurance document, and one of the most well known but least understood of these is the “acts of God” exclusion. What do travel insurance companies mean by an act of God? And what might not be covered by your annual travel insurance?

What are “Acts of God”?

Traditionally, “acts of God” was a standard exclusion clause that featured in many different kinds of insurance; travel, housing, property and so on. Essentially, it refers to "a sudden and violent act of nature that could not have been foreseen or prevented", typically meaning natural disasters such as:

• Hurricanes and tempests
• Lightening storms
• Floods
• Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions

Mass outbreaks of infectious diseases are also often classed as “acts of God” (perhaps in some kind of biblical reference to the seven plagues of ancient Egypt!). Essentially, the exclusion clause means that if an event is classed as an act of God, any costs that you incur as a result of it may not be covered by your travel insurance, and you will not be entitled to any compensation from your insurance company.

Nowadays, an actual “acts of God” exclusion isn’t always in a travel insurance policy, but most insurers still have similar exclusions in place under different names, such as “natural disasters”. It may seem like a chore, but you really do need to read your travel insurance policy carefully before you go – if you think you are covered for something and you aren’t, you could end up paying a small fortune in medical and transport costs. When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and Florida, hundreds of holiday goers found themselves caught out, unable to claim compensation for the costs incurred or the cancellation of their trips.

If you are travelling to a place that has a risk of natural disasters, make sure you talk to your travel insurance company to make sure your insurance will protect you.

What about Acts of War and Acts of Terrorism?

While acts of God is one of the most well known exclusion clauses, in today’s international climate, terrorism is also a common exclusion. Much like natural disasters, if you incur costs or your holiday is cancelled because of terrorism, your travel insurance may well be invalid. If terrorism is a potential hazard for your destination of choice, check that your worldwide travel insurance will cover you against acts of terrorism – some insurers do provide this kind of protection, but many do not.

Most travel insurance policies will be invalidated by serious civil unrest or if war breaks out in a country while you are travelling there – the Foreign Office website is the best place to visit to check up on the political stability of your holiday destination, as it provides up to date and accurate information about the potential hazards of every country in the world.
Patrick Chong

About the Author/Author Bio

Patrick Chong is the Managing Director of Journey’s Travel. Their commercial travel insurance website, Insuremore, offers cheap annual travel insurance for families, couples and singles with a quick and easy online claims feature.

Article Source: http://www.articlesphere.com/Article/Am-I-Covered--Travel-Insurance-and-Acts-of-God/157734

Article Submitted: 2008-07-30 | This Article has been viewed 141 times.

Rate Article

Related Videos

How to Understand Travel Insurance
The Truth About Travel Insurance
Auto Insurance Policy
Ways to Keep Travel Costs Down this Summer...
Fall Travel Bargains
 

More "Travel Insurance" Related Articles

 
 

Listed below are more articles related to the above article from the "Travel Insurance" article category.

People interested in the above article "Am I Covered? Travel Insurance and Acts of God" are also interested in the related articles listed below:

 
Backpacker travel insurance is not the same as annual holiday insurance, this is mistake many young travelers make when purchasing insurance. Annual holiday insurance is designed for your average holiday maker, who goes abroad a couple of times a year usually for a week or two at a time, and spends most of their time relaxing on the beach. This is very different to the habits of your average backpacker, if there is such a thing as an average backpacker. If you are planning on travelling for long periods of time annual holiday insurance usually doesn't cover your stay out of the country for more than a few weeks at a time.
With the winter sports season approaching fast, now seems like a good time to remind all you travellers out there that, even for a weekend break, a cheap travel insurance policy is the one aspect of your trip that you can't afford to neglect.
With the largest toy factory in the world, an army of elves and a red velvet fur-trimmed suit, it appears that Santa has everything he could possibly want for Christmas. However, if Mrs. Claus wanted to get him something really useful then she couldn't go amiss with a cheap travel insurance policy. Here are five very good reasons for Santa to take out insurance before heading out on Christmas Eve:
In the week that Scotland added dubious airport checks for passengers travelling within the UK, we take a look at how UK travel insurance can make holidays in the UK a little easier.
The EHIC card may have been out for years but it still seems to confuse people. Many people wrongly believe that the card acts as a substitute for holiday insurance whilst travelling to and around Europe; here we set the record straight and explain just why it is so important to have both.
Travel insurance hit the headlines recently when it emerged that many Britons are losing out on their holiday insurance premiums after neglecting to mention pre-existing medical conditions at the time of booking. So what medical conditions should you mention when taking out travel insurance and what exactly are your rights in relation to existing conditions?
When travelling on a budget, many people want to cut down on expenses wherever possible, and travel insurance is one of the first items to go. But minor setbacks while travelling are common, and a cheap travel insurance policy could end up saving you quite a bit of cash in the long run.
 
Article Directory Home All Categories Insurance Travel Insurance
 

Can't find what you're looking for? Try Google Search!
 
Copyright © 2005 - by Larry Lim, Singapore - Article Search Engine Directory at ArticleSphere.com™
All Rights Reserved Worldwide. All Trademarks and Servicemarks are the property of the respective owners.

Afrikaans Albanian Arabic Belarusian Bulgarian Catalan Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Traditional) Croatian Czech Danish German English Estonian Filipino Finnish French Galician Greek Hebrew Hindi Hungarian Icelandic Indonesian Irish Italiano Japanese Korean Latvian Lithuanian Macedonian Malay Maltese Dutch Norwegian Persian Polish Portuguese Romanian Russian Serbian Slovak Slovenian Spanish Swahili Swedish Thai Turkish Ukrainian Vietnamese Welsh Yiddish