Travel & Health Insurance

If you haven't already had a look at FlightCentre's Travel Insurance provider Covermore I suggest doing so. I use to be a travel agent for them and alot of people when buying insurance think that the cheapest policy will do - but you don't stop to think that when you actually need it, you would want the best one? If anything happened you would be secure to know that there will be someone who can speak english 24 hours a day, someone who has a medical degree to make decisions if you were in a third world country, someone who would fly your family to be by your bedside if you needed them, even someone  who would cover you for political unrest, cancellation and ammendment costs, unlimited overseas medical and dental. You never travel without a seat belt so why would you travel without insurance? Definitely have a look at the benefits and also the exclusions. Also my old clients  use to think just because they bought insurance on their credit card they were covered. Its the EXCLUSIONS you need to watch out for - some don't even cover cancellation costs. How many times does a Bank give you something for nothing and how long have you had to wait for them? :) xx let me know if you want someone to quote a policy for you

That's horrendous Jane!

I know tons of people who are 40+ and doign TEFL!  I shared a flat for a summer school I did in Egypt with two lovely ladies aged 55 and 65!

Hi Kate,

Thanks for the link to worldnomads - I'll certainly follow that one up.  Its gob-smacking that people think we're too old for travel.  My step-mum goes back-packing for 3-6 months each year and she's 64 in two weeks!  I aspire to be like her!

Would love to meet up with you when you visit the UK.  I'm based in Milton Keynes which is about 50 miles north of London.  Will take me about 45 mins to get to London by Train.  Or you're welcome to visit MK so I can prove that all the jokes people make about this town are just sooo untrue!  MK is lovely!

Catch up with you soon.

Jane.

Hi Jane

I'm glad that I'm not the only one who is left feeling like we are some sort of aliens because we are taking on the world "at our age"!!!!! If only they knew we have the advantage of life experience that we didn't have when we were younger so look out world here we come!!!

I will look into the company you have let me know about and FYI others have advised me of another company which many ESL teachers use which is www.worldnomads.com Apparently they also recognise that people past their 20's and 30's also like to take on travel adventures.

I am heading to the UK in April/May for a holiday so maybe we could meet up??? This is my first trip to the UK so I have no idea where anything is but my son is currently living just south of London. I will base myself with him but am leaving myself free to travel about so let me know what/if anything might be possible.

Cheers for now

Kate.

Hi Kate,

I think it must be something to do with our age . . . I've not had my confirmation onto the internship yet and already I've been looking into travel insurance!  What I've found so far is that several companies do back-packers insurance that will cover you for going away for a year or so. But . . . . if you're over 36 then they won't cover you!

Worse than that, one company I spoke to couldn't disguise their shock that someone in their 40's was wanting to travel for that period of time.  She only just stopped herself from saying "aren't you a bit old for that!".

At the moment, the most promising company I've found is www.insureandgo.com they do a 'Long Stay' insurance policy which is basically backpackers insurance for us oldies!  The quote I've had works out at about £1 a day for a year's travel, multiple destinations worldwise.  I was really impressed with their customer service when I spoke to them on the phone - they sounded like they know what they're doing.

Hope that helps, let me know how you get on.

Jane.

Hey,

We do have an insurance package in place for people, but only within the EU (sorry Kate!), which is suitable for using on the internship. All the details are here: http://www.i-to-i.com/insurance just in case anyone needs it!

I'm surprised that i-to-i haven't though about providing an insurance package for it's successful trainees. The Erika company seems to offer insurance packages for teachers working at certain schools. Perhaps adding an optional insurance package would encourage more people to study their trade with i-to-i.

Thanks for your helpful links. Will get otno this so I can tick off one more task!!!!

Erika insurance

http://www.erikainsurance.com/index_eng.asp

In 2007 EF provided medical insurance as part of their contracts. It was a policy through Erika.

Not sure if this is any use for you http://www.travelinsuranceguide.org.uk/backpacking-student.html

If you travel from the UK, you get free travel insurance for the duration of the flights if you book your tickets using a Nationwide credit card, and 0% commission on cash withdrawls and purchases in the local currency. Nice! 

Ohh a sensible traveller I like it!  I honestly don't think most people even think about travel insurance.  However, some of the larger English language companies do give you health insurance. 

I just typed 'gap year travel insurance' into a search engine and found a few promising websites you may want to check out:

http://www.atlasdirect.net/annual_more_info.asp

https://travel1.endsleigh.co.uk/gap.aspx?icid=&CompanyID=&ReferralID=40565

I'm afraid I can't profess as to their worth however!  Hope this helps! x