Archive for November, 2008

A lifeline at last for passengers of cancelled flights?

Saturday, November 29th, 2008

It looks as though airlines could be held responsible at last for their failure to passengers, according to the article “Should airlines provide failure insurance?”

Failure insurance is suggested as a means to provide assistance to stranded passengers in the event of an airline collapsing as too many did throughout recent months. The idea of ‘failure insurance’, which has been about for nearly two decades, should provide assistance to the passenger who is forced to purchase a replacement ticket on an alternative airline. Although failure insurance has existed for years, it is not currently mandatory that an airline should offer this.

Over the past months hundreds of us have been exposed to airlines going into liquidation. Popular airlines like Zoom, Eos and XL have dropped before our eyes leaving us, the customer,to pick up the pieces and forced to make alternative arrangements. Is this really good enough?

Mondial Assistance insists that carriers owe a responsibility to passengers and that they ought to provide protection against the eventuality of an airline collapse. With businesses across the board struggling to keep their heads above water, it is all the more evident that the customer being at increased risk should be protected. The Air Transport Users’ Council are proposing to the government that some form of protection for the passenger is put into force in case another airline falls into difficulties in the same way as its predecessors. We can further difficulties ahead and we need to put into play protection measures as soon as possible. Standing alongside the ATUC are ABTA (British Travel Agents) urging for financial protection for customers with every sale.

In the meantime, while parliament is being lobbied for these changes, travel customers can protect themselves by purchasing their holiday packages through an ATOL tour company with a credit card.

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Motorcycle thieves watch out!

Saturday, November 29th, 2008

According to the article “How to prevent thieves catching a ride on your motorcycle” a greater extent of motorcycle thefts occur in towns and cities. Thefts that occur while the motorcyclist is at home dominate at eighty per cent. How can we prevent this?

When a motorbike is stolen, it takes less time than if a thief was to steal a car. What with the theft of a motorbike only taking as little as twenty seconds, we need to address our security issues (or lack of them!)

The article recommends the purchasing of a good lock such as a tough motorcycle chain and U-lock. This is very much an essential item for your bike security. As the wheel can be removed, it is unwise to put a chain round it, instead thread the chain around the frame of the bike and attach it to a large preferably, immovable, solid item. The longer it takes for a thief to achieve access to the machine, the least likely he is to succeed! Next, get an alarm for the motorbike. There are a variety of alarms on the market including ones that automatically page you in the event that you bike is being tampered with. When parking in a prominent and busy area, the noise from an alarm will panic the burglar who wants attention like a dose of prison time!

When you park, choose wisely. Make sure your vehicle is within prominent view and not hidden from sight behind a lorry or in a dark corner. Next ensure you disable your motorcycle before leaving it behind (popular ways to do this include the use of a hidden switch which cuts out and taking the mains fuse with you).

Last but not least, ensure you are insured. With motorcycle insurance policies ranging from third party to fully comprehensive, should the worst happen, although its not the same as getting your bike back, you will at least have some financial protection. Don’t let those thieves get the better of you!

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FREE travel insurance will not save you money!

Saturday, November 29th, 2008

More and more travellers from the British Isles are attracted by travel insurance that claims to be free according to the article “Beware of free travel insurance!” People who are seduced into believing offers from credit cards etc of free insurance should watch out because the likelihood is that they will not be covered when they think they are.
A survey produced recently by Sainsbury Finance revealed twenty five per cent of travellers from the UK are not interested in buying travel insurance. All those offers of free insurance are welcomed with open arms by these people so all is well and good until something goes wrong. People taking this ‘free’ insurance will discover soon enough that their cover is in fact very restricted and that they would still be required to pay out of their own pocket for expenses – just as they would with no insurance.

To cite an example, there is travel accident insurance previously provided by a number of credit cards when you make a purchase using their card. This insurance cover is limited however because you can only claim when you have an accident whilst using some form of transport. When you get to your holiday resort and something goes wrong there, you have no cover by this particular policy. Other limitations of these policies tend to include trip cancellation, certain sports are not covered and emergency medical coverage is less than adequate. Always reading the small print, especially when in doubt could save you the trauma of a nasty shock in addition to the situation you have non-existent assistance for. The insurance professionals insist such free cover never lives up to expectations and is always limited in terms of the situations it will cover.

Bearing in mind that medical costs on holiday could run into the thousands isn’t it sensible to get covered with a full and effective insurance policy, if not for peace of mind for the sake of a just a few pounds.

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Cycling to work CAN save you money!

Saturday, November 29th, 2008

According to the article “Over three million commuters start cycling to keep costs down” there has been a considerable shift in people’s attitudes to work travel because of the credit crunch. In an effort to save money over twelve per cent of the working public are travelling to their place of employment by bicycle.

The reason the option of cycling to work is so appealing is because it saves approximately £34 a week. There are other benefits too of course, such as improved physical fitness as a result and the fact that we are contributing to a cleaner environment. In this case, what is good for our pockets is also good for our planet’s ecology.

Research is revealing that men are the frontrunners in this new dynamic. While fifteen per cent of the male employment market are cycling to work, only eight per cent of women are commuting on two wheels.

As with most stories of optimism and glad tidings, there is a downside to all this effort of getting down to the basics, saving the planet and avoiding financial hardships, the burglars! In the UK, thousands of bikes are stolen. What with so many of us taking out bicycles and parking them up, our bicycles are at serious risk of being stolen too. Insuring our bicycles so that we are covered if the worst was to happen is a start. In addition, there are one or two particular security considerations to bear in mind when parking up away from home. Buy a recommended padlock and secure your bicycle to a fixed object in a decently lit area. Also, photograph and register your bicycle for returning procedures should it go missing and very visibly mark two places on the bike with your mark or a tag.

If you are cycling to work instead of taking the car, well done! Don’t let the killjoys spoil it for you! As the article states, it would be a shame to let your good intentions of saving money become a false economy thanks to less than effective security measures.

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EHIC cardholders still need travel insurance!

Saturday, November 29th, 2008

According to the article “EHIC is not travel insurance” it is a risk for EHIC cardholders to not possess travel insurance when visiting the European continent. Many people travelled about Europe last year believing their EHIC cards would be all the protection they would need. Some of these people found out the hard way, that travel insurance was needed as well as their EHIC cards.

Three and a half million people from the British Isles travelled to Europe last year without travel insurance. They believed their EHIC card would be all they needed in the event of an emergency! The limitations of the card are such that it will only provide access to basic medical assistance and care within another country. Private medical attention and other assistance relating to a trip such as flights, lost luggage etc are not covered.

The insurance companies are particularly keen to stress that skiers heading off to the slopes for the winter should ensure they have travel insurance as well as their EHIC cards. Imagine if you needed to be airlifted off a mountain, who would pay for that if you have no travel insurance?

Aside from additional costs in the event of something going terribly wrong when visiting another country, there is the fact that even when you do have an EHIC card, it may not cover all your medical expenses. Fifty one per cent of cardholders, throughout last year found their medical costs abroad were not entirely covered. The average cost of medical expenses these people were required to find amounted to just under four hundred pounds each. If only these people had been able to realise before they set off the necessity for travel insurance also.

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How much is your insurance really worth?

Saturday, November 29th, 2008

You may not have the insurance you think you have through no fault of your own, according to the article “You’re covered – what could possibly go wrong?” When booking insurance for a gap year or an ordinary trip abroad several factors come into play to present the details of your insurance cover in a less than clear light. We need to know exactly what we are covered for.

A Medicare International survey recently produced information that confirmed people taking out an insurance policy were to a greater extent concerned that their healthcare was provided for. Twenty per cent of respondents replied their valuables were more important when it came to cover and the remaining eighty per cent were essentially after healthcare provision.

On a gap year or holiday abroad, problems with healthcare are the worst and most expensive situations that can happen to you. Should something go wrong in far off climes where you require medical provision, if your insurance is not adequate, this would inevitably lead to an absolute disaster. With medical bills to pay and repatriation required, if your travel insurance lets you down this is nightmare territory!

Always read the small print when about to set off on a gap year expedition or you could come disastrously unstuck. The story about UK student James Pinnington who had a scooter accident in a remote Vietnamese village is a shocking but all too common one. He purchased insurance that he believed would be decent coverage because he believed in the brand. Unfortunately, there was a stipulation in the policy that he wasn’t aware of, that it was necessary to possess a full UK MOTORCYCLE licence (as opposed to a full UK car drivers licence which James did in fact have). Due to this James was not able to return to the UK on the cover he bought, instead out of their own pockets, the Pinnington family stumped up the cost of £25,000.

The Consumer Action Group confirmed that this key piece of information should have been supplied in their policy accompanying travel brochure.

Medicare International confirm that many of these insurance policies are on the market today. They are travel policies with other items like healthcare ‘thrown in’. They are popular with young people in particular because they are quickly drawn up with a minimum of hassle and consequently the small print is rarely read. They insist that this situation can be avoided simply by taking out specialist medical insurance while keeping travel insurance and cover for possessions separate. Avoid hybrid insurance cover where everything is thrown in without discussing the vital points of information and reading the small print.

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Accidents happen! Get ready for Christmas!

Saturday, November 29th, 2008

Getting ready for Christmas involves much more than ordering the turkey and seeing the reindeers according to the article “All I want for Christmas is …”. In preparing for Christmas we need to ensure that we have adequate insurance cover in case the freezer breaks down or the house gets burgled. The Norwich and Peterborough Building Society are concerned that we are overlooking the necessity of protection throughout a time when accidents and oversights could have drastic consequences. While it is not exactly getting into the festive spirit a bit of common sense in advance will provide peace of mind and save us from adding to our Christmas anxieties. Approaching Christmas and writing our shopping lists, this is the perfect time to address our concerns rather than later on.

The article goes on to provide a series of recommendations to ensure you enjoy a stress free Christmas including the matter of house security (what with all the presents that will be sat under the tree).

One top suggestion is that we make sure our insurance cover includes accidental damage. Imagine the scene, the secret stash of Babycham has been discovered by Uncle Bob. Arms a-flaying to the tunes of the Elvis “White Christmas” LP at teatime and things could get extremely messy!

Another suggestion is to check your insurance policy covers your freezer packed with food breaking down. In most houses in the UK, that could be hundreds of pounds of food down the pan so its very worthwhile.

Additional recommendations include taking your presents out of full view of the window and the outside world, leaving your central heating on (very low) to ensure your pipes don’t freeze and wreck the house when a pipe bursts and purchase some security lights for the exterior of your house.

In the event of a disaster happening over the Christmas period, what you need to be ready to do is make repairs to ensure your home is weather proofed and safe and keep all receipts ready for when your insurance company requests them. Make sure you find out (in advance) the Claims Assistance number, a phone book with tradesmen contact information and last but not least read the small print of your insurance cover to make sure it suits.

Merry Christmas!

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Posted in Home & Contents Insurance | No Comments »

Westerners flying to Bombay may not have travel insurance cover!

Saturday, November 29th, 2008

In light of recent terrorist events in Mumbai (otherwise known as Bombay), it comes as a surprise that flights are still operating to the city from the UK. Meanwhile the Foreign Office is urging the British public, according to the article “Bombay Flights continue despite travel ban” to stay at home.
Passengers travelling by Virgin Atlantic, Jet Airways, Air India and British Airways to Bombay have been informed that flights are running as scheduled despite the Foreign Office’s recent statement.
In the Times Online article, the four airlines flying out to Bombay from London are offering passengers the opportunity to change their flights for later dates however refunds are not being offered at this time.
People who wish to continue to fly to Bombay as planned are warned that their travel insurance will be invalidated – this is based on the advice and information provided by the Foreign Office. Before you fly, it is advised that all passengers check with their insurance providers to avoid disappointment.
In the meantime, travellers already in Bombay are urged to remain indoors and to keep their information updated by monitoring the news or by telephoning the Foreign Office on 0091 11 2419 2288.

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