Insurance World

We are all fond of bargains, and paying less for a given product or service and travel health insurance is not an exception. But one thing never to forget is that cheap can often get more expensive and savings are not always reasonable – especially when health and life are concerned.
So be careful when you select a cheap travel health insurance plan. If the plan does not cover what happens when you are traveling, then you might regret your stinginess. You’d better find other ways to cut costs than by reducing the number of risks covered.
One way to get travel health insurance cheaper is by purchasing a multi-trip travel health insurance plan. This is applicable in the cases when you travel frequently. Another alternative for frequent travelers is purchasing annual plans or choosing a new plan that has the option of renewing it at a discount.
Another way to save money is to buy travel health insurance for a particular country only. There are companies that offer such plans, though most of the offers on the market are for any country outside the US.
If you travel with your family, then a family plan is the best option in terms of money. The same applies to group plans, if you are traveling as part of a group.
A riskier alternative is to select a plan in which not all medical expenses are covered by the insurer but you are a co-payer. In general these plans are cheaper, but there is less security for you.
How much you will save from choosing a cheaper travel health insurance plan is up to you. There are many online insurers that provide a calculator to check which of their plans are applicable for you, but never forget that cheaper is not always better. It is a bargain only if you pay less money for the same risks!

Frozen squirrels, flying cows, invisible roundabouts and dogs with flatulence are some of the more freaky insurance claims around. Even house insurance isn’t always as straightforward as a leaking roof – how about roof damage caused by the downdraft of helicopter blades? It may sound like Mission Impossible but there are plenty of insurance claims that take the biscuit.

1)Furry friends

Forget humans, pets suffer from strange afflictions too. Some pet insurance claims aren’t as straightforward as a flea infection. Narcolepsy and flatulence are some of the more unusual ailments to bother our pooches. Although you’d be forgiven in thinking constant sleeping and flatulence were a given when it came to canine behaviour.

But the more unusual the complaint, the more costly it is to treat as it’s harder to diagnose than a straightforward dose of fleas.

2)Drive on the wild side

Even if it’s not some mysterious illness afflicting the nation’s animal population, they still get the blame for human trial and error. According to one top car insurer, freak animal accidents are one of the main causes of blame in bizarre insurance claims.

• A frozen squirrel got the heat for falling from a tree and breaking one driver’s windscreen.
• One herd of poor cows were pinned for licking paintwork from a car.
• Santa Claus must have been having an off day, but according to one parked motorist, a reindeer fell on his bonnet.
• A rather exotic case involved a zebra colliding with a car – in a safari park.
• Even the insect world is to blame – a wasp flew down one man’s trousers causing him to prang the car in front.

3)The cheek of it

Dubious claims against local authorities include a man insisting on a new pair of pants, after he claimed the closure of a bus station toilet led to him soiling his trousers.

One shoplifter even tried to sue after she fell down the stairs fleeing from the scene of a crime, and one motorist insisted he didn’t see the roundabout, despite the rather visible tree that featured in the middle of the roundabout.

4) Cat on a hot tin roof

One of the more unusual house insurance claims also involves our four-legged friends. A pet cat was sick on a TV and caused a house fire after the TV caught light. The property was seriously smoke damaged after Felix the cat’s unfortunate vomiting. Felix’s owner was left temporarily homeless, but don’t worry, Felix escaped from the fire unharmed.

5)Monkey business

Travelling can be full of adventure and of course exotic animals. Once more animals trump the top of the list when it comes to bizarre insurance claims – even when we’re on our holidays.

• One traveller’s imagination went wild when he asked his insurer if his travel insurance would cover any lost limbs in the event of a polar bear attack.

• Fraudulent claims include one couple blaming the apes on the rock of Gibraltar for pinching their camcorder – they later admitted they dropped it.

• One woman took her eye off the ball when she claimed five times for the loss of the same eye after various made-up mishaps.