This piece is by Ernesto Suarez, CEO, Gigasure
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) recently advised travellers to take extra caution when travelling to the popular holiday destination of Cape Verde due to the limited medical supplies. They state that medical facilities in Cape Verde are particularly basic and limited and that some medicines are in short supply or unavailable. The travel body urges those visiting to make sure they have adequate travel insurance for local treatment, or medical evacuation, particularly if the traveller has an existing health condition or is pregnant.
The availability and cost of medical care differs greatly between countries around the world, and this can have a huge impact for insurance. The more available and affordable medical care is, the lower the insurance risk. But for those regions where medical treatment is expensive or hard to get, this is often reflected in the cost of the policy. For example, countries such as USA, Switzerland and Japan have high medical costs, especially for hospitalisation and emergency care. More affordable destinations such as Thailand and India offer lower cost medical, so this is often reflected in the price of the policy for the end user. Bilateral agreements between countries can also impact medical costs.
So, when the FCDO issues a warning to travellers about a particular country, as they recently did with Cape Verde, the travel insurance provider must look at the increased risks and evaluate whether those risks will affect medical claims. Risk assessors will look at whether the situation in that country means there could be increased medical claims – i.e. due to civil unrest, crime or natural disasters. They also look at whether they think the hospitals and clinics are adequate enough to provide sufficient care or if medical evacuation will be required in serious cases, and the cost of repatriation in the case of serious illness, injury or even death.
Some travel insurance policies may have exclusions for travel against FCDO advice, although this normally applies when the advice is ‘Avoid all but essential travel’ or ‘Do not travel’. While at Gigasure we will still cover you to travel to those areas, the policy will likely have some additional exclusions and limitations. In the case of the advice issued regarding Cape Verde, travellers to the region may find they have to pay increased insurance premiums in the future as it becomes a higher medical cost destination.
At Gigasure we believe that travel insurance should be designed to fit the traveller, not the other way around. We designed a product that is highly customisable so customers can purchase the policy that is right for them, depending on where they are going and what they want to do when they get there. We carefully assess the risks and considerations to ensure appropriate coverage and pricing while clearly defining any coverage limits and exclusions.
Insurance providers consider whether countries have modern hospital facilities, enough qualified doctors and whether language barriers are likely. They can look at the remoteness of some destinations to ascertain how quickly travellers could receive critical care and whether the destination is prone to infectious diseases such as malaria or dengue fever and if essential medications to treat these is available locally.
Finally, one of the biggest challenges faced by the travel insurance industry is travellers failing to declare existing medical conditions, whether intentionally or not. Statistics from the Financial Ombudsman Service show that a quarter (27%) of disputed travel insurance claims in the last year were due to policy holders failing to disclose pre-existing medical conditions.
When taking out a travel insurance policy its essential that the customer declares any medical conditions within the remit given. Some travellers with chronic illnesses or complex medical needs may require additional cover and a higher premium. Every provider works in a slightly different way so customers must be vigilant when it comes to reading the small print and ticking the right boxes. It’s also important that travellers know what their policies do and do not include.
As an industry we can work together to find ways to support travellers visiting countries with limited medical facilities to reduce costs, improve service quality and do better to enhance customer safety. Many countries lack reliable hospitals and emergency care so having trusted medical partners around the world is key whereby we can share networks and providers and establish regional medical hubs where serious cases can be treated more efficiently. The advancement of telemedicine and remote medical support will also help improve access to doctors and avoid unnecessary evacuations, thereby reducing the costs and reducing the risks for travellers.
Despite the wealth of information available to us, many travellers don’t understand the risks of travelling to regions with poor healthcare and how this can affect their travel insurance should they need medical attention and need make a claim. At Gigasure, we don’t want to discourage people from travelling to remote destinations. Having said that, we do want travellers to be aware of the risks. Working together would mean we could reduce costs, improve traveller safety and streamline medical support. In the meantime, we constantly look for ways to make the travel experience better for customers, giving them peace of mind that if they need help and assistance, we’re on their side.
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