TRAVEL INSURANCE AFTER DEPARTURE
Are you looking for travel insurance but you’ve already left home? It is a condition of most travel insurance policies in the UK that you have to have purchased a policy before you’ve left home, with the start date of your trip needing to match your UK departure. However, there are many circumstances where travellers can find themselves already abroad with no travel insurance, and it can be a real problem to arrange cover when this happens.
The main reason that most travel insurance companies will not issue cover after a departure is that it is quite common for people to not purchase insurance but then encounter a problem on their travels. They will then try to put travel insurance cover in place in an attempt to make a fraudulent claim. Unfortunately, this makes it difficult for those who genuinely find themselves in a situation with no cover and a need to purchase immediate travel insurance.
But, have no fear, as here at Navigator Travel Insurance it is possible to purchase post-departure travel insurance in the UK. For those hoping to learn more about the conditions of buying travel insurance when already travelling, our experts have composed this article and are on hand to talk you through it.
POLICIES FOR TRAVEL INSURANCE AFTER DEPARTURE
The only already abroad travel insurance sales that we can make after you have left the UK (or EU) are the Single Trip Short Stay and Single Trip Long Stay versions of the Navigator Standard, Navigator Enhanced, and Navigator Prime policies. This doesn’t apply to the Annual Multi-Trip option offered on these policies.
IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS WHEN PURCHASING POST-DEPARTURE TRAVEL INSURANCE IN THE UK
Whilst we do offer travel insurance for already travelling individuals on our aforementioned policies, several considerations need to be made before choosing the right policy for you:
THERE IS A 25% SUPPLEMENT FOR AFTER-DEPARTURE POLICIES
With our post-departure travel insurance policies, a 25% supplement will be added on top of the usual travel insurance policy fees. This will be applied automatically when you select “After-departure cover” on the options page of our website. We cannot offer cover if you are currently in a country against the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development (FCDO) advice.
In the UK, you must consider the UK’s FCDO advice before you choose to travel to any destination. If the FCDO has travel advice in place which states that it “advises against all or all but essential travel”, our post-departure travel insurance policies are not valid. This same condition applies to many travel insurance policies from other providers.
HOW TO PURCHASE OUR AFTER-DEPARTURE TRAVEL INSURANCE POLICIES
When you’re purchasing our travel insurance policies, you will be offered a tick box option for “already departed cover”. You must tick this box to gain travel insurance whilst already travelling. When you tick this box, it will automatically increase the cost by 25%, which is the after-departure supplement that we previously mentioned.
If you are not offered this tick box option for “already departed cover”, you are not buying the right policy and it will be invalid. Navigator Silver, Navigator Gold, and Navigator Diamond Single Trip or Long Stay travel insurance policies are the only policies that will offer you this tick box and therefore offer you cover when you’re already travelling.
ANNUAL MULTI-TRIP POLICIES ARE INVALID IF PURCHASED AFTER DEPARTURE
If you are buying post-departure travel insurance online, you will be offered Annual Multi-Trip, Single Trip, and Long Stay policies to choose from. As previously mentioned, ignore the Annual Multi-Trip policy option as these can’t be purchased after departure.
Travel insurance policies issued after departure always exclude any claim that arises from any situation such as illness, theft, or otherwise that predates the date of inception of the policy. This seems obvious, but it is emphasised to ensure that it is understood that insurance cannot be arranged retrospectively or backdated in any way, and claims will not be considered if the incident or illness giving rise to the claim predates the policy issue.
POST DEPARTURE TRAVEL INSURANCE DURATIONS
The already travelling insurance policy that you buy must match the overall duration of the trip that you are on. The Single Trip option is only for trips that do not exceed 62 days from the date that you left home. If your overall trip is going to be longer than 62 days from the date that you left home, you must select our Long Stay policy option, otherwise, the policy will not be valid.
ALREADY DEPARTED TRAVEL INSURANCE COVER: THE CONDITIONS
There are some conditions that you need to be conscious of when booking your post-departure travel insurance policy. When ticking the “already departed cover” box before buying your chosen policy, you are accepting the following special conditions for policies commenced after departure from the UK or your country of residence in the EU/EEA. Please read these conditions very carefully and make sure that you are aware of the implications:
- Already abroad travel Insurance cannot be assigned a start date that is the same day that you purchased the policy, it must be dated for the next day or later.
- If there has been a gap of more than seven days in which you have been uninsured between the expiry of your last policy (if applicable) and the start of your chosen already travelling travel insurance, there will be a 14-day waiting period for the start of your illness cover. However, this 14-day period starts counting from the day you buy the policy (the issue date). this means that if you can buy it 14 days before you need cover to start, the 14 days will have lapsed by the time you need the medical cover. This delay does not apply to accident or injury cover, but only illness cover. This condition will not apply if there has been no gap between your previous cover and this one, or the gap is not more than seven days. It will also not apply if you only left the UK in the last seven days.
- Policies started after departure will not cover claims arising from any known situation, including pre-existing medical conditions. There are no exceptions to this condition for our already travelling insurance policies.
- By purchasing post-departure travel insurance with us, you are agreeing that you are not aware of any circumstances that are likely to give rise to a claim.
- The 14-day ‘cooling-off period’ that we offer for our immediate travel insurance does not apply to policies that start after departure. So, once you have purchased this policy it is non-refundable.
- The Navigator Silver, Navigator Gold, and Navigator Diamond policies are only available to people who are normal residents of the UK or EU. If your normal place of residence is not in the UK or EU, you cannot use these policies. Residents of some other countries may be able to use our Global Voyager policies as these can also be started after departure with the same conditions, but are available to residents of many more countries.
- The overall period of your trip outside of your home country must not exceed the policy maximum for your age, including any period of insurance under this policy. In the event of a claim, you will be required to provide evidence of the day you first left your home country. Maximum overall durations for ages are as follows:
- Ages 18-59: 18 months
- Ages 60-74 (Anywhere): 62 days
- Ages 75-84 (Europe): 62 days
- Ages 75-84 (Worldwide): 31 days
- Ages 85 or over (Anywhere): 31 days
These are the maximum overall durations from when you left your home country until your return home. We cannot issue cover if your overall duration away from home will be longer than the above limits.
If you are unsure about any of these conditions or the post-departure travel insurance policies that we offer, do not just buy a policy from our website. We are on hand to answer any queries you have, so if in doubt you can always contact us on 0161 973 6435 or by email at sales@navigatortravel.co.uk and we will answer any questions you may have.
WHY CHOOSE NAVIGATOR TRAVEL INSURANCE
The fact of the matter is that a lot of travel insurance providers will not offer you travel insurance when abroad because of the risk of fraud that this holds. The insurance providers that do offer instant travel insurance, should you need cover last-minute whilst you’re on your travels, are specialist insurers.
These specialist providers are knowledgeable and reliable, meaning you can trust them should you need to claim in the instance of an accident, loss, or emergency.
Navigator Travel Insurance is one of these specialist insurance providers, as we offer several post-departure travel insurance policies to our customers. This opens up the opportunity for those who need travel insurance while already abroad to stay protected and have peace of mind while making the most of their trips.
NAVIGATOR’S ALREADY ABROAD TRAVEL INSURANCE
At Navigator Travel Insurance, we recognise that there are often occasions when a situation can arise in which you will need immediate travel insurance cover and, in many cases, we will be able to help.
Each situation is considered on its merits and there is no hard and fast rule where we can state categorically that we can cover you. But, in an attempt to clarify, we have detailed certain situations below where we may be able to help and others where we will not:
- If you have been living and/or working overseas for several years and you are arranging travel insurance policies back to back, we cannot help.
- If your normal place of residence is now overseas, you cannot use our policies. You need to be paying monthly private health insurance rates in the country where you reside, which are significantly more expensive than travel insurance. In this situation, you are no longer considered to be travelling, you are living abroad.
If you are a UK or EU resident and need to start a policy from overseas whilst you’re travelling, simply follow the instructions above or contact our specialist team online now and we will consider your circumstances.
HOW TO EXTEND YOUR EXISTING POLICY
If the travel insurance policy that you left the UK with has lapsed because you forgot to extend it, or because the insurer will not extend durations, we may be able to help. Although, this will depend on how long you have been out of the UK in total.
It is quite common for people to inadvertently take out unsuitable policies. For instance, you may have left the UK on a long-stay trip with an Annual Multi-Trip policy, not realising that the maximum duration for an individual trip on one of these is 31 or 45 days. We can often help in these circumstances.
We often get requests from people who have been working temporarily overseas and are insured by their employer or by organisations such as BUNAC. At the end of their work period, they decide to go off travelling independently before returning to the UK and find that the insurer who has been covering them cannot extend cover once their employment contract is over. We can often help with these situations as the person is clearly and genuinely travelling, not taking up residency abroad.
TRAVEL INSURANCE AFTER DEPARTURE: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Whilst the above information we’ve shared about immediate travel insurance policies may have cleared up the main details you need to know, you may still have some questions that need answering before purchasing a post-departure travel insurance policy. We’ve aimed to answer some of the most frequently asked questions regarding already travelling insurance to better your understanding:
When Is The Best Time To Buy Travel Insurance?
For any destination around the world, type of trip, and duration of time that you will be travelling for, the best time to purchase a travel insurance policy is as soon as possible after booking your trip, if not at the same time.
This advice also applies if you purchase your travel insurance when you’re already abroad. The sooner you buy travel insurance when already overseas, the sooner you will have the peace of mind of knowing that you are covered in the event of an injury, accident, or emergency.
Can I Buy Travel Insurance At The Airport?
Given the terms and conditions of our travel insurance when already abroad policies, it is possible to purchase travel insurance at the airport. If you purchase our policy online or over the phone, you may be able to secure the appropriate cover for you just before you board a flight or after you’ve landed. But, as previously stated, this will depend on specific conditions and will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
For other insurance providers, the cut-off points can vary for providing travel insurance to travellers. For example, if you’ve gone through customs, you may not be able to receive cover for your trip.
How Long Does It Take To Get Travel Insurance?
It’s possible to get travel insurance last minute to ensure that you receive the cover you need whilst travelling as soon as possible. Although, there’s always a chance that when you purchase your travel insurance policy you may encounter delays in your policy providing you with cover. This applies in the case of our travel insurance whilst already abroad policies, as it can take 14 days to offer you illness cover, as mentioned in this article.
What Does Last-minute Travel Insurance Cover Me For?
Much like any travel insurance policy, a plan purchased last-minute will typically protect you in the case of medical emergencies and injuries; unexpected events which cause delay; cancellation; repatriation; and lost, damaged, or stolen luggage.
It is possible to purchase travel insurance after departure last minute, and the cover that you will be offered will encompass the aforementioned factors.
When Does Travel Insurance Start and End?
Normally, you can arrange for the exact date that your travel insurance starts to align with when your trip abroad begins. You can also assign the date for your arrival back home to be the end date of your travel insurance policy.
However, in the case that you purchase travel insurance when already abroad, your travel insurance will start the day after or further in the future from when you purchased the policy. Certain aspects of your cover, such as medical cover, will apply after your 14-day waiting period, as previously outlined in this article, so this is worth bearing in mind.
Your post-departure travel insurance will end when you return from your trip, much like any other travel insurance policy, as long as this is within the maximum durations based on your age, which we also previously outlined.
GET IN TOUCH WITH US FOR YOUR AFTER-DEPARTURE TRAVEL INSURANCE NEEDS
Some people simply forget to arrange cover or may have thought someone else had done this on their behalf before their travels. Suddenly, they may realise they have arrived at their destination without a travel insurance policy. Here at Navigator Travel Insurance, we can usually issue cover for you in this situation and are on hand to offer you guidance and support.
You can find out more information about our travel insurance policies on our website. Should you need any additional insight before booking your post-departure travel insurance for your next trip, be sure to contact our team of specialist advisors now who will be happy to help you.