jmax1972

I am going to Tanzania in 2 weeks. I was looking over my paperwork from my tour provider and the last page stated that they require us to have travel insurance. For some reason I thought it was included - it was in other proposals that I was given by other tour companies - but that is another story. My tour operator is being very vague about it, and hasn't been helpful. The Account representative over the phone actually said that it was really for their protection and just legal jargin. She couldn't tell me if I had to have cancellation insurance, medical, liabilty, ect. Does soemone from the company check if we have insurance? Will they not take us on our safari if we show in Tanzania without it or with the wrong kind? Her response was - everyone just gets it and sent me a $400 proposal that her company offers. I'm not happy. Any suggestions?

Patty

If you tell us which operator you're working with, someone might be able to better answer this question. Not all operators require that you purchase travel insurance.

ShayTay

I can understand why your tour provider would want you to have insurance, given that at least one person on most of the group tours I've been on have had to cancel for various reasons at the last minute. They would want you to have somewhere to go to recoup your costs, as they would not have a way to refund you the money. Whether you want to risk your investment should be up to you, though. At the very least, though, you'd want to have medical evacuation insurance, which is included in most travel insurance policies. I think that's what they are most concerned about. One thing to check on: is your tour provider including membership in the Flying Doctors Society, which would provide you medical evacuation to Nairobi if you had a life threatening condition? If not, it's only $25. See www.amref.org. If you then needed to be evacuated to your home country, that's where your own insurance would kick in. You can compare travel insurance policies at www.insuremytrip.com. If you just want the evacuation insurance, try MedJet Assist.

jmax1972

It's not a group tour - its a private safari - just me and my fiance.

sandi

Some outfitters will not take you out on safari without at minimum Medical and Evacuation insurance. Should something happen, who is going to pay the bills for hospital, doctor, meds, etc.? Not the tour operator. And, if you have to be evacuated to home, this can cost anywhere from $50K and up.

As to trip insurance in general, it's a real good idea especially if you have prepaid for your trip to purchase, whether heading to Africa or elsewhere; you should protect your investment. A comprehensive plan - cancellation/interruption, flight/baggage delay, bag loss, medical and evacuation - cover for most any eventuality. Even if you're delayed getting to the airport for initial flight departure. So it's not too late.

On the site www.insuremytrip.com you must read from the policies offered, the exclusions from the drop-down menus, i.e., pre-existing conditions (which is too late now that you've probably paid your initial deposit months ago), but other circumstances.

Flying Doctor's might have been included by some of the other tour companies, few provide full-out trip insurance (as Comprehensive). Flying Doctor's is quite reasonable and can be purchased online thru the link provided above.

jmax1972

This is the statement they sent me. So I guess i can't just get medical and evacuation? I have to get comprehensive travel insurance?

Insurance

Customers are required to provide for themselves all necessary insurances against personal injury, loss, damage, theft, cancellation, delay etc. Some of the elements sold by us inherently have a high risk factor involved for the customer (eg. diving, safari, flying, mountain climbing etc.) and we take no responsibility for the consequences of the customer taking on such risks. We do however personally test drive as many of the dive operators, flights operators, hotels and safari operators as we can in order to determine them to be well-run and safe operations. This is not however a professional opinion, but our conclusion based on how much risk we would personally be prepared to take. All customers are responsible for ensuring that they have full insurance cover from the moment that they first place their order and covering the whole period before, during and after travel.

Travel insurance is also one of the most important aspect of protecting your trip in case of failure or cancellation, so please make sure that you have it in place from the moment that you first make your booking and covering the whole period before, during and after travel.

Good travel insurance will cover you against most eventualities, but be careful to read the small print on your policy to be sure. We particularly recommend checking the following areas ...

... that medical cover includes full evacuation and repatriation
... that it covers high altitude trekking if you are climbing Kilimanjaro or other large mountains
... that it covers scuba diving if you intend to participate in this
... that it covers quad-biking, bungee jumping, ballooning or any other activity in which you intend to participate
... that it covers charges that you may incur in case of cancellation

CAH85

This looks like a CYA by your tour provider. They are telling you to be prepared. You can get policies that are limited in nature if interested, look at the websites mentioned above, you will find a whole range of policies.

Patty

I can understand medical and evac, but it should be up to the traveler to decide if they want to insure for cancellation. That's the first I've heard of such a requirement.

Grumbo

I thought it was a requirement to buy travler's insurance within 2 weeks of booking the safari. If so, that might be a problem if the safari is only 2 weeks away. I this no longer the case?

Patty

You can buy travel insurance up until departure but most insurers only waive pre-existing conditions and provide financial default coverage if purchased within x number of days (varies with insurer) of initial deposit.

Grumbo

I see, thanks.